Today we ventured into Con Con, a beach town about 20 minutes away from Vina. I was anticipating another beach day like the others, mostly relaxing, but maybe trying to rent some kayaks or something. The adventure began when our micro took a turn away from the beach. We waited a few blocks before getting off not where we were supposed to be. We were in Con Con as planned, but we were supposed to be meeting Sam somewhere that wasn't very clear, and Jacob thought he knew where we were going.
Based on Leah's suggestion that her family had taken a left turn and reached dunes, we backtracked and took the turn on foot. It should have been immediately obvious that our walk was not going to be productive, but like every other matter of common sense in Chile we missed the warning signs.
We walked past a myriad of stands selling tomatoes, avocados, olives, and other vegetables, some for as little as $2 for 3 kilos. We continued over two bridges, across a train track and on up a hill for about 6 kilometers. The road we had taken was basically a two-lane highway, and when the shoulder got more narrow we were nearly blown over by semi-trucks rushing past us. Our walk started at about 4:30, and by 6 the sun was threatening to set and we still had no idea where we were supposed to be finding Sam.
We made the decision to turn around and try to find a bus when we came upon a beach access. I was quite tired and all for finding a bus, but everyone wanted to "check it out." On the sandy path down to the ocean we spotted a group of tiny kittens hiding in a bush. The sand was a relief for our aching feet and we took off our shoes to enjoy it. We could see Con Con, now miles away, from where we arrived on the beach, and decided to make the walk home oceanside. Midway down the beach we came upon a group of literally thousands of seagulls; walking through them as they lifted off was one of the most amazing sights I have ever witnessed.
The beach was getting us ever closer to our goal when a fisherman called to us that we wouldn't be able to continue in the direction we were headed. The bridges we had crossed in the beginning of our journey were there for a reason, and we'd have to trek back up to the road to reach them. He gave us confusing directions in Spanish and sent us off.
As we climbed the dunes from the beach we encountered mountains of plastic that seemed to suggest a lie about recycling, but I thought it was probably just trash washed up from the beach. Further trekking brought us parallel with an industrial-type plant that we joked probably contained ladrones. The road the fisherman sent us toward was in the distance when we happened upon the train tracks from before.
Despite Leah's fear of train tracks and the areas surrounding them, it seemed to be the fastest route from A to B, and I proposed that we follow them. I almost regretted my suggestion when we encountered three Chileans on horseback who seemed to be coming toward us. Though our paths intersected, they were harmless, and appeared to be returning home to a shantytown east of the train tracks. I nudged Kacie to take a picture, but it is always shocking to me the contrast in living conditions one can find within small distances.
Though my story doesn't give justice to the amount of walking we actually endured, we finally made it back to the bridges where we found Sam, but unfortunately the sun really was setting, and there wasn't really any time left for the beach. We were all starving, and Con Con is famous for its empanadas; we were all dying for one. Instead of going to one of the thousand empanada stands near the bridges, Sam said we should wait for a little ways down the road where there were some very nice beach-side restaurants.
Whether or not these restaurants actually exist is up for debate, because we kept on walking until the sun set without seeing any, and started to worry we may not be able to get a bus back to Vina. Followed by a small group of street dogs, we finally found a bus stop and sat down for the first time in hours to wait for a micro. It took about 20 minutes, but a micro finally came to save us.
Luckily, we had started the day without many expectations, saying that it would be an exploratory visit. I think that we may have "explored" a little more than we needed to, but I think that sore feet and a sunburn is a small price to pay for a real Chilean adventure.
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