LAUGHTER YOGA GAINS POPULARITY IN THE TWIN CITIES

This article by Nancy Ngo of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press was picked up by the AP and ran all over the country in October. Since Jody Ross, the leader of the laughter club mentioned in the article, is my student I wanted to bring this great bit of press to your attention. Congratulations, Jody!

Yoga is hilarious.

Seriously.

With the growing popularity of various forms of yoga, it was only a matter of time before a practice called laughter yoga made its way to the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

From Roseville to Burnsville, groups are gathering to laugh to their heart's content.

Laughter yoga has been spreading across the globe since a doctor in India created it in the mid-'90s as a way to relieve stress and anxiety in his patients.

The exercise is believed to have health benefits that include strengthening the immune system, minimizing upper respiratory infections and decreasing sleep deprivation.

"It's been clinically proven that when you laugh, you feel happier," said Mary Margaret Anderson, a laughter yoga instructor who teaches at Fairview Community Center in Roseville, Minn.

"People are coming because they realize they can do something about their health and state of being."

Anderson, who has taught several forms of yoga for 15 years, started offering laughter yoga three years ago because she liked how it concentrated on releasing endorphins in the brain associated with happiness.

She believed the practice was a natural complement of other forms of yoga.

The practice is similar to other yoga classes in the sense that it is about focusing on the moment, finding inner peace and improving one's health.

Yet there are no downward facing dogs or other poses. Rather, a session focuses on laughing and breathing exercises.

"You don't necessarily have to be athletic," Anderson said. Still, participants end up strengthening their abdominal muscles and burning calories in the process.

Jody Ross has offered a free outdoor laughter yoga class at Lake Harriet every Monday night since May. The get-together has attracted all types -- kids and seniors, working professionals and retired people.

"I think folks are looking for ways to lighten up. Especially with the economy, there are so many things that can stress us out or give us anxiety," she said. "Laughter yoga is different from hearing a joke or watching a film. It's a type of laughter that affects your body differently."

At Ross' class this week, participants came as they were, including in jeans and a sweatshirt.

The class involved impersonations and role-playing, and participants found themselves needing to be social, lively and interactive.

Ross even brought a bag of props including wigs, hats and feather boas to get participants in a mischievous mood.

Ross drew out forced laughter by having participants impersonate how a girl laughs -- drawing high pitches -- and how a man laughs -- drawing low pitches.

Participants also pretended to ride in a rodeo and to blow out candles on a cake. Breathing exercises were also part of the mix.

After suffering a heart attack a year ago, Erv Chorn of Edina, Minn., started attending laughter yoga classes regularly to improve his health.

"I wouldn't have kept coming back if I didn't feel like it was helping me," said Chorn, who's in his mid-70s. "No matter how hard my day has been, how tired I am, I come here and feel relaxed and re-energized by the end of the class."

Renee Taylor, 40, of Maple Grove, Minn., tried laughter yoga the first week of October for the first time. "I showed up with my yoga mat, but I guess I didn't even need it," she said.

Taylor found the exercises contrived at first. As she warmed up, she found herself laughing naturally -- especially when a fellow participant couldn't stop laughing, which she found contagious.

"I liked that it was one of the few times you get to be spontaneous and be in the moment," she said. "By the end, it was the real thing."

* If you are a subscriber to this blog and haven't yet received your 100 free laughter yoga exercises, simply respond to this email and write "FREE" in the heading and I'll send your exercises right away.

CHILEAN LAUGHTER TOUR DAY 16

The 16th day of our tour was among the busiest. We visited the fascinating coastal cities of Viña del Mar and Valparaíso, then did a laughter yoga session at a new arts center.

We awoke to the amazing view from Tosha's apartment.

 

This is Tosha's Mezuzah on her apartment doorpost.

Here she is touching it as we left for the day.

Before we left the resort, we visited Tosha's other apartment, which she uses as a rental. Here I am on that deck.

This is the view from this apartment.

Then we drove to Viña del Mar by a rural route. This is a team of oxen we met along the way.

The wild poppies were growing everywhere.

It was a bit foggy but we got a nice view of the coast in Viña del Mar. This name is Spanish for  "Vineyard of the Sea." It is also known locally as La Ciudad Jardín, Spanish for: "The Garden City."

A view looking the other direction.

Some scenes in Viña del Mar.

These two are police officers.

The spring buds are emerging on these trees.

A naval training school.

This condo by the shore is a prime example of how the buildings are stacked up along the hillside for maximum views of the ocean.

