Getting Around

Importantly, I AM navigating this little town. I’ve even been to a neighboring city twice! But it is definitely not by knowing how to do it. So far, I credit pure dumb luck.

DAY 1:

First lucky break: My AirBnB hosts offered to pick me up at the airport. I avoided taxi stands and searches of Uber license plates. And the couple are absolutely lovely! They speak a little English, so with my limited Spanish we communicated just fine. They oriented me a little to the small town where I’m staying and to the vicinity of my apartment. But my apartment is at the edge of town, so to get to the center, I need to use the local transport system. And I did not rent a car. The idea of learning to drive, park, gas up, navigate, and understand traffic patterns while driving a potentially lethal weapon?? No thanks. I’m taking my chances with public transit.

Second stroke of luck: A good-sized supermarket is walking distance. When it starts raining (which it does A LOT I am told), the walk could be much less pleasant, but on Day 1, it was infinitely doable, even if along some fairly busy roads.

DAY 2

My goal on my second day was to explore the downtown (El Centro) and get my first glimpse of the surrounding snow-