Viña del Mar

A couple of the Aussies at the hostel, D who worked for the army in Canberra and M, who was taking time off before further studies joined me for Viña del Mar and Valparaíso. There were delays while M made phone calls to try to find out about boats to Tierra del Fuego but finally we got underway around 1100. Santiago is about 120 km from the coast, so the trip took about 2 hours by bus. The highway went through 2 long tunnels and the final descent into Viña was spectacular.

The two are adjoining urban areas belonging to the Valparaíso Region. Valparaíso is a port city while Viña is a resort city. So the guide book advised to stay in Viña and just catch a city bus to visit Valparaíso. We found shared accommodation for three. Viña is an active city with much traffic and pedestrians. It was also touristy; there were many people speaking English, and we saw some Korean sailors in the post office. We had a lunch of pasta and tried unsuccessfully to look for a pastry shop.

We caught a public bus to Riñaca beach. The driver engaged in some fast and furious driving and set us down, somewhat relieved, at the water's edge. The day was overcast but mild. The waves were large, good for surfing, I imagined. People were strolling on the sand. Dogs were chasing pigeons and the pigeons didn't seem to mind either. There were holiday homes, condos and hotels facing the water. It was still the slow season; I imagined it would be more crowded in summer.

Some dogs trotted around looking for attention. One black dog laid down behind M, for the company I suppose. I decided to cover it with sand to see what it would do. Using my feet, I heaped sand on top of it until it was covered almost from head to toe. It didn't object in the least, and in fact seemed to enjoy the sensation. When I had finished I took a picture. D and M laughed when they saw what I had done.

The dog stayed put after we got up and left. Some concerned Chileans went up to it to check that we hadn't done anything dastardly. I wonder if that dog went around for the rest of its life looking to be buried in sand after that experience.

We found a gelato shop and I bought a tasty round for all. Back at the hotel, D and M got stuck into the cable TV channels. While channel hopping we came across the end credits of a film. I wonder what channel that is, mused one of them. The Credits Channel, I said, impishly. I managed to tear them away from the TV to take dinner. We had some table wine. I decided not to add coffee to the mix as that would dehydrate me even more. Fortunately I didn't wake up with a sore throat.