We stopped to get a closer look at the beach. Tosha's on her cell phone as always.

A beautiful desert flower.

Here you can see the beach and the bay of Viña del Mar.

We loved the beach!

Though it was cold, sunbathers were already enjoying this spring day.

More stacked up condos.

William looking cool on the beach.

This stray dog was keeping an eye on us.

The spring flowers, like this one, were just glorious.

Many of the apartment buildings had unusual balconies.

Balls on the beach.

I'm enjoying the flowers.

William and Tosha posing for the camera at the sushi restaurant where we had lunch.

Our sushi waiter.

Pamela and William getting ready for lunch to arrive.

Tosha and I celebrating our matching polka dots!

Pamela found this star in a store window and brought it out to have her picture with it.

More lovely spring buds on the trees.

Viña del Mar has lots of high rise buildings.

This is Chile's oldest gambing casino.

I don't know if I'd want to stand on one of these balconies for too long!

This hotel looked like a castle.

Along the coast between Viña del Mar and Valparaíso, the buildings are stacked up along the cliff overlooking the sea.

Now we are in Valparaíso, which is Spanish for "Paradise Valley." It is one of Chile's most important seaports and an increasingly vital cultural center in the hemisphere's Pacific Southwest.

Nicknamed “The Jewel of the Pacific”, Valparaíso was declared a world heritage site based upon its improvised urban design and unique architecture. In 1996, the World Monuments Fund declared Valparaíso’s unusual system of funicular elevators (highly-inclined cable cars) one of the world’s 100 most endangered historical treasures. In 1998, grassroots activists convinced the Chilean government and local authorities to apply for UNESCO world heritage status for Valparaíso. Valparaíso was declared a World Heritage Site in 2003, thanks to its historical importance, natural beauty (large number of hills surrounding a picturesque harbour), and unique architecture (particularly, a mix of 19th century styles of housing). Built upon dozens of steep hillsides overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Valparaíso boasts a labyrinth of streets and cobblestone alleyways, embodying a rich architectural and cultural legacy. Valparaíso is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Electric buses run around the city.

Graffiti is legal here and there are some truly wonderful works of art on walls and buildings throughout the city.

I think this photo best shows the urban design of  Valparaíso and how the buildings are all stacked on top of eachother on the hills.

These skater kids showed off for us.

Can you sense the steepness of these narrow roads?

Here we are getting directions. Don't try to navigate Valparaíso without a map!

More directions. We are still lost!

Finally, we arrived at the art center where we would be doing a laughter yoga session that evening. Here is Tosha with one of the arts center directors, Hemena. The two of them at "met" on Facebook and set up this whole event and were now just meeting for the first time.

This is the entrance of the arts center. The "incomplete" look of the walls is intentional and it is a really groovy look.

This is the painting studio. The painting are Claudio's. He's the other director.

This sculpture is Hemena's.

This is their dog who is sad to be stuck out in the back courtyard.

This is Claudio making us all a cup of espresso.

Here is another one of his paintings. We could not help but notice that the main figure bears a striking resemblance to Obama.

We left Tosha at the arts center to help get set up for the evening's event. William, Pamela and I went walking around Valparaíso. Here are some of the many sights we took in.

Dig this short doorway.

Our wedding picture!

The cat tried to jump out of the pen but the dog bit it's tail and I captured it all in this shot.

Pamela peeking into someone's yard.

This graffiti says "We can do anything!"

Look! It's the doors.

We rode one of the famous "funicular" elevators that makes the town so unique. Here is the wheel that runs it.

This is the view looking down.

And the view looking up.

Now we are down in Sotomayor Square.

This is the seaport.

The monument in Sotomayor Square.

The view of the whole square.

Someone else was taking this little girl's picture but she looked at my camera instead.

This is the scarf we are buying from the vendor.

A huge stump.

We loved this building on the corner.

Dancing with the graffiti!

This mural was so vibrant and beautiful.

This is the llama wool purse I bought in a boutique. 

The sales guy posed for a picture with us in front of all the pretty scarves.

This is the sign posted outside of the arts center about the session we would be leading that night.

I decided my new purse would also look good on my head!

Here Tosha and I are leading the laughter yoga session in the meditation studio.

Afterwards, we said good bye to our new friends and headed out for dinner.

This is the bar at the Italian restaurant where we dined.

William and I were still smiling after a long, full day.

And Tosha was too!

