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Published: February 3rd 2011
Day 14
We arrived into Valdivia on the extremely efficient Chilean bus service which entertained us with the Karate Kid film (the one with Will Smith’s son) in Español. I then decided it would be good exercise to walk the 2km to our hostel in the midday sun. So with our packs on our back and front we trudged off with map firmly in hand. After finding the road we were unable to find the hostel, the number 1334 just wasn’t there. As the sun beat down on us, and Em’s frustration levels rose I started to worry. But just then a friendly taxi driver stopped and asked if we needed help. I showed him the book and address, the taxi driver confirmed he knew where the hostel was (said a 1000 pesos), pointed down the round and so I squeezed myself between an elderly couple in the back and Em went in the front (taxis in Chile collect a number of people to maximise profit). As we sped out of town (away from what we thought was the right road) Em started to become agitated – to which the elderly couple and taxi driver kept saying ‘tranquillo’ (calm down).
Being optimistic I assumed he was dropping the elderly couple off first before looping round for us. After dropping off the elderly couple the driver looped back round and drove back into town. Coming to the road we had originally been on he then proceeded (like something from a Charlie Chaplin film) to drive backwards down the one way street, reading out the numbers of the houses backwards, stalling when a police car whizzed by, hitting the kerb several times, before triumphantly arriving at the hostel – which turned out to be literally 20 metres from where we had started... He then asked for 2500 pesos, at which point Em exploded and started in spanglish to call him a bad man for tricking us. We think he thought that by driving backwards and not coming down the road the right way, we wouldn’t recognise where we had been!
In the midst of this stand-off Eliana, the owner of the hostel appeared, to calm the situation. The taxi driver told her that he had assumed we were going to the bus station, and that it was simply a misunderstanding! In the end we paid, as Eliana was going to pay
for us, and that didn’t seem right. We weren’t cross about the money (2500 pesos is only £3) but more the principle that someone would try to trick us. Our egos were bruised but in some ways it served as an important little reminder that whilst 99.9% of people are wonderful, you have to keep a little awareness about you. Anyway our lovely host Eliana showed us our room and provided us with lots of information on Valdivia. Seeing that Em was upset by the whole taxi incident she offered us free tickets to go and see a classical concert that night!
Valdivia is a small university town situated on a huge estuary and is heavily influenced by early German and Dutch settlers. Thus lots of nice beer and chocolates...First off we explored the local fish market which had an amazing variety of fresh fish. It’s so fresh that behind each stall a person skilfully de-scales and guts the fish (as it arrives by boat) and then throws the left-overs to waiting sea lions! The sea lions have their own plinths and laze in the sun, occasionally moving to gobble up a tasty morsel – they no longer have
to work for their meal, just tolerate the camera-happy tourists. An illustration of modern society in the animal kingdom...
Feeling hungry we sought out the last frontier – a great bar serving massive portions of food and cheap beer. Then onto the concert – where we listened to a violinist and pianist playing classical music from around the world. The concert was short (only 1 and a half hours – just the right amount for my unmusical ear)!
Day 15
Awoke to a great breakfast prepared by Eliana, with proper English breakfast tea (loose leaf prepared in a pot) – Em was in heaven! We then caught a taxi (a good one this time with a set price) to the Spanish fort of Niebla. Much to my delight the taxi cost 1600 pesos and the fort was free on Sundays. The fort has a little museum complete with paper mache model people. Both Em and I mistook the same person in a black rain poncho for one of the statues (on separate occasions). I saw him move and thought that I had knocked him over and reached out to stop him from falling – luckily the guy
found this hilarious and was chuckling to himself for a good 5 minutes!
This being Valdivia festival season there were lots of things happening in the town and after spying a poster for a beer festival and spotting merry people wearing merry hats, we followed our instincts and managed to track down the ‘Bierfest.’ We found the huge marquee in a park and went right on in... It was odd to be in Chile, and then see all the German paraphanalia and Chilean people playing German music and doing German dancing. Anyway we soon settled in and after a few very strong fruity beers we merrily made our way to watch the show-jumping (strangely part of the festival too). The beers helped me to capture some awesome shots of the horses (if I do say so myself).
Then back to the hostel where Eliana served us Lapsang Souchong tea, and then off for a late fish supper – yum!
After a not so good start we really enjoyed our short stay in Valdivia – Eliana made us feel so welcome (and served us tea at every opportunity) and the other people in Valdivia we came into contact with
were very kind too.
Next stop – over the border to Bariloche in Argentina!
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anonymous
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off to argentina? how appropriate i am supping a glass of Argentinian Merlot as I write! Its very good so enjoy some yourself....