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Published: July 24th 2008
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Valdivia
The sunset in this quiet town was cool So those of you with a good memory, might recall that Chris and I had parted company, as I was hotfooting it up through Chile back towards Bolivia and Peru. First port of call was to get to the capital of Chile, Santiago. I left behind Argentina and headed 7 hours to Valdivia, where I would be changing bus for the 12 hour connection to Santiago.
On arrival in Valdivia I have a few hours to kill before my connection, and so I go for a wander around the town. Not expecting much im pleasantly surprised when I get to the bay and see the sun setting with a huge beautiful rainbow, there are also some ridiculously large seal lions just lying around on the jetty.
Next stop Santiago. As I mentioned before, the buses over here are awesome, large reclining seats, good food, its almost like being on a plane! So I get my cama bus to Santiago, and just as im dozing, the attendent actually comes along and tucks me in, what service!
Im not really intersted in spending any time in Santiago, so on arrival I jump on another bus to Valparaiso on the coast.
Re-entering Chile for the last time..
and to think I left the others as there was no snow! This journey is only one hour though so not too bad.
I head out to explore and for the first time since leaving behind the winter of southern Chile and Argentina, im able to wear just a t-shirt as its pretty warm. Valparaiso is a Unesco heritage city as its really old. First up, I head down to the quay, where you can jump on a boat that takes you around the harbour. The views of the neighbourhoods on the hills are pretty decent, bt the ride itself is naff. They tell you all about the cargo boats and the ship building yards...how interesting! Because it's Sunday, alot of the city is shut, but in a way, its pretty nice. Valparaiso is a very bohemian city, with a real taste for the arts, as is evident in most of the local graffitti and art work on display. Just before sunset, I take an ascencor ride to the top of Concepcion. The ascensors are kind of like a train crossed with a lift, that diagonally traverse the hills in the city. They are a really old method of transport for this city, and the one that transports you to the
Sealions
I think, though they were pretty damn huge! top of Concepcion, dates back to 1883!
Whilst watching the sn go down, I notice some hummingbirds buzzing around the plants, an spend some time trying to takea picture, but man these things move fast!!
The next day I make my way to the Open Sky Museum. Which isn't really a museum, but more of a colourful neighbourhood in the hills that have been decorated with murals and graffitti. Some of the artwork is absolutely awesome, and the nighbourhood has a really laidback feel about it.
I head to the bus station to book my 29 bus north to the border town of Arica. With these nice buses im not dreading it at all, that is of course until I get to the bus station and am told they only have normal school trip style coaches running this route at this time of year. Bummer. I have an early night back at the hostel, chatting to some fella about tv shows and comedy and stuff, but I have to draw the line when he says he's never seen the A-Team. Ok so he was born in 1985 but still!
29 hours on a normal bus, what
a load of toot. The bus is full, including some kind of band who take up most of the back of the bus, the noisiest bastards in the world. There is also little girl who keeps running up and down the aisle. This is annoying on its own, but when im sleeping and the bus turns a corner, she falls into my lap and elbows Sir Lancelot head on! After a small amount of whincing we make a much needed break to grab a sarnie etc.
The latter part of the drive is really cool as we make our way through the dunes of the Atacama desert. Im so happy though when we finally make it to the terminal in Arica, as are my legs and my back. 29 hours on a normal bus is no fun and definitely not to be recommended.
Arica is a beach town on the border of Chile and Bolivia, not that I get a chance to see much of it though, as the following morning I am grabbing thelast of my busses for a while. My destination is La Paz in Bolivia, I was here back in January, but as it was
Valparaiso Seafront
as seen from my exciting boat ride. the wet season, there were trips that I could'nt do.
As im sat on the bus to La Paz, I work out how many hours i've spent on buses in the last week. The total, 60 hours in 6 days!
As we enter the outskirts of La Paz, we drive past a spot where you can look down on the city, and I reember doing just that when we were here in December, funny how much i've seen here since then. The other good thing I remember about La Paz is that it has a curry house! So obviously thats my fist port of call for the night, mind you, its pretty sad sitting in a restaurant, at a table for four people on your own, and I forgot to bring a bloody book with me! On the plus side the Jhalfrezi is good, so it's not all bad!!
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