After dinner, we drove back to Tosha's beach apartment so we'd be ready to tour a winery in the area the next day.

CHILEAN LAUGHTER TOUR DAY 15

We awoke to another beautiful, clear day in Chile. We were eager to go to Alagarrobo to stay at Tosha's apartment and explore that coastal area.

Here's the view from the upstairs window at Tosha's house.

Look! William felt so much better than he shot this self-portrait.

We took a walk around Tosha's garden and enjoyed the spring flowers.

This is the reflection in her swimming pool.

This is the back of Tosha's Santiago home.

Her neighbor's lemons, which hang into he backyard.

Here I am in the sunny backyard.

These roses were brand new when we headed south. Now they were looking a little worse for the wear.

Tosha and her maid, Vilma, getting ready for breakfast.

Tosha was showered but still looking tired (too early in the morning for her).

Her daughter, Denise, dropped by to bring the apartment keys. She and Tosha looked at the trip pictures.

Here is Denise walking back home as we set forth for Alagarrobo.

These are the scenes we past along the way.

This is inside one of the tunnels we went through.

You can see how the vegetation is looking more like the desert. That's because we were heading north, which is desert country.

We reached  Alagarrobo and looked out at the coast from the car.

Here is our first look at Tosha's condo building, which is part of the sprawling San Alfonso del Mar Resort.

When we reached her apartment, we looked down to see the amazing view from the 10th floor.

Tosha and I are celebrating this glorious day.

Here is the view out to the deck from inside the apartment.

This is Tosha's bedroom where we stayed. The drawing is of her mother.

Tosha pulled out her stash of party hats. She's always prepared for laughter!

She put this one one me.

And we were set for laughter!

Pamela and I on the deck in our party hats.

William joined our big hat fun.

These are the lovely glasses in her cupboard.

I was happy to discover polka dotted pot holders.

Pamela demonstrated that she was laughter-ready by revealing her silly socks.

We hung out by the pool area and walked around to explore it. This pool was named the biggest pool in the world by Guiness in 2008.  It is 3,323 feet long—that's more than 1,000 yards! It covers 20 acres and holds 66 million gallons of water (salt water rather than clorinated). It's so big, in fact, that they call it a "lagoon" instead of a pool.

There is also a smaller, indoor pool in this pyramid (since the lagoon is heated naturally, and therefore too cold to swim in during the winter season). We found them reworking the indoor pool.

Little desert flowers were blooming in the gardens.

There are docks in this pool so I went out "surfing" on one.

Doesn't this resort area look comfortable?

This is a view of the pool that shows its expansiveness.

This is where the indoor pool is situated.

Yes, they sail boats on this pool. Here is a stack of them.

This is the view looking up at Tosha's building.

The windswept artificial beach.

Pamela and I laughing on one of the docks.

These condos also sell separate maid's quarters in a downstairs dormitory. This is the view out of one of these small units.

Here I am returning the shopping cart we had used to haul our luggage upstairs.

Then we went to a nearby restaurant for lunch. This is our friendly waiter shaking up a pisco sour.

Tosha enjoying her clams.

William and his lunch.

Here we are with some public art.

This is the pathway leading to Ilsa Negra.

This is the entry to Ilsa Negra, a home (and now museum) of Nobel Prize-winning poet and Chilean politician, Pablo Neruda. You can read more about Neruda at Wikipedia. It is one of 3 homes owned by Neruda, and reportedly his favorite. We took a tour through it.

This fish sculpture was Neruda's logo and it was used in decor throughout the home and grounds.

This is the beautiful coastal view from Neruda's house.

This is a tower on the house with another fish symbol.

This is another portion of the house. It was just a stone cabin when he purchased it but he expanded it a number of times to create a writing retreat and to house is many random collections such as ship figureheads, glass bottles, shells, masks, and nautical instruments. He had a great fascination with the sea and with ships. Therefore, each of the additional rooms was built to look like the inside of a ship. It was very unique but photography was not allowed inside.

Here's William in Neruda's back yard.

Another one of the things Neruda collected.

This is his dining room. You can tell what a stellar view it has to the ocean.

Here we are heading into the house.

Here is part of Neruda's glass bottle collection. Apparently, they have moved it into this glass-encased room because tourists used to bump into his bottles and break them. Now you have to look at them from a safe vantage point.

Here's our English-speaking tour guide.

This is the original part of Neruda's house.

Cactus blossoms in the yard.

Neruda and his third wife are buried on the grounds in an area that looks like the prow of a ship. 

