This morning was a early rise and transfer to Calama airport about an hour or so drive away from San Pedro. Calama airport itself was tiny, but a new terminal is being built next door, presumably to allow international flights into the touristy San Pedro. We sat upstairs and ordered a coffee and something to eat. Jane ordered a donut and got 3, I ordered a piece of cake and got nearly the whole cake. Actually i think the wedge equated to about 1/8th of the cake and it was a big cake.
The flight itself was pretty uneventful. We got a snack and a light lunch. We stopped in Copiapo, basically to pick up the local football team and take them to Santiago. Speaking of football, I’ve seen Australia flash up on monitors a lot and in the paper. Basically because we got drawn in the same world cup pool. I’m sure the Chileans look at Australia as the only team they have a chance of beating, but I’ve also seen how upset they are about the easy pool the Argentineans got. I tend to agree, if only Australia and Iran were swapped……
Valparaiso street towards the harbour
Back in the real world, we managed to catch the bus to the bus station. Now the hostel in Valparaiso had warned us about the highway being closed for some religious ceremony. At the bus terminal chaos reigned as we were told by two bus companies they had no tickets. Luckily Pullman had seats, but apparently we would go via an old road, however the bus took an hour and a half and went via the freeway. Jane and Claire were more observant than I sitting in the luxurious front row bus seats and noticed the pilgrims walking along the highway. I just listened to some music and coughed a lot instead. Oh thanks for everyones concerns, I am pretty much as well as I’m going to be for now, my appetite is back and just an annoying cough to deal with.
We arrived in Valparaiso and the first thing we had to do was eat. We found a nice restaurant Cafe Vinilo. I had a delicious pork dish and the girls felt a desire to eat anything that came from the sea. I feel sorry for the dolphins, who missed out on their fish and octopus 🙂
After dinner we strolled up and down the hill or two that we are staying on. Tomorrow, apparently according to me they are rushing off to the beach at 6am. I’m going to explore Valparaiso, because beaches are everywhere in Australia and as far as I know there are no Valparaiso’s in Australia.
Valparaiso by night