Pucon is a lake town situated at the base of the boiling Villarica Volcano, which, rumor has it, is set to erupt sometime in the next half century. It is said that any medium sized eruption will level the existing town. Ironically, the town has experienced unequaled expansion in recent years, as Pucon is one of Chile's most popular summer destinations. (Next blog: What's up with Chile's Education System?)

I arrived to Pucon, a town where the typical hostel bed costs between $12-$20 per night. Since I majored in economics, I elected to book my stay at the $6.50 per night hostel. I believe it was Hugh Grant who said; "you get what you pay for."

While Hostel Del Lago does have regulation bed frames, it neglects such things as; a front door, heat in winter, real mattresses, a back yard that isn't a swamp, an alert attendant, etc. From the moment I walked through the front entryway thingy, the worker was playing some medieval knights video game and celebrating to himself whenever he killed dragons. Perhaps he was going for a new record, in hopes of outdoing that 28 year old South Korean guy who played "starcraft" for 50 straight hours and then dropped dead of exhaustion (True story).

To take a shower at 'Hostel of the Lake', you must first walk outside, second, turn on the hot water heater and third, pray it works. The process of making hot water spew out of the freezing cold spigot was described by the owner (not the video game nut) as "very easy." He lies.

Upon viewing his demonstration, I felt like I was just shown how to diffuse a bomb or mechanically overhaul the mars rover. First, you must turn the valve on the gas tank on, and then, making sure all of the heater knobs are facing east, you gingerly draw the left knob in a counterclockwise direction 1/8 of one full turn and push down. This action is immediately followed by flicking the right knob back and forth to ignite the pilot light, all the while you are to be standing on your left foot with your index finger pointing to the top of your head and spinning 360 degrees per 15 seconds. This is followed by a sweeping turn of the left knob to a horizontal position, and WALAH!, a massive fire ball erupts right in front of your face and it's shower time. Where you will promptly scold the hell out of your back.

Other items that you won't find in 'Home Magazine' include the skylights with no glass or light, but rather the metal sheeting of the roof showing, a mini fire place that emits heat at a rate commensurate with a high quality zippo, or foam camping mats for mattresses placed on wood planks 5 inches apart. (If this mattress description makes any sense, you can imagine how uncomfortable it is.. And how awesome you sleep).

Anyway, I could deal with the accommodations, as my purpose for visiting Pucon was to Climb the Volcano, slide down the Volcano and lounge in the thermal springs. I had been there for 5 days and all I had done was sit in hot springs. which was amazing. Apparently, you can't hike when it is raining, or when the climbing agency cancels your trip on two consecutive sunny days because the guides play hooky. All of this adds up to more QT with dragon boy, and additional 3rd degree burns on your back.