Erik: After our 23 hour trip to Santiago, we thought nothing of a 10 hour bus ride, so we skimped and bought the economical “classico” tickets – where the seats don't recline quite as much. As I'm sure you can guess, that was a bit of a mistake. We couldn't get comfortable, and so had a long night's ride.
Upon arrival in Valdivia, we were approached in the bus station by a woman offering us affordable lodging in her hospedaje. Aft
er looking at a few rooms, we decided upon one with a mini kitchenette, and were quite happy until we found one thing after another broken in the room. The bed leaned to one side, the shower dripped loudly and constantly, and the kitchenette sink plumbing kept breaking and leaking. Oh well! We had too little time to look elsewhere, which was a strange feeling for us – the first time we'd really had a deadline looming and couldn't take as much time as we wanted, since we had to be Lima in a few weeks time for the flight home...
At first we weren't too crazy about Valdiivia – it actually reminded us of a suburban american town. But then we went for a sunny walk along the verdant waterfront, found some enormous 
sea lions lounging near the pier (in fresh water, which is odd. Apparently they're well-fed at the pier market, and so swim up from the ocean for a leisurely vacation.) They sell delicious, cheap smoked salmon and have the freshest fruits, so we ate quite well.
We were in Valdivia during chile's annual telethon for the handicapped – much like the Jerry Lewis telethon, but much bigger, with the entire country tuning in to watch, and all the cities and towns hosting free concerts, etc. It's a really important event for them. One night we wandered downtown to have a drink, and ended up in La Bomba, a little firefighter's dive bar, where we watched the teleth
on with the locals and got quite drunk on beer and pisco (well, I did!) We met some wonderful locals – Hardy, an older man well-dressed in a wool suit, very polite and friendly. Jaime and Jose, younger men full of local advice for us (Jose seemed very interested in Talor, and wouldn't let go of her hand), and Cristal, an overly-friendly and overly-drunk woman who kept hugging us both and kissing me all over my face. We had a great time until the 3rd pisco told me that it was time to go home...
The next day we took a bus to the nearby port town of Niebla, where we took short ferry rides to small ports and nearly-uninhabited islands around the bay. The area reminded me of the sounds around seattle- green islands with steep hills overlooking the clear blue, cold waters of the bay and the ocean beyond. But the colonial german houses and old spanish forts and castles constantly reminded us that we were in chile, nowhere near home. We were very lucky to be there in late spring, with wonderful weather and landscapes boasting every shade of green, broken up only by the clear waters or blooming flowers. It was breathtakingly beautiful.
As much as we were enjoying valdivia, we knew that we should move on to experience other areas of southern chile. For our next stop, we decided on the island of Chiloe, much further south and just off the coast of Patagonia...
Talor: Valdivia is a strange mish-mash of old and new, but I really liked it. Has an old small town feel to it, but then we'd see these modern supermarkets and department stores next to antiquated homes. Cross the bridge and the landscape changes to rolling green fi
elds with farm houses and cows grazing. And the waterfront was beautiful with clear blue waters perfect for a morning run.
We visited the market where we picked up yummy smoked salmon, and gorgeous fruits and vegetables. That evening, made a nice pasta dinner in our mini-kitchenette, and felt good to sit down to a meal we had prepared ourselves. It had been forever since we'd cooked anything and I realized how much I missed it. It's funny to think that throughout our travels, having a kitchen has become the ultimate luxury!
Could have stayed longer, but time is running out, so onto Chiloe...
To see more photos of Valdivia...
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| Valdivia, Chile |
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