Quillota

I am not sure how I ended up on a solo trip to Quillota, a small town in the interior, an hour from Viña and very close to Parque Nacional la Campana. This is not a popular destination, which in my opinion was even more reason to go there, as I hate being the same as the annoying English-speaking exchange students. I sought the Expo 2009, essentially a massive carnival with rows upon rows of stands selling almost anything, rides, and music. I had not traveled by myself on bus before. Not once. On micros yes, short trips, but to be honest, this was my first ever real bus trip. Hooray. I boarded an obnoxiously purple micro on Avenida España and was on my way. I have gathered the basic actions I need to survive a trip. My first was to ask the driver to tell me where to get off, as I had not a clue. Plan executed. Next was to get to the expo. Too far to walk: colectivo. Where do I find those? Asking. Luckily, I am good at this, and successfully found my way in.

I was fascinated by the many many cheap earrings, delicious junk food, and the vendors. I spent a ridiculous amount of time talking to whoever would listen, after all, I was alone, and they were interesting. The lady who sold me the copper earrings was fantastic, and obligingly explained the process, the origin of the wood, the meaning of the copper symbol, etc.

There was a guy selling old coins. This interested me for a number of reasons. There were old Chilean coins and coins from all over the world. I was well aware of my infinite lack of knowledge of how much these were actually worth, so I only bought really cheap ones for fear of getting ripped off. After my purchase, The vendor pulled out a massive and ancient-looking one from somewhere and proceeded to explain to me that it was from 84. What? The year 84. Does it actually say that? He showed me, and I could not read it. Year 84 antes cristo, AC. He showed me that too. Wait a minute, nothing from that time period actually reads AC antes cristo or BC before christ. Yes readers, you can be proud of this gringa for picking up on this so fast. I told him that it was not real, but he continued anyway. I don't remember the price, but it was something astronomical. Do people really believe that? This was the first time I had encountered someone who wanted to rip me off, or at least the first time I had picked up on it. Even though I bought the cheapest coins, I still walked away feeling a little ripped off. I think the ones I have are real, but maybe they are worth nothing, probably. That is ok, I would not have found them elsewhere and they are cool.

Then there was miel!! How grand! And how long I had been searching! It was weird looking though, darker than normal. I risked it anyway as it was inexpensive. Later on, I found it was rather liquidy and semi-processed, not quite the miel I had wanted. Hmm. I felt ripped off again despite my precaution. Does this only happen when I am by myself?

I had a moment of panic as I looked for a micro back to Viña. Where were they? I asked and walked and asked and walked. I turned around and saw a sign directing me to Quillota. I was outside city limits. Oops. It was getting dark, what time did they stop running? What if I got stuck? What if I was robbed right now and no one knew where I was and had no means to buy a bus ticket or make a phonecall? Then I found them. My bus, and it was a true bus, probably had 60 people on it. Really. I can't believe they let me on. The ticket guy smashed his way through to collect payment. It took him half an hour to make it to the back of the bus and return. I have never seen people have to stand for a long bus ride before, but at least 20 did, probably more. On short commuter micro rides yes, but not on long bus trips. It was intriguing though, but after the hour, by which time a seat finally opened and there was no one else to whom I could give it, my legs were not thrilled. The seat for those last 3 minutes was divine. Trip successful. And I didn't even get lost. Well not completely. As long as your definition of being lost is not being able to find your way back, in place of not knowing where you are, which are two very distinct things, then I am in good shape.