Off to Temuco today via Tur Bus, but first we have to get
ready. Surprisingly enough, we manage to
be ready BEFORE it’s time to go. Late
yesterday we found out that there is a strike at the airport, causing chaos
with flights in and out of Santiago.
Figuring that this might cause a spike in demand for buses, we head off
to the bus terminal a bit earlier than originally planned. Seems it might have been a wise choice, with
the traffic heavier than expected and it being a bit further than we figured.
On getting out of the taxi, I have one of my less good
moments. In Chile, and particularly
Santiago, I’m well aware of the taxi scam where a tourist hands the taxi driver
a 10,000 peso note and looks away. The
driver then says hey, it’s not enough and shows a 1,000 peso note. The tourist, not being familiar with the
currency, then apologises and hands over another 10,000 peso note. Unfortunately on this occasion, it played out
almost exactly as written. EXCEPT, I was
distracted enough with trying to get out of the taxi that I may well have
handed over a 1,000 peso note originally.
I had reached into my wallet and thinking the notes at the back were the
10,000 peso ones, I took the first one and handed it over without looking, then
went to get out. Hey, he said, it’s not
enough, showing me the 1,000 peso note.
I curse myself for not paying more attention but because I’m not sure, I
have no recourse but to hand over a real 10,000 peso note. Bugger.
While I don’t think I was scammed, there is enough doubt to have me
continuing to wonder. Andrea, very
helpfully, is furious with me, concluding that I was most definitely scammed. I can’t take a trick…
We collect our pre-booked tickets without having to queue
and without fuss. Remarkably easy. That might be the first time I’ve used those
words in Chile!
Our bus arrives and on we get. We’re in Salon Cama class – the fancy(ish)
downstairs part with the seats that recline almost to horizontal. Andrea kindly reminds me to be paranoid about
everyone, because everyone will be out to rob the gringo.
The trip is long and mostly event-free. At our first stop, Andrea ducks off to the
toilet, which takes longer than it does to deposit and receive passengers. The buses run to such tight timeframes that
they pull out of the parking bay without us (or the conductor) on the bus, so
we have to run a little to get back on.
At our third stop, it’s my turn to be almost left behind. I had to wait to get my toilet entry token
for about a minute while the lady attended to someone who wanted to collect his
left luggage from the same location. She
moved, literally and without a word of exaggeration, in slow motion.
We arrived into Temuco about 20 minutes behind schedule, but
nonetheless safely, which is no mean feat given Tur Bus’ relatively poor safety
record over the years. It was
comfortable enough and not very expensive (on this leg).
The family are pleased to see us, as expected and have a
nice dinner waiting for us. It’s light
until nearly 10pm, which is still catching us out. It seems like it has only just gone dark and
we look at the clock and realise why we are so tired – it’s nearly midnight. I climb into bed and am asleep in about 30
seconds.
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