End of a year

Day 214 – Valparaiso, Chile

I had an interesting beginning today. When I bought my bus ticket, I asked the staff member who helped me where was the bus terminal. She pointed to a metro station which I already knew was a bus terminal.

So… I went directly there. With plenty of time because well, always schedule a time buffer. Because I’m thorough (…after the fact…), once arrived, I checked the address against the one on my ticket. Guess? It wasn’t the same.

So I checked Google Map, asked an employee (in case my bus were in fact going through this bus terminal), and was directed to the correct terminal, which was only 4 metro stations away. Since I had 45 min before I was supposed to be at the bus terminal (for the 20 min early arrival asked by the company), no sweat. I was a bit grumpy, but it was my fault for not checking.

So I arrived, found the right bus bay, waited for my bus, went on, no trouble. The bus left on time. And guess where it stopped to take on more passengers 10 min later…? Yep. The bus terminal I went to first.

Valparaiso – Pink house

The trip went well, the bus was very comfortable. Once in Valparaiso, I decided to walk to my hostel rather than trying to wrangle a taxi or climb in a small bus with my backpack. 15 min seems quick, but with a heavy pack, it seems longer! Fortunately my new backpack is very comfortable.

Then, since I’m staying in a place with a kitchen and tomorrow everything would be closed, I went to the nearest supermarket to buy some food.

It started with a smile -when you see a man on his phone looking dubiously at a product, you imagine that he was sent by his significant other to get something and that he is checking that he has the right one.

It’s a cliché for a reason.

Valparaiso and its famed painted houses

Then… well, obviously, I wasn’t the only one shopping that afternoon. I think that all the registers were open, with long lines at each. I think I queued for half an hour. Which is why I always have a good book -or 40, that’s what e-reader are for- with me.

I met some other guests at the hostel, there are Australian -singing and dancing a song with gum trees, plum trees, sheep, kangaroos, back porches and rocking chairs?- and Russian travellers. I was asked to record them dancing the song, which apparently has a set choreography. I might suspect that a few glasses of wine had been had by the lot.

Along the sidewalks, hawkers sold New Year accessories: colourful hats, 2019 glasses, fireworks and other assorted streamers and confetti.

I cheated by not going to the favorite places to look out on the firework show, but I caught some from the street.