Black Beauty

Hello from me in what will be my last post from South America!

On Friday I fly across the Pacific to Auckland, missing out on experiencing Saturday 2nd February 2008 ever which is a little disconcerting! Although because of the time difference I hope to be able to watch the England vs. Wales Six Nations rugby match at 05:30 (local time) in Auckland International Airport on Sunday morning. My flight is due to arrive at 04:15 so keep your fingers crossed.

Since I last wrote I have journeyed back south through Chile, briefly stopping in Santiago, before ending up in the beach town of Pichilemu.

Arriving from La Serena in a large hectic bus station in Santiago (one of four) was a bit of a nightmare and as the bus was delayed prevented me in getting to the next bus station in time to make a connecting bus to Pichilemu. Therefore had to stay in Santiago for one night.
Bought a bus ticket for the following day and then had to try and find somewhere to stay. Unfortunately the guidebooks chapter on Santiago was obviously written about a different city as I tried in vain to find four hostels that didn´t exist in reality. In the end I found a hostel but it only had a private room, by this time I´d had enough and just wanted a bed!

Looking on the map the distance from Santiago to Pichilemu was significantly less than other recent journeys, but this being rural roads it still managed to take us five hours!
The journey was pretty uneventful apart from being the one individual removed from the bus at the police checkpoint for questioning. Thankfully this being Chile (as opposed other South American countries) all went smoothly and the police were just doing their job.

Upon arrival at Pichilemu I then had the joy of looking once again for accommodation in a bustling seaside town. I did well and managed to find a single room (more like a shed!) for about 4GBP per night after wandering the streets for two hours (with pack). I settled into my windowless shed and set out to get my bearings of the town.

Pichilemu is a busy and bustling seaside town that is very touristy but relaxed at the same time. The beach is a strange black colour of sand and the waters of the Pacific are very cold.
Despite the number of Chilean tourists and associated goods/attractions the place was really pleasant.

I quickly settled into a routine of visiting the beach, judging the conditions and making a decision if to to venture into the water and therefore hire a board, suit (4/3) and boots. By the third day I´d managed to negotiate a discount with the staff at one of the surf shops and some days we ended up surfing together.
If I decided against Surfing then lying on the beach reading and listening to music was a lowly second choice! Thankfully the waves were great every day and the water was quiet. The only off putting things was the Jellyfish!

The weekend saw a big influx in numbers from Santiago and the beaches were packed (not only with the alpacas either!). The tourist numbers had an impact as we run out of tap water at one point on Saturday. This is a common occurrence according to one local but made washing the sand out of everywhere slightly more difficult!

The end of the weekend (Sunday night) saw a procession of buses (under police motorcycle escort) leaving the town, while the hapless car drivers queuing for hours watched on in bemusement! (reminded me of Croyde in August!) Most entertaining to watch while enjoying a cold drink (of Canadian Dry Ginger ale no less) and eating dog food (smelling) paté on bread

Other strange things in Pichilemu was horse drawn carriage taxis everywhere (and the subsequent men who had to tidy up after them!) and the binmen with bells (traditional) of notification who you could hear before you could see.

All in all then I´ve had an extremely easy and enjoyable final week in South America, although my arms and upper body say differently!

To much has happened since I´ve left the UK to detail the highlights in this post but suffice to say that I´ve really enjoyed South America and leave wanting more, which I think is always a good sign of a great place.

So until next time this is me signing out!