Aloe vera plants in the yard.

Another view from the Neruda property.

Tosha and I are standing in front of Neruda's downstairs bar.

The courtyard of Neruda's house. The white doors in the red part were put on especially so he could fit a life-sized horse sculpture into his house. Once in, he held a welcoming party for it and all the guests had to bring gifts for the horse. Three of them brought artificial tails for it (since it had none). Now all three tails are displayed with the horse.

Pamela and I were feeling the chill of evening as we left the Ilsa Negra.

We got back to the beachfront apartment just in time to watch the sun set into the ocean.

And I can balance the sun on my nose (much like a clown nose).

Here's William in action, capturing the sunset.

We walked around the lagoon pool.

This condo looks like it is on a lake from this view, doesn't it? But the water in front of it is all pool.

Here you can see how the buildings are arranged around the pool.

I posed in front of a green light we passed.

When we returned, Tosha did a special demonstration of Touch Drawing for us. Tosha is a certified Touch Drawing teacher and she has done many wonderful works of art using this technique. It is a way to create intuitively by combining print-making with hand drawing not unlike finger painting. Tosha begins her explanation by rolling the brayer in ink and spreading it across her special Touch Drawing panel.

She's also got to combine it with laughter!

Now she lays a piece of paper down on the ink and touches the paper with her hands.

She continues touching the paper.

Then she peels the paper back to reveal her painting.

She shows it off.

She then creates another touch drawing of a face and shows it to us with a laugh.

It's been a full day so William and I head to bed. The other two stayed up for several more hours, in the Chilean tradition.

CHILEAN LAUGHTER TOUR DAY 14

This day was scheduled to be a catch up and re-group day. We stayed at the house doing laundry, writing blogs, checking e-mail, etc. The plan was to depart in the afternoon for Tosha's beach condo.

Early in morning, I peeked out of our upstairs window at Tosha's house and caught this beautiful glimpse of sunrise above the mountains. Double click the photo to see the brilliance of color in this sunrise.

When William awoke, he claimed to be well. Look at that great smile. We all believed him.

But by afternoon, it was clear William's illness hadn't yet left him. Pamela and Cecelia, other laughter yoga leaders from Santiago, had come over to the house for a visit and Tosha sent them out for some water for William. They came back with this massive jug!

Here are all the drugs and tissues Tosha got for William.

We decided he wasn't well enough to road trip again just yet so we gave him some Ecotrin cold remedy and sent him to bed.

Then, we had a spontaneous laughterfest downstairs. I was showing this laughter blog to Cecelia and Pamela. Because I have the "Babblefish" translator application at this page, I translated it into Spanish for them. Well, they started reading it and recognized just how badly it was being translated. Everything become absurdly comical. Here the three of them are reading the blog and laughing their heads off. I'm surprised William got any sleep at all.

After laughing for hours, we decided to drink the "wine sour" that Tosha had in the fridge. It is wine combined with lemon juice. We toasted to William's health.

It wasn't a touring day, but it WAS a good day for us to get some rest and have some good quality laughter time with Pamela and Cecelia who decided to stay overnight at Tosha's house.

CHILEAN LAUGHTER TOUR DAY 13

On Sunday morning, we left Pucon in the morning to head back north to Santiago. Alejandra went separately by bus for her laughter job in the copper mines. 

Here is the neighboring city of Villarrica.

William got this great shot of the big dog and the small child.

Here's a street scene in Villarrica.

The lake seen here from Villarrica is the same one visible in Pucon.

The spring rains have flooded the shores a bit.

This was the only Lutheran church we saw on the whole trip and we couldn't help but notice that it was Sunday morning but the place was closed. Where was the worship? We asked about it at the cafe where we had breakfast and were told they only worship once every 15 days.

Here's the German cafe/bakery where we had breakfast. Look at all these cakes!

This is the best cup of hot chocolate I've ever had!

And check out this monster cake!

The three of us enjoying the morning sun.

This stray dog decided to join us for breakfast. He just kept rolling around on the lawn next to us like he was doing some sort of performance art.

The cafe owner decided to pose with me.

Here's another shot of Villarrica.

A wonderful Aromos tree.

This is the last view of the lake as we left Villarrica.

Here are some sights along the way.

Grain silos just like we have in Iowa.

This is a tree farm.

In the distance on the right, you can see that I've spotted another volcano. As a newly, self-appointed volcano photographer, I never miss these things.

Here's a closer view of it.

