Valdivia: a beautiful bonus

It was early in the morning when we got to Valdivia. So early, in fact, that it was still pitch dark.

Me and Chey got off the bus and instantly felt the bite of the cold. After the mildness of Santiago,it finally felt like winter. A proper Patagonian morning mist was surrounding us, giving the bus platform an eerie look.

Trying to blow mist rings.

We waited inside the (still super cold) bus terminal, where everything was still closed, until a timid light started to show. Once it was light enough, we grabbed our backpacks and got out and into Valdivia.

As I said before, we didn't know what to expect from the town, as there wasn't much information on the internet, and NONE in the guide. What we were certainly not expecting was for it to be gorgeous.

A duck flies over the river.

 With the air of an old port town,Valdivia is full of beautiful old houses covered in scales of wood (I have no idea if there's a proper word for it in English, but you get the idea, I hope) and painted with bright colours (though many are fading).

We walked around, still in the midst of the mist, looking for a "hospedaje" while being amazed by the simple beauty of the silhouettes of boats and houses across the river.

It was COLD.

The strange contrast between the cute blue house and he super creepy
abandoned half-built building. It even says "miedo" (fear) on the side.

 After finding a nice homestay owned by an esoteric nice lady (she had feng shui stuff, tarot cards, lucky bamboo plants with the red knots tied around them, astrology books and other jewels all around the place), we went to get some breakfast.

From the cafe window, while we were eating our pretty meh eggs on toast, we could see a park. And next to the park, a group of fire fighters were allowing people to have a go on the cherry picker (Chey says it's called like that, and google agrees. I just learnt something new).

It looked so high!

We hurriedly finished our already cold eggs, payed,headed to the park, and with very casual expressions stood close to the fire truck.

"Do you guys want a go?" said a nice fireman (in Spanish).

"Uhmm... ok!" we said, knowing that "wanting a go" was the only reason we approached.

Real size fireman, and (beside him) pocket size fireman.

The view as we went up.

We're such dorks.

Close to the park, we saw a condor. Seriously. Standing on top of a building.

"Oh my! quick, grab the camera! this is
amazing, it's a condor!"

...But then...

And then... 

 It seemed like condors were actually a fairly common thing around, but we quickly knew why.

In Valdivia there is a wonderful fresh produce market. They sell fish. The condors were scavenging for the fish in the stalls.

We walked through it, smelling everything and enjoying the pretty colours. Suddenly, Chey made this face :O while staring over my shoulder.

And this was what he was looking at:

A sea lion patiently waiting for fish.
 Damn, that fish must be good!

As it turns out, the river is closely connected to the ocean, so it's full of sea lions, pelicans and other guys that come enjoy the fish leftovers from the market.

Hello, my good sir, I'd like to purchase some fish,

"Beware of the sea lions" (in Spanish they're called "sea wolves").

 We coul've stayed there, taking photos of the sea lions for ages, but instead we took the afternoon to go to a park across the river, that is more like a magical forest.

A strange statue garden in the park.

I made some friends.

On the way back.

More sea lions.

This was right next to the sidewalk. I love Valdivia.

 To finish our very full day, we went searching for decent non-meaty food (a task worthy of a Tolkien book when you're in Chile). After a long stroll and many closed doors, we lost hope and started walking back through the deserted city.

Two blocks away from our hospedaje, we found a Chinese-owned Chinese restaurant.

The last supper of our crazy trip going South. And, surprisingly, the food was amazing.