Finally, a day to sleep in - well, sorta. After waking up so early the past few days, sleeping in until 10: 00 A.M. felt very luxurious. It took the troops a while to get coordinated and since there was no scheduled activity for the day, the 10: 00 A.M. departure time got pushed back nearly an hour.
By 11:00 A.M. we were piled in a taxi, breezing through the tree-lined streets of Provedencia, on to the downtown area to the Terminal de Bus Alemeda. The bus station was a bustling scene, bordering on chaotic. I asked the rest of the family to stay put while I navigated my way through the terminal to figure out where to buy our bus tickets. There were about 50 different bus companies, each with a few different ticket windows, and each with buses leaving to popular destinations ever 20 minutes or so. Chaos. Thankfully, I had navigated a similar scene on my previous trip to Chile, which gave me a little more confidence in executing the task of buying tickets this go around. I found the company recommended by our guide book (Tur-Bus) and asked for 4 seats on the next bus to Viña del Mar, which I easily secured. I quickly rounded up the troops and we headed back across the street to platform 5, where our bus was to depart from in fifteen minutes time. A few minutes before the schedule departure time, we boarded the comfortable, air-conditioned tour bus (staffed and run very professionally) and quickly pulled out of the station. Who says everyone is late in Latin America?
We only made one other stop at another bus terminal in the city before continuing on to Viña with a full bus-load of passengers. The two hour trip was actually very relaxing; I spent the time writing and reading about our next destinations, as well as enjoying the beautiful views of the Casablanca Wine Valley.
At 2:00 PM, we pulled into the station at Viña del Mar and were immediately bombarded by taxi drivers, hotel owners, and tourist guides eager to assist us with any of their services.We bypassed the vendors and made a B line to the taxi stand where a friendly guy took us to Hostal Reloj del Flores B&B.
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