I woke up around 6am and we had left behind the lush, green landscape of Chile´s lake district. We´re on the outskirts of Santiago now and the urban sprawl intensifies as we head towards the city and its bus terminal.
We reach the terminal around 7.30. I´m not stopping in Santiago on this occasion. I find out the time of the next bus to La Serena, about 7hrs North of here on the coast. It seems to be a nice city. Me buddy Joe recommended it so I´m hoping it will be a good stopover on the journey up to Peru. I have an hour to wait. The bus pulls out at 8.30 into Santiago´s morning rush hour but its a surprisingly quick ride out to the city´s outskirts. As we join the motorway north the driver accelerates to cruise along the open road.
The cattle, shhep, ostriches and flamingos of the south are gone. The pastureland has been replaced by a drier, brown arable land. There are vineyards, orchards and plots growing different crops. Barren looking hills and low mountains hem in the narrow fertile valleys. Most of the work in the fields seem to be done by manual labour. I see only one tractor during the next 6hrs. There are plenty of people in the fields hoeing or stooped over to tend to plants.
We leave the agricultural district and enter a barren region. The land is littered with scrub bushes and tall cactii, the mountains remain the same. Suddenly they fall away on the left handside and a view of the ocean opens up, cool grey under overcast skies. We follow the coast all the way up to La Serena, stopping once for a food break, reaching the city in the mid-afternoon.
La Serena is Chile´s second oldest city. Founded on Sept 4th, 1544, a good day!! It was built to provide a sea link between Lima and Santiago. It still retains much of its 16th and 17th century buildings so with its seaside location it remains a picturesque location. La Serena has a twin. There are basically two cities in one here. La Serena occupies a sweeping bay with 4km of beach and surf. On the south side of the bay a small headland protrudes and curves northward. Coquimba occupies this headland and faces La Serena across the bay. The town is marked by a distinctive 96m tall crucifix which light up at night. Not quite Rio but distinctive all the same.
The guesthouse I stay in tonight is brand new. This is its first night of business and I´m the second person through the doors. I take the cheapest option, a 4-bed dorm, and gamble that because the place is so new that I´ll have the room to myself. I lie down for 2hrs and struggle to get up at 6pm. I have a shower, cold, and this wakes me up.
I go out to have alook at La Serena. I first look for a bite to eat as I´m starving. A bowl of seafood soup and half a chicken and chips later my hunger is sated. With my stomach happy I go for a wander. The town does have plenty of character with its 16th century churches and fine old streets and plazas. It was a bright and breezy evening. Plenty of people were milling about the streets. Many of the bars were full with workers lounging around sipping beer and chatting after the days work. It was nice not to see throngs of backpackers in the place. There were some but nothing like the concentration in Puerto Natales and other places. As It got dark I returned to the dorm. the landlady had kindly put a tv in the dorm. I watched some tv and quickly fell asleep.
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