Stopher Joe versus the Volcano!

Chile by name Chilly by nature and chapter 3 of the world journey is now in full swing. After 6 months chasing the sun I tell thee it's friggin brass monkeys out here and in order to accommodate this fact I have gone Argy and started to sprout the old beard again. Now I tried this once before back in Vietnam and it ended up in tears but this time it is more out of necessity than a fashion experiment and i'm sticking to it as otherwise the old chillblains will be too much to handle!

After 3 uneventful days in Santiago realising that Spanish is clearly something I don't take to easily I decided to bugger any thoughts of learning it in a school and instead adopt a wing it style approach and head South. Bus ticket was booked sin problemo and off I trotted armed with a smile and a phrase book and no accommodation! No problemo as the lovely English speaking damsel met us at the bus station and guided us to her hostel, see it's not as tough as everyone makes out! After chilling for a day or two in Pucon, yesterday it was time for the main event - to scale the peak of the most active volcano in Chile, bring it on!

The wind was strong and the air was biting cold as 20 people set out to tame this beast dressed in bright yellow ice suits and silly orange helmets. To be honest getting out of bed had been a struggle and as I dipped my little toe outside the duvet, fear, shock and pain all gripped me at once. However today I was being a man and I quickly scarpered out and prepared for battle by putting 12 layers on in under 30 seconds!

We drove up to the base of the volcano and then took another ski lift before setting off on our ascent. It started quite smoothly although the ears were already popping and we'd barely reached the snow. A couple of hours later and we still weren't half way and I knew then that this was gonna be a struggle. We stopped behind a mound for a quick sandwich and then realised that one of the groups had already turned back, the wind was a bit too strong for them - pussy's! Not for us though and the leading group of me, Isak and Emily continued onwards and upwards with Hernando leading the way up almost vertical slopes. The wind was howling and my snippet was twitching but we edged our way further and further until eventually we were only half an hour from the summit.

It was at this point we were informed that there were only 5 of us left on the mountain and 15 others had turned back! Our guide then did a chicken sign and laughed to himself which inspired both confidence and fear in all of us. Off we trotted again and those last few steps were some of the worst of my life but eventually we scrambled to the top and were hit by a carcenogenic fountain of smoke billowing out of the mouth of the volcano, the view was amazing though and although there were icicles on my 2 week tache it was well worth the effort. Out of 20 starters only 5 of us made the top and all credit to Emily who was the only girl up there much to the surprise and amazement of the 2 Frenchman who scampered up behind us.

Now for the fun part, photos taken and last sandwich polished off we put on our arse coverers and headed down the mountain buttocks first down makeshift toboggan runs. What had taken us 5 hours to conquer took barely an hour to descend and sliding down a volcano on my ass was one of the best things I have ever done. The volcano may have flexed its pecs and thrown a few mighty old gusts out here and there but I damn well mounted the bugger and now I was showing it my ass all the way down - have that lava splurting fella!

Stopher Joe had added one more impressive experience to the list and as I looked around at the faces of Emily and Isak at the bottom I saw in them exactly how I felt, absolutely broken and in need of un cerveza quick sharp. Hernando must've doubled as a mind reader and as soon as we returned to the hostel he broke open the Escudo and saluted the team. Then it was off to bed at 6pm and I awoke at 8am this morning feeling all the better for it!