Moving from Valpo onto La Serena

As it was our last day in Valpo we thought we had better put on our zip-off pants and join the crowds to visit one of the tourist attractions Museo Casa Pablo Neruda (not really about the pants, but sneakers maybe..). Neruda was the pen name for Chilean poet-diplomat and politician Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. 

It was a 45min hike up the hill to the museum, which was one of Neruda's houses, and as it was one of the less misty days we had had, we were able to get a better view of the patchwork quilt city as well as enjoy the fascinating interior of his house. I'd often said to Jimmy as we were wandering the streets that I would love to see the inside of some of the houses we were walking by, so this Mueseum allowed us to do just that. While it may not be a fair representation of the rest of Valpo's homes, it was still like nothing we had seen before. The house was a gallery of different pieces of furniture, art and nick nacks from all over the world that he had collected during his travels. Well worth the 4,000 pesos each to get inside.

After a few vino tintos with some of the others from our hostel it was time to head to the bus station to catch our 11pm bus to La Serena. Overnight bus trips have a way of bringing out any complaint your body may have and increasing it by tenfold. Even if the buses here are a hell of a lot comfier than planes or buses in NZ, they still aren't a bed so needless to say it was a loooong night.

Traveling from Valparaiso to La Serena takes just under 8 hours which had us arriving in at 5:40am. As you can imagine there wasn't a whole lot (read, nothing at all) open at that time but we did manage to pick up a pack of dogs, a drunk and then have a police escort to our hostel so it was still an adventurous start to our stay in the seaside town of La Serena.

Unfortunately our arrival was probably the highlight of our stay as after a quick catch up on some sleep, we spent the rest of the day just wandering around trying to find somewhere half decent to eat and didn't end up eating until about 5pm. I think you would call the meal our first "authentic" Chilean experience. Steak eggs & chips. It's pretty safe to say I won't be doing that again any time soon. I very quickly remembered why I don't ever eat steak!

Despite the uneventful day, we did notice how La Serena is far cleaner and tidier than Valpo or Santiago and the buildings have a distinct Spanish settler look to them.

Yarn bombing is obviously a big thing in Chile.