Anyone who knows my history of travelling and natural disasters might indeed question the rational of going to stay in a small town at the base of a very active Volcano, let alone the desire to climb to the top for a peek inside. welcome to Pucón!

Its certainly an awesome sight hanging over the town. A sharp snow capped contrast against the clear blue sky. Not that that was how I first saw the Villarrica Volcano. When I first arrived in town there was a thick layer of cloud blotting out almost all the landscape. Of course i'd seen pictures and knew that there was a volcano around here (somewhere). It wasn't until my second day in town that I was able to look up and declare "bloody hell! look at that damn big volcano"

The peak of the Volcano sits at 2847m (asl) and last errupted ... last year! The climb although not a technical one is a reasonably strenuous ascent that needs crampons and an ice-axe. Preparation is the key.

And, with this in mind I went out to party! It was one of those unplanned get togethers, friends met up with friends and before you know it we're in a bar. Unfortunately, the early start the next morning meant that I wasn't able to get any provisions for the climb, and so the day begins ... No water, no food, no sunscreen and a HANGOVER. I decided that it was best not to mention any of this to the guides as it would only compound the hangover issue with early morning nagging. Past experience has proven that a bit of hard work would sweat all that nasty alcohol away and i'd bounce right back anyway.

Well there was plenty of hard work on the first section as its a steep shale slope - the kind that lets you get in a couple of forward steps before it pushes you back down one.

But it wasn't too long before we left the shale behind, strapped on the crampons and, ice axe in hand, took to the icy slopes.

The group was a bit large for my liking, consisting of 12 climbers - on the up side though, it was a group of 11 girls and myself. The pace being set by the lead guide was an unnaturally slow one and made for rather tedious stop/start progress. Still, progress was made and as we gained altitude the views opened out below us.

Glad to report that the hangover had gone by mid morning. But by the time we reached the lunch stop I was ready to start eating the snow. Fortunately I managed to find a couple of stray (and rather broken) cookies in the bottom of my pack (not exactly a hearty meal, but sometimes you've just got to go with what you've got.) With 'lunch' finished we pressed on for the summit. I have to admit we were extremely lucky with the weather conditions. The volcano is climbed almost every day and we were going to be the first group to reach the summit in the last week. Previous groups had been beaten back by the weather. We had bright sunshine, clear blue skies and a light breeze. Perfect.

As we reached the top, the sulphurous smell was overpowering, burning the back of my throat - I really wish I had some water now. Still all was not lost as we moved away from the acrid smoke the guide produced a bottle of red wine. Hair of the dog? No, a toast to our success and a toast to the 'spirit' of the volcano. Take a swig, splash some on the snow (for the spirit) and pass it on. I might have hung on to it a bit longer than was polite, but I WAS very thirsty.

The descent was SO much easier. The guide, produced what could best be described as an adult size nappy and after a quick run through of how to wear it we were instructed to sit down and slide our way down pre-made snow runs. A bit like tobogganing, only without the toboggan! Still, you can get some real speed on the way down. There's nothing quite like hurtling down a mountain side out of control, with a large ice axe in your hand, to focus the mind!