6AM I arrived at La Serena. The cold forced me to buy a small cup of coffee at 700 CLPs at the only place that had heating. This cup has to last me from 6 to 7:45AM Good luck with that. I talked to a Dutch family from Rotterdam and I survived the hour without being bothered by the owner.
4PM Well,this was an uneventful day indeed. I don't know where I am and haven't done anything except sleeping and reading papers from Cherie. The desert was hot in the afternoon, probably into the mid 80s. I think I will get to Antofagasta of northern Chile at around 6 PM.
8PM The bus is basically 2 hours late. I bought a Tur-bus ticket for 5,500 CLPs for one that left at 9:45PM, which means I wouldn't get to San Pedro tonight. I saw another bus with Calama written on it and ran downstairs to find the departure time, hoping that it would be in time for the last bus to San Pedro de Atacama. The woman said she can't sell the ticket and told me that I had to speak to the driver. I ran upstairs again, finding with the help for a woman that the bus was almost out the gate. She explained in Spanish and they let me on. At first I thought they were not going to charge, but they came back in half an hour asking for 10,000 CLPs because I was sitting in business class on the bottom level. To be honest, I liked it even less than the econom seats. While they were wider, they had less leg room. Anyway, they are a different company and I argued so that they took my Tur-bus ticket without charging me extra.
11PM I arrived at Calama and there were no bus to San Pedro. It didn't seem like it was -2 degrees Celsius at all. I had to spend the night here. Four hotels refused me because they were either full or for reasons I didn't understand. I asked a kid on the street. He and his friends led me to a bar. They were concerned for my safety and called the police. Seven of them showed up, checked my passport and drove me to the hospital. We locked my luggage in a little room and I think I may have gotten 2 hours of sleep the whole night. It got progressively colder, perhaps down to below -2 degrees Celsius. I left the hospital at 6:15AM. Unfortunately, nothing was open and some concerned construction workers let me in and gave me coffee so I could kill some time before 7 AM.
4PM Well,this was an uneventful day indeed. I don't know where I am and haven't done anything except sleeping and reading papers from Cherie. The desert was hot in the afternoon, probably into the mid 80s. I think I will get to Antofagasta of northern Chile at around 6 PM.
8PM The bus is basically 2 hours late. I bought a Tur-bus ticket for 5,500 CLPs for one that left at 9:45PM, which means I wouldn't get to San Pedro tonight. I saw another bus with Calama written on it and ran downstairs to find the departure time, hoping that it would be in time for the last bus to San Pedro de Atacama. The woman said she can't sell the ticket and told me that I had to speak to the driver. I ran upstairs again, finding with the help for a woman that the bus was almost out the gate. She explained in Spanish and they let me on. At first I thought they were not going to charge, but they came back in half an hour asking for 10,000 CLPs because I was sitting in business class on the bottom level. To be honest, I liked it even less than the econom seats. While they were wider, they had less leg room. Anyway, they are a different company and I argued so that they took my Tur-bus ticket without charging me extra.
11PM I arrived at Calama and there were no bus to San Pedro. It didn't seem like it was -2 degrees Celsius at all. I had to spend the night here. Four hotels refused me because they were either full or for reasons I didn't understand. I asked a kid on the street. He and his friends led me to a bar. They were concerned for my safety and called the police. Seven of them showed up, checked my passport and drove me to the hospital. We locked my luggage in a little room and I think I may have gotten 2 hours of sleep the whole night. It got progressively colder, perhaps down to below -2 degrees Celsius. I left the hospital at 6:15AM. Unfortunately, nothing was open and some concerned construction workers let me in and gave me coffee so I could kill some time before 7 AM.
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