Hello.
So the ocean in La Serena wasn´t as we expected. Well, we didn´t really see it up close too much, it was far too cold. The sun out but the wind was fierce. Instead, we wandered around the town center, went go karting, and Lisa went to see a shoemaker who made her some customized shoes. For a city of 300,000 people it was a big city with a small town feel. Our hostel was just a lady´s home with a few more bedrooms and bathrooms added. Hammocks were strewn about the yard for our leisure, a cute family kitten became our mascot for the week and our rooms were homey; we lucked out with a BATHTUB!! and the bedspreads were bright and colourful ... very Chilean. Lisa decided to pamper herself one afternoon with an $8.00 manicure while Kevin roamed the streets on a mission to find a supermarket. It´s nice to eat out at restaurants but after a while it gets tiresome. We had a nice dinner on the terrace of homemade sandwiches, crackers and cream cheese ... and M&M´s for dessert. Mmmm.
After La Serena we headed 10 hours south to Valparaiso. The bus line only plays certain television shows. Just for Laughs; Gags, The Nanny, and Cirque du Soliel; Behind the Scenes. Valparaiso is another city on the ocean that is planned to be the Dakar Rally rest day. The city is one of the oldest in Chile and smells like pee. It´s pretty though. You can take these outside sideways elevators called Ascenors that take you up to a different plateau of the city. They are rickety (the oldest one we went on was built in 1883) so kinda freaky at first, but totally safe. Once you get up to the second level, you get a beautiful view of Valparaiso. It´s funny, once you get to the ocean, all the menus have fish. The waiters are so proud of their fish that they feel the need to flip the pages of the menu for you to get to the fish section. I don´t want ür damn fish. Leave me alone. But of course they don´t understand. Anyhow, with all the fish floatin around you would think there would be more than 1 Sushi joint in Chile. But there´s not. Luckily though, we found the only one and it was delightful. It tasted like home. (Which is wierd, yes, because we´re not from Japan .. but you know)
So as per usual, a situation arose in which Kevin lost his temper and was slightly irrational. They have a tram in Valparaiso, much like the sky-train, but on the ground. You have to pay for a card to get in, then you swipe it over a magnet to allow you through the gate. (To our surprise though, you must swipe to exit as well.) It´s all fine until randomly our card won´t work to exit and we have to pay more money. First they say $1200 pesos, which was double the price of a trip that was half the distance. I don´t understand Chile. They probably want to rip us off because we clearly have NO idea how the tram system works here. Kevin decides he doesn´t feel like paying $3 so he shoves his way past the tiny woman security guard and goes through the employee gate as Lisa tries to barter the price down. Finally she gives in, says sorry to the guard and walks out with Kevin.
15 hours later, we´re in Pucon. It´s nice to be back in greenery and foliage. Pucon is quaint city located at the base of an active volcano and next to a few lakes. It looks a great deal like Tofino and the aroma is fresh and clean with a hint of campfire in the air. We missed ski season by one week but there´s lots more to do. While we´ve been here we have done ziplining the forest canopy and canyoning.
*Canopy: We went to the ziplines (the longest one was 1000 meters long, 120m high) and hung out at the hot springs afterwards. We are convinced that the South American ¨hot springs¨ are nothing more than un-chlorinated hot tubs with a rustic exterior. It´s our mission to find an authentic hot spring by the time we leave.
So the ocean in La Serena wasn´t as we expected. Well, we didn´t really see it up close too much, it was far too cold. The sun out but the wind was fierce. Instead, we wandered around the town center, went go karting, and Lisa went to see a shoemaker who made her some customized shoes. For a city of 300,000 people it was a big city with a small town feel. Our hostel was just a lady´s home with a few more bedrooms and bathrooms added. Hammocks were strewn about the yard for our leisure, a cute family kitten became our mascot for the week and our rooms were homey; we lucked out with a BATHTUB!! and the bedspreads were bright and colourful ... very Chilean. Lisa decided to pamper herself one afternoon with an $8.00 manicure while Kevin roamed the streets on a mission to find a supermarket. It´s nice to eat out at restaurants but after a while it gets tiresome. We had a nice dinner on the terrace of homemade sandwiches, crackers and cream cheese ... and M&M´s for dessert. Mmmm.
After La Serena we headed 10 hours south to Valparaiso. The bus line only plays certain television shows. Just for Laughs; Gags, The Nanny, and Cirque du Soliel; Behind the Scenes. Valparaiso is another city on the ocean that is planned to be the Dakar Rally rest day. The city is one of the oldest in Chile and smells like pee. It´s pretty though. You can take these outside sideways elevators called Ascenors that take you up to a different plateau of the city. They are rickety (the oldest one we went on was built in 1883) so kinda freaky at first, but totally safe. Once you get up to the second level, you get a beautiful view of Valparaiso. It´s funny, once you get to the ocean, all the menus have fish. The waiters are so proud of their fish that they feel the need to flip the pages of the menu for you to get to the fish section. I don´t want ür damn fish. Leave me alone. But of course they don´t understand. Anyhow, with all the fish floatin around you would think there would be more than 1 Sushi joint in Chile. But there´s not. Luckily though, we found the only one and it was delightful. It tasted like home. (Which is wierd, yes, because we´re not from Japan .. but you know)
So as per usual, a situation arose in which Kevin lost his temper and was slightly irrational. They have a tram in Valparaiso, much like the sky-train, but on the ground. You have to pay for a card to get in, then you swipe it over a magnet to allow you through the gate. (To our surprise though, you must swipe to exit as well.) It´s all fine until randomly our card won´t work to exit and we have to pay more money. First they say $1200 pesos, which was double the price of a trip that was half the distance. I don´t understand Chile. They probably want to rip us off because we clearly have NO idea how the tram system works here. Kevin decides he doesn´t feel like paying $3 so he shoves his way past the tiny woman security guard and goes through the employee gate as Lisa tries to barter the price down. Finally she gives in, says sorry to the guard and walks out with Kevin.
15 hours later, we´re in Pucon. It´s nice to be back in greenery and foliage. Pucon is quaint city located at the base of an active volcano and next to a few lakes. It looks a great deal like Tofino and the aroma is fresh and clean with a hint of campfire in the air. We missed ski season by one week but there´s lots more to do. While we´ve been here we have done ziplining the forest canopy and canyoning.
*Canopy: We went to the ziplines (the longest one was 1000 meters long, 120m high) and hung out at the hot springs afterwards. We are convinced that the South American ¨hot springs¨ are nothing more than un-chlorinated hot tubs with a rustic exterior. It´s our mission to find an authentic hot spring by the time we leave.
*Canyoning: This was excellent. We repelled down waterfulls and traversed through rushing rivers in a narrow labyrinth of caves.
In Pucon for a few more days of adventure then it´s off to Santiago and Easter Island.
