Our second full day opened to the rain promised by the accumulating clouds the night before. The air was chilly, with a continual drizzle. The sky was very overcast, giving everything a blue-gray tint. With spirits undaunted by the weather, we headed off to a hot springs, Termas Huife. The particular site Mariana chose for our dip in the volcano-warmed waters sat northeast of Pucón and the two volcanoes, Villarrica and Quetrupillán, toward Lake Caburgua. Since we planned to sit in the water, the rain was of no consequence.

The hotel offering the hot-springs bath was beautiful. They had a series of pools with increasing temperatures. The first pool was probably about 100 degrees (F) with the temperature increasing by 10 to 15 degrees or so with each new pool. Mariana decided to let Raul and I enjoy the waters while she relaxed and read; so we did. We made the first two stops in the pool circuit but stopped short of the final pool. The temperature at the second stage was about as hot as we were willing to try. For 45 minutes or so we bounced back and forth between Pool 1 and Pool 2 until the tensions, cares, worries and burdens of everyday life were cleansed from our beings, then we got out -- a bit of a shock, but refreshing.

After we dressed, we grabbed our cameras and headed a few meters away from the pools to a cascading stream behind the hotel. This somewhat more-than-babbling brook was a nice counterpoint to the atmosphere around the hot springs pools. (The stream did not seem to flow “hot,” so I assume the water in the pools came from some underground connection. The water was reported to be directly from the hot springs with the temperature being maintained by control of the in- and outflow volume from the hot spring.)

I have included in this gallery a picture of Raul and Mariana enjoying a post-hot springs lunch in the town of Villarrica and also one of me relaxing. (This obligatory vacation picture merely serves as the required proof that I was actually there.)