It did get quite cold at night. Thankfully the room had nice blankets and I slept well. I tried getting up at 6 AM (4 AM EST) to set my body to the new time zone, but could not do it.
Hector (the owner of this B&B) provides breakfast as a room service since the lobby/dining area is rather small. The breakfast consisted of a thick circular bread, 2 slices of cheese, butter and coffee. Since my options for lunch and dinner are rather limited, I decided to gorge myself on this 'vegetarian' breakfast.
I left the hotel around 9:30 AM and made my way to the Museo Arqueologico. The entrance fee was CLP 600 (US$ 1.5). It is a rather small museum and I saw all the exhibits in about 45 minutes. The La Serena area was inhabited by DIAGUTA Indians. The museum had quit a few artefacts (pottery, tools, coins etc) from this period. The museum also had an entire room devoted to the Isla de Pasqua (Easter Island to you) culture. There was a 10-12 foot tall MOAI head as well as part of this exhibit. I finally used my fancy tripod (SLIK 340 DX pro with Manfrotto 486 RC2 ball head) along with my recently acquired 24-70/2.8 lens to snap a few indoor pictures.
I continued along to Iglesia San Francisco - one of the 30 Iglesias (Churches) La Serena is famous for. I was allowed to use my tripod and I took as many pictures as possible. I continued onwards to La Serena Cathedral (located at one end of the Plaza de Armas). The Cathedral has stained glass windows but perhaps not as much history as Iglesia San Francisco. I visited the adjacent museum devoted to religious artefacts (including about 2 dozen paintings) from the early 1500s. After making a small donation for the upkeep of the museum, I headed across the plaza de armas to see the house in which Gonzalez Videla (a former president of Chile in the late 40s and early 50s) lived.
The 2 storey house is well preserved with quite a few memorabilia. The entrance fee to the Museo Arqueologico covers the entrance to Casa Videlia as well (and vice versa). I took a few exterior pictures of Iglesia Santo Domingo and continued onto Jardin des Corazon (also referred to as the Japanese Garden). It is located 2 blocks southwest of the Plaza des Armas and charges an entrance fee of CLP 600. It is a nice park and is a tranquil setting to catch one’s breath.
Before Lunch, I visited a few tour operators to arrange transportation to visit the Cerro Tololo Observatory on Saturday. None of them could help me with that as it is NOT on the popular tour route. The operators were nice enough to provide me with different options on reaching the place. I did book myself on a tour of the Elqui Valley for Sunday with Ingservtur. The tour was an all-day tour and was to cost me CLP 15000 (US$30).
I had a Vegetarian Sandwich for Lunch. There was way too much Green stuff to my liking on the sandwich. I had big avocados, tomatoes, lettuce and some other leaves! I would have preferred a simple option of toast and butter!
The Chilenos take their Siesta very seriously. Most establishments open at 10 AM and shutter at 1 PM or 1:30 PM and re-open again at 3:30 PM and stay open until 8 PM or so. I could get used to this lifestyle! Even the churches are closed during Siesta time. The restaurants are the only establishments that are open. 2 hour lunches. I do that anyways.
I got back to the hotel around 2:45 PM and spoke to Kathy (the cleaning lady at the hotel). Her husband (DOMINGO) is a taxi driver and I wanted to know if he could take me to Cerro Tololo on Saturday for a price. She called her husband (everyone has a WORKING cell phone in this place!) right away and he quoted a price of CLP 25000 (US$50). Considering that it is a 50-mile drive each way (100 miles total) with a 3 hour wait time at the observatory (while I gorge myself on all things astronomical), the price seemed reasonable. (Not that I had other options lined up). I told Kathy that I will confirm by 8 PM through Hector.
I had a siesta myself (when in Chile, behave like a Chileno) for an hour and left the hotel around 4:30 PM. I had received some text messages in Spanish indicating that my service was activated and was quite thrilled that my Phone was doing something! I visited the MOVISTAR (the local Cell phone provider) office to find out how to send text messages to USA and India. I was informed (rather belatedly) that I could NOT send international text messages for 3 Months after activation. I expressed my disappointment as to how this information (a day earlier) could have saved me CLP 4500 and the attendant frustrations that accompanied it.
I visited the tour operator TALINAY (where the man of Palestinian descent works) and inquired about tours for Friday evening to the Mamalluca Observatory. Ismael (I think that is his name) agreed to let me confirm my availability for the tour before 4 PM on tomorrow. I checked my email and placed a call (many Internet centres here double as long distance and international call centres as well) to Los Campanas observatory. Patricia Villar (with whom I had corresponded) spoke excellent English and I told her that I would not be able to make it to Las Campanas on Saturday (Dec 8). She seemed disappointed and told me to call her assistant in the event I decided to make it there tomorrow afternoon.
The simple reason was that Las Campanas is located 180 Kilometres (110 Miles) north of La Serena. For me to visit Cerro Tololo (50 Miles south) and Las Campanas (110 Miles north) on the same day was not possible. Perhaps another time.
Upon my return to Residencial La Suiza, I paid Hector CLP 48000 (US$ 96) for my 4-day stay at his B&B. I also requested him to contact DOMINGO and requested a pickup at the hotel by 7:30 AM. We agreed that Hector would serve me breakfast at 7:15 AM. We tried using Hector’s Phone and called my Chilean Mobile Number and it worked. Despite not being able to send and receive text messages internationally, it appeared that I was able to make and receive calls within Chile.
The Palestinian man had recommended a 'Hare Krishna' place that served vegetarian food. He told me that there are no external signs at this address and that I should go right ahead and ring the door bell when I reached this place (841 Lauturo). I did as told and was greeted by a HK (Hare Krishna) devotee in a sari! I was informed that they serve only lunch between 1 and 3 PM! Darn! There was a group session going on at the time of my visit. The place also conducts Yoga sessions. Too bad that my schedule over the next 2 days at La Serena will not permit me to sample their offering. (They do NOT serve anything on Sabado and Domingo – Saturday and Sunday)
I wandered dejectedly around town and found a new place called 'Cafe Morocco'. My elation was short lived as they did not offer any Arab (Falafel) or Moroccan (Tajine) food :( I requested a toast with mantequilla (butter) and hot chocolate. This was the most personable waitress I had seen in my 2 days in Chile. Most of the other waitress were all business. (More like: Oh no, that damned Vegetarian tourist!) This one appeared eager to help with my Options for food.
Post dinner, I went in search of the 'Great Ice Cream' place as described in my guide book. There was a computer repair shop at the address provided. And my guide was published in 2007! As there was a light drizzle, I headed back to the hotel. I charged all my fancy gadgets before I hit the sack.
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