Chillán

We arrived in Chillán on Sunday afternoon, and were met at the bus station by Margarita´s sister Maria. We knew that the family there were involved in tourism, but didn't realise until we reached ReyMar that they ran a really large complex with several pools, big open spaces, BBQ areas, a bar etc etc. We instantly felt very relaxed again! It was a lovely sunny day so we sat outside, enjoyed a few drinks and went for a bit of a wander around the complex. Rosa and Maria were very busy as there were lots of people around, but they still made time to chat to us. Later when we reached their house we also spent a bit of time chatting to Rosa's husband Ricardo. We felt bad landing on them when they were all clearly very busy, but they made us feel at home which was great.





On Monday it was another really sunny day as you can see from the picture below. In the morning we went for a wander around the town, which is a really pleasant place with some pretty plazas and an interesting cathedral and market area. We then caught a bus back to Rey Mar and that was us for the rest of the day. We had a swim, played a bit of pool and enjoyed yet more hospitality from the family who made sure that we were fed and watered whilst turning down pretty much all our offers of help!



We had decided to head straight to Santiago on Tuesday, mainly because time was ticking away quickly and we couldn't really face any more travelling. Our time in Chillán was rounded off by a delicious lunchtime BBQ and then we were off. It was really good to be able to spend a little time there and just as when we were in Buenos Aires we were overwhelmed by the hospitality. It is a real shame that we didn't get the chance to go to more places in this area of Chile, and in particular we had hoped to go to Amon's town and meet some more of their family. We will be back! In fact perhaps more than anywhere else Chile is where we would like to spend more time, it has a different feel from the other countries we've been to in a way I can't quite pinpoint. Whatever it is we could happily spend several more weeks here - as it is we're counting down the days!

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