I had heard that there was an active volcano in Chile that you could climb up, look down into the cone and see lava. There was not much info in the Lonely Planet guide, just a mention of an active volcano. The whole idea seemed pretty wild to me. So I started asking around. It was sort of like a ghost, people had heard of it but no one had too much information on it. I finally found some people who had climbed it. It was real. Volcan Villarica was the name of it. Pucon, Chile is where it was located. I was a bit south but only a few hours, nothing a bus ride couldn't take care of. I wasn't able to buy a ticket from Bariloche to Pucon, Chile. I had to get closer to the boarder to get a bus in. I took a bus to the small town of Junin de los Andes, a stones throw from the Chilean border. I arrived mid-day and hoped to get another bus in the afternoon into Chile. No such luck. It would be two days before another bus was going to Chile. No worries, it is summertime and there is a crystal clear river running through Junin. I have been beating myself up for being a sloth and spending a lot of money on steak and wine in Mendoza so I beelined right for the campground which happened to sit on the river. So for two nights I paid $6 dollars, U.S., to sleep on the ground. It's been a week since then and I have not slept in a bed since! I bought a used, one man tent from a guiding agency in Mendoza a couple of weeks ago. The bivy sac that I brought is a good emergency shelter but when the rain hits my pack is still out in the wet and when the bugs are out I have to be shut in my Gore-Tex cacoon which is hot and not very enjoyable. So I have a new found freedom to camp in relative comfort. It saves on cash and provides a private shelter that hostels do not offer. o I killed two days loafing around this little Argentine town, swimming, sitting in the park and eating ice cream (Argentines LOVE their 'healados' or ice cream, parlors everywhere!)