Finally!! The ocean!!

Mon 20th- Wed 22nd Dec
Lets just start off by saying that Pete has way too much time on his hands at present, so even though events are seemingly told through my perspective, this entry is in fact saturated with Peter's rose coloured prose. In fact, it was Peter who has written Rochelle's disclaimer, go figure.

The sixteen hour bus ride went well… to begin with. The buses’ hidden discomforts and demons were a process of discovery. Initially we felt pampered by the seats allowing us to almost rest horizontally, with the bus set to a cool temp, and above all, knowing there was a toilet and yes there was a key for it, and yes the bus company knew its whereabouts. Perfect, we thought, the only hiccup being that we were sitting opposite the toilet, no biggie...To set the scene, picture a Amityville Horror, Chevy Chase-Vaccation movie crossover then you're there. The first problem Pete discovered was the toilet door. It didn’t want to stay closed and kept on swinging open and slamming into his chair, arm or head depending on his state of conscienceness-the door was fucking possessed! A problem he tried to resolve by pushing his big boots against it for resistance, the catch being every time someone went to the bathroom they never put the boots back-the people on the bus were in on it too! Which bought us to our second problem. The smell. Even if you only went for a pee, the smell after flushing was horrendous- It loomed. Pete hardly slept a wink at all because his nostrils complained so much. Between his sensitive nose and the demon door, not to mention the air-con being switched on and off, the ride made a good recipe for sleep depprevation and a good case for paranormal activity. I managed to get a few hours which was good enough for me. The nice thing about the trip though was smooth roads Chile had pathed for us. A luxury that Chile's neighbours sadly couldn't afford.

We arrived in La Serena tired, stiff and hungry. There was a man waiting at the station offering rooms at a reasonable price so of we went. Dumping our stuff and ripping apart our bags, a ritual which we have become accustomed to, we then ventured out into the city to find a café. We found one that served a great bacon eggs and fried tomato. Impressed with the cafe's array of delectables we also got a side of scones with cream and jam then proceeded to roll ourselves back to the hostel to sleep the morning away. Our nap didn't allow for disruptions, we were too tired.

Revitalized we headed back out again to take a look at sea level. La Serena is the second biggest city in Chile (after Santiago of course) and it was full of department stores, business-people, churches and dogs!!! So many dogs that we have made a game of counting them. Its called 'The Slum Dog Game.' It goes like this: two people, in competition with eachother, must battle to spot as many slum dogs as they can. The victor is the person who has counted the most slum dogs that day, and who wins the satisfaction of being the one who had counted the most slum dogs that day. Its harder than it sounds. Over here dogs are sneaky fuckers that could be hiding anywhere-under, on-top-of, in, spaces, places that you wouldn't first suspect. We even found a dog in a cage at a zoo! Apparently, Chile has cleverly adopted a similar notion to ''hang a picture on a wall to make it arte." Perhaps they're on to something. Which begs the question when is a slumdog not a slumdog? When you're in La Serena the answer becames somewhat clear- find it in a zoo, then count on it being exotic.

We walked to a shopping centre which was like another world long forgotten. Back-to-the-future. We ate a Big Mac and then regretted it half an hour later-its true they taste the same the world over-like a rubbery burger impostor. We walked the streets and looked at all sorts of shops, people, bought food and cooked dinner at home which was novel. It is a treat when we get to have a home cooked dinner, as a lot of our hostels and accommodation so far have'nt had, kitchens, kitchettes or even fridges to work with.

Tuesday we decided to walk to the 'playa'. And, no we didn't walk down some seedy ally to meet a tanned pimp wearing a lama fur coat and loafers to score high grade blackmarket corn, instead we walked the longest most boring street to arrive at Le Serena's seemingly most prised possession- its beach. Having not seen the ocean in many moons, since Miraflores in fact, we were hoping for some type of spiritual reunion that only the ebb of the Pacific's waves can provide. After a steady forty minute walk we found guarding the beach Le Serena's second most prised possession their quirky looking lighthouse (see picture) but unfortunately not much else. Only the odd market stall, a slum dog or two and a one massive empty green space framed with tiny grey grainy matter where the beach was ment to be. It was windy and the dark turqueoise sea was swollen and choppy. The final rub came just when the sun block came out and the sun didn't and when we were told we couldn’t even walk along the beach! That the only access to the 'beach' was from whence we came.

From what we saw, or rather didn't see, the Le Serene's public face certainly needed a lift. With no tourist friendly esplanade or even ricketty woodern walkway running parallel to the beach for to exercise your legs or camera, the city's council are really keeping the vail on the bride with this one. Maybe they're doing the world a favor, who knows. Ironically it must be told, for a beachside city, La Serena comes across as remarkably industrial to the passerby. Reducing its promises of golden sands and laidback lifestyles to mere tokenistic smatterings of iconography that glow on walls and shop windows for the locals that frequent its commerial precincts and glow even brighter to the wide-eyed yearning tourist.

We then went to the Japanese garden. It was a very beautiful, peaceful place and we enjoyed the work that had gone into it, but I think we mainly enjoyed how green it was. We were still getting reaquainted with grass, flowers and plants.

Across the road from the gardens was the zoo. We excitedly made our way there and entertained the parking lot attendants/car detailers as we looked for where we needed to pay when in fact we didn't need to. It was pretty small and very dry and again it was funnily to see in the first viewing pen a bitch with a litter of pups. Pete said that I couldn't add the dog to my 'Slum Dog Game' tally because the rusted metal cage domestified the dog and the suckers on its tit. The next rare species to be hunted, captured and displayed were a billy goat, some sheep, a rabbit… we then realised it wasn’t a real, REAL zoo, it was more like a children’s one. A one with training wheels, a zoo to support your shaky reality untill you can grasp the mind altering concept of the giraffe. We did enjoy seeing an Ostrich though, and fair enough the ostrich isn't without its strangeness; its those huge eyes that do it, they stare straight through you. I peace- offered it some grass then we split.

We walked back through town, eyeing the shop posters promoting something the city couldn't provide. We stopped for a beer and went back to the hostel to get ready for our seven hour bus ride to Santiago in the morning.

written by

Pete+Rochelle on December 27, 2010 from La Serena, Chile

from the travel blog: Round the world!!!

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