Arrived by luxury coach from Valpo, departing there 1520 arriving here 1900 just on dusk. Caught a taxi to my digs - 1,500 pesos (NZD$3) and managed to draw the attention of the host to let me in. It's cheap - NZD$17 / night and you get what you pay for. Just thought I'd reinforce that! The apartment in Valpo was dearer at around NZD$35 per night but far better value despite being in a big city. Twice the price but 10 times better. It's not tourist season here so the whole town is quiet and I won't stay longer here unless the host is prepared to meet my offer of NZD$17 per night for any extra nights I decide to stay. Meals are also about the same price as in Valpo and Santiago - around NZD$12 with a coffee. I wandered down to the sea front this morning for a stroll and to get some brunch - I was hoping for muesli (granola) or something similar but had to settle for fish with fresh diced tomato and finely chopped onion and boiled rice (often served on the side instead of potato) unless you ask for papa (fries). Despite asking for a cafe / latte / cappuccino and thinking I was understood I got a hot chocolate which I didn't drink and made it clear that it was definitely coffee I wanted - it came. The fish was disappointing - a large boneless fillet but dry and not what I expected for a fishing village like this. It may have been partly the species and partly overcooked (deep fried in a cornflour coating). There's plenty of fresh shellfish in the market including huge pipis, tuatua and mussells. A large sea lion was swimming under the wharf while I strolled along it and a few fishermen trying their luck with rods and lines at the end - no sign of any catch, though. Restaurants add 10 or 15 percent of the cost of meals to the bill, by the way, which surprised me. Apparently it isn't compulsory to pay that "service charge / tip" and at times I don't. Street vendors, on the other hand only charge the net cost e.g. 1,000 pesos for an Empanada (pie). A butcher shop I was in this morning had no prices displayed on the meat and I suspect have a two tier pricing system - one for the locals and one for the tourists. Supermarkets on the other hand have their meats priced so there's no surprises at the cashier. I'm not cooking, of course, no facilities for that in this establishment but there is a small common use kitchen and dining room where you can fix a coffee (and eat a pastry if you happen to have one).
At last I was able to find an ATM that "spoke" English so I could get some money out - I was getting a bit worried that I might run out before I found one! In Valpo I tried and gave up because I just couldn't decipher the options, but here I found one with an English language option so was able to trawl through the menu to withdraw 50,000 to keep me going for the next week or so - I still had a couple of hundred USD but finding a money exchange is almost impossible and no-one takes USD cash (not even banks, it seems!).
The weather is cool here - the air comes off the cold Humbolt (?) current which sweeps up this coast from the Antarctic but despite that I'd like to get in for a dive if I could as the water is crystal clear and the coast rocky like Island Bay / Owhiro Bay. If the water temperature is above 17 C I'll see if I can hire a snorkel and gear and go in (are there sharks in these waters??). The air condenses into fog as it comes ashore which is how the trees survive - no water in the ground by the look of it - bone dry everywhere!
I may stay here longer in my deserted dorm room (unless a noisy troupe of flamenco dancers arrive to destroy the peace and quiet and I decide to move on earlier) lol.
All for now. Adios!
Maybe the wharf needs some minor repairs?
The fishing boats add a dash of colour to the beach.
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