Doesn't it look amazing up in the clouds?

Here I captured two volcanos in one shot from the car at highway speed. They don't call me the volcano photographer for nothing.

More Aromos trees. You just can't get enough of these things when they are blooming so beautifully in the spring.

Tosha is still smiling after such a long day of driving (but William helped her).

This is a scene from the city of Chillán, which is about 400 kilometers south of Santiago.

The crazy overhead electric wires in Chillán.

More scenes around Chillán.

The parking attendant who watched our car for us.

The pedestrian mall where we strolled and found a cafe for lunch.

The fruit juice William had for lunch. Very thick, almost smoothie-like juices are served just about everywhere in Chile. Much of the fruit for these juices is grown locally.

My salad.

The town square of Chillán.

More mountains that we passed on our way to Santiago.

The amazing sunset!

The evening glow on the mountain tops.

One more sunset shot with a row of trees.

We stopped at a produce stand along the highway and were amused to see an assortment of brooms for sale there as well.

Tosha checked out the selection and prices and decided their produce was too expensive so we didn't end up buying a thing.

Here's an Esso station at which we stopped.

The red bug in front of us with no license plate.

After a long ride home, I was tired!

At length, we arrived back at Tosha's home in Santiago and got a good night's sleep.

CHILEAN LAUGHTER TOUR DAY 12

During our last full day in Pucon, we saw a bit more of the lovely mountain town and we did a laughter yoga session at a local yoga studio. 

Of course, I have to begin by showing you another view of Volcan Villarrica.

William and I went out for a morning walk. Here I am in front of Nicole's house.

This is her neighborhood street heading down into town.

There are lots of high adventure shops in Pucon like this one. It is backpacker's paradise in the summer season. We were there while it was still pretty much winter.

Here I am at the lake with Volcan Villarrica.

This little shop even looks like the volcano.

I was totally deceived by these. I thought they were the amazing araucaria trees that are so revered by the Mapuche people and celebrated in their art. So I zoomed in and got this great shot. When I showed it to Nicole, she laughed and explained they are actually cell phone towers disguised to look like araucaria trees.

Another view of the lake and volcano.

Here is a remote controlled sail boat on the lake.

A Mapuche sculpture.

Some lovely flowers along the walk.

Notice the bag hanging from this wooden structure. It is where they hang their garbage so the stray dogs won't mess with it.

Here we saw a child flying a kite in the field.

Then we took a walk through the town's cemetery, situated on a hill.

Some of the graves are like little homes where lots of flowers and other items are placed.

Here is the view of Pucon from the top of the cemetery.

Another view of the cemetery.

This sculpture of Jesus sits at the very top of the cemetery.

When we got back, William complained of feeling sick again so we took his temperature. He's looking rather grumpy about it as well he should because Tosha determined he had a fever and would not be allowed to attend our laughter yoga session. We set him straight to bed.

Here is Tosha explaining laughter yoga to the group who had gathered for the session.

Alejandra was there to help us lead with the help of her granddaughter (sitting to her left).

I had to laugh, lead, shoot video and try to take photos all by myself since William was at home resting. I certainly didn't get as many shots as he usually does, but here are a couple.

This is the whole laughing group.

And here are the laughing kids that made it so fun!

Alejandra with her granddaughter, Antonia.

Afterwards, we went out for pizza with some of the laughers so Tosha could tell them more about laughter yoga and how they really need to start a laughter club in Pucon. We tried the German beer they had on tap. Nicole recommends drinking it with lots of lemon and tobasco sauce. I tried it too and decided it was a bit too strong for me that way! Anyway, here we are toasting to laughter yoga in Pucon.

Antonia being funny for the camera.

Alejandra and Antonia enjoying dessert. They are so adorable together!

That night, we attempted to get William feeling better. We packed up and got set to depart in the morning.

CHILEAN LAUGHTER TOUR DAY 11

On the 11th day of our Laughter Tour, we did more touring around the town of Pucon where we were staying with Tosha's friend, Nicole.

First thing in the morning, Nicole and Felipe took us up to the base of Villarrica Volcano (or Volcan Villarrica as it is called in Spanish). Though it is an active volcano, it is also a ski hill. Because it is spring and it is at a high elevation, the ski season it still going on. 

Here is our first up-close view of the amazing volcano. You can see the little cloud at the top. This is NOT a cloud, it is the hot air coming from the hot lava in the volcano. I was particularly impressed with this perpetual reminder that it is an active volcano. But don't worry, if it erupts, the town as a good evacuation plan!

