Ahhh, the comfort of a hotel bed and big comforters. It was like business travel all over again but breakfast and the Globe and Mail did not arrive at my door at 6:30. When looking for sustinance last night I made my way to the Parque Central and at night it was nice. Great lighting, lots of greenery, the manditory vendors and music over loud speakers. Not throbbing Metallica, which would have been interesting, but soft classical white noise. Nice, but I was spending the rest of the night in my expensive hotel room dammit. The big highlight of the night, English language TV. BBC and CNN were interesting contrasts and you can never go wrong with Charlie Sheen. I also allowed myself to watch a rerun of the absurdity that was Lost. What a dumb ass show.
A long slumber nearly cost me. I rolled out of bed at 10:00 and ate a leisurly breakfast like a pompous tourist at a resort in Mexico, Cuba or the Dominican Republic . I then did the morning routine, packed and dragged my lazy ass over to the Trans Sur bus station. Adios Copiapo, La Serena was calling. Ah Sloth and Arrogance, Deadly Sins you are. First bus out was 10:30 so I missed that one and next one was leaving at 5:15. Well that serves me right. I had used Hostelbookers to book a room in La Serena so although I was not in a hurry I did not want to hang around. I remembered that there was a Pullman bus station down the street so off I went, what the heck. BUH WHAA! They had a bus leaving at 11:30 and it was 11:25, plus the added bonus of being 4000 pesos cheaper (about 8 dollars). The bus pulled up and I was off and roaring towards my next stop with the Pacific on my right. It was sunny (a recurring theme in here) and my Ipod was charged.
A little trick I have developed that works for me is when riding any transit be it bus, train or plane is to have a bag of candies in my day pack. Our normal response when we board any transit and are nearing our seat or have already sat down is "urgh, I wonder who is going to sit beside me" and its usually followed by "hopefully she will be crazy hot" or something else along those lines. Now come on, we have all done it. Now whoever sits beside you be it young, old, man, woman or hobbitt wait a few minutes then dig into your bag and pull out a few of candies offering them one. Now I am not looking for a big chat session, who is? My ear buds go right back in and on goes the music. But for me, that little act just removes whatever small tension there is along that invisible border hovering over the arm rest. It is ALWAYS followed with a "good bye, have a great day" or some other response when the journey is over. As an example, today when pulling in to La Serena I took off my buds the lady beside me smiled said thanks again for the candy. We chatted for 10 minutes and she gave me great tips on where to go and what to see in the area.
Something so simple, crazy stuff.
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