Temuco

Hospedaje Maggi Alvarado, Recreo 209, off Av. Alemania, Temuco

The last 24 hours have been a bit of a struggle! Managed to get myself to the bus terminal for my night bus, but I´ve never seen so many people all looking lost! It was absolutely rammed. Fortunately they´d written on my ticket which row of platforms my bus was going from, but even so, it was still a choice of seven, so had to keep battling my way through with all my baggage everytime I saw a Pullman bus, as I knew that was the company I was travelling with. It ended up being an hour late, maybe more, I´m not sure as my watch has no battery (although I´ve managed to replace that today) and my phone had died. I finally managed to find some other people that were waiting for the same bus - a family, with two daughters going off to Valdivia, being seen off by their parents.

Was great once it arrived - the seats really do fold right down so they´re virtually like beds. No meal - think I´d got the idea that they actually gave you dinner on board, like on a plane, but you got a box with a brownie, some fruit, a drink, and the Chilean equivalent of a jammy dodger! Five minutes or so into the journey they switched off the lights, and that was it - everyone snoring. I slept for a bit, but then woke up with an extremely itchy face - I think it´s a combination of sun, and just the general thing of being away from home and out of a routine. Anyway, there was no way I could go back to sleep like that, so took an antihistamine, which knocked me out shortly afterwards, and next thing I knew, we were there! I think that could be the way to go from now on...

So, arriving at Temuco first thing in the morning was a bit nerve-wracking. There was the usual gaggle of taxi drivers ready to whisk you off for extortionate prices, which, in retrospect, might have been a good idea. I opted for a local bus instead, which only took me as far as the rural bus terminal. Once there, I had no idea which onward bus to get, so started walking instead which would have been fine, except the only hostel I´d managed to book was off the map in the guide book. Again, this may have worked, had the guide book mentioned that it wasn´t a street directly off the main road, but rather a street off another street! Oh, and to make it worse there were two streets with the name I was looking for, so doubly confusing for anyone trying to give me directions. I eventually found it, and was absolutely exhausted as I must have walked a good couple of miles carrying the equivalent of a sack of potatoes on my back. After a quick shower I ventured out again, under strict instructions as to which of the little buses to take - ironically there was a bus-stop about 100 yards from the front door. I suppose people just assume you´ll get a taxi and don´t think to tell you these things.

Anyway, I wandered back to the big food market that had been setting up as I got off the bus in the morning, and spent a couple of hours just watching what was going on. It was mainly food, and a lot of it just people sitting on the kerb with produce they´d grown at home, in addition to the bigger stalls. I sat next to a lady selling runner beans (approximately 15p per kilo) and watched her fill a bag for a customer, then nip over to one of the stall-holders to borrow their scales - she´d got it bang on one kilo... very impressive! I bought some bread and cheese and a couple of empanadas, (breaking my golden rule of never eat meat from the street, especially not in the heat!) Would have loved to have bought things to make a salad, but I don´t think you could have bought just one piece of something. Was great fun and kept getting wafts of lovely fresh herbs as people were walking around with big bunches of coriander for sale. There were horses and carts, but not the tourist type, as I haven´t seen anyone else vaguely European all day, and a cart pulled by cattle too. I did see a few shops which seemed to specialise in carne equino, their sales boards complete with pictures of prancing ponies, and there was some great looking seafood on sale as well. I wish I´d been feeling brave enough to give it a try, (the seafood that is, obviously not the horse meat) but it´s such a hustle-bustle atmosphere I´d have just felt like a bit of a dim-wit with my lack of Spanish, not really knowing what I was ordering.

I also wish I´d been brave enough to take my camera along, but feel as though I stand out as a foreigner enough as it is, and don´t want to do anything else to draw attention to myself. That said, I expect most people were so busy going about their daily stuff anyway that they would barely notice. I don´t know, I suppose I´m just a bit wary whilst finding my feet. The hostel here is nice - seems more like a B&B really, and I´ve got my own room (yay!) which is good as I´m knackered and have an early start tomorrow. It´s quite a bit cooler here, although still very hot in the afternoon. My hands and feet look a bit brown, although it´s probably just dirt. Had a sneaky mid-afternoon nap, as when I got back from town there was no-one home, so had to sit outside, fortunately only for an hour, and luckily in some shade, but enough to make me sleepy. The lady has a mischievious poodle called either Perla or Bella, I haven´t quite worked out which - it went for a shampoo today so is very fluffy! Was making the most of all the attention, and is actually quite entertaining for a small dog...