You can really see the hot lava puff of smoke here.

This volcano is beautiful from every angle.

Felipe is showing us just how snowy it is up here.

Another view of the volcano. Can you tell I was crazy about it?

Here is the ski lodge.

And the ski lift taking skiers up the volcano.

Here we are posing with the Volcan Villarrica.

We couldn't stop photographing it.

But then the fog rolled in almost instantly and covered the volcano. Here is the last glimpse of it we could see.

I'm trying to catch the fog as it rolled into the parking lot.

We saw a lot of trees like this that have been damaged by past blasts of the volcano.

Then we went to see Elisabeth, whom we had met at Sonia's party the night before. Her property is so big that there is a gate with a security guard at the entrance. She also runs a horse training school on these grounds.

From the gate, we had to drive 5 kilometers up her property to reach the house. Here is a view through the Eucalyptus trees as we journeyed.

Felipe and Nicole opened the gate to Elisabeth's yard then posed for this shot. 

I met her friendly dog, Latte.

This is the plaque on her door, which says "House of Elisabeth."

She has her own pond with geese and ducks.

And a herd of llamas (which is pronounced "yah-mahs" in Spanish). This was the only one that let me touch it's nose. Isn't it cute?

The rest of them ran away as we approached the fence.

But thanks to my zoom lens I captured these guys standing in the sunlight.

Doesn't this llama decorate her landscape quite nicely?

Here Elisabeth is feeding her peacock and her dog at the same time and surprisingly, they get along!

Elisabeth has a pool that looks out over her marvelous view.

Tosha, Nicole, Sonia and Felipe stood mezmerized by the view.

Elisabeth took me out to the island on her pond.

Check it out! The duck is wearing a "laughter hat." 

It was breathtakingly beautiful where you could see her private pond overlooking the mountains and the large lake of Pucon below.

One of the geese had just laid this egg.

Latte hanging out by the tree.

This is her "grandchild house" designed just to house her grandkids when they visit. I offered to be one of her grandchildren (cause these are pretty nice digs) but she just laughed.

I was totally determined to get the male peacock to open his tail feathers so I chased him around the yard with my camera a lot. Even though he let me get close, would never open them.

The female, on the other hand, wouldn't even let me get close. She flew to the top of this tree.

Here he is again, stubbornly refusing to show off his feathers.

Elisabeth and her dog, Latte.

Tosha had a laughter session with Latte.

Here we all are, enjoying the view from Elisabeth's back yard.

As we left he property, we saw more Huasos (Chilean Cowboys) getting ready to celebrate Independence Day this very day, September 18th.

We stopped for lunch at a cafe in Pucon called "Latitude 39" run by an American couple who are friends with Nicole. Felipe's paintings are hanging up in the dining area. The boat painting kind of looks like a laughter hat for William.

The waiter recognized Tosha from a laughter session in Santiago.

Nicole and I realized we were dressed alike!

This is the owner's daughter, all dressed up in the traditional costume for Independence Day. I tried to get her to stand up and show off the whole outfit but she was too busy with her snow cone.

Then we drove into the countryside to see a waterfall. We crossed this river on the way.

Then we went across this incredibly narrow bridge and there were even pedestrians on it! We had to hold our breath and hope Tosha could squeeze her Toyota RAV4 through without knocking them into the water below.

William grabbed this shot of a little boy playing by the bridge.

Here are some mountains along the way.

And a sheep pasture with a little lamb nursing.

When we got to the waterfall, we had to walk across this little footbridge.

Here's the view from the top of the falls.

William is hiding his camera in his jacket because of all the steam coming off the falls.

Here is the front of the falls. Because it comes out in two sections, the name of this waterfall translates to something like "Eyes of the Devil." It is springtime now, so they are more like big sections rather than eyes. Nicole said it looks different in the winter.

There were really unique root staircases around the property by the waterfall.

Here William and I are with this beautiful backdrop.

The trees around the waterfall were gorgeous too.

Nicole and Felipe with the falls.

The sign means "Blue Lagoon." The water was indeed, very blue.

Felipe enjoying a rest on the lawn, exhausted from all our touring.

As we drove back to Pucon, we got more views of Volcan Villarrica. This is the opposite side of the volcano as you see from Pucon.

Check out these great shots I got with a telephoto lens from a moving vehicle. I began to call myself a volcan photographer (and for good reason)!

After a busy day of touring, I was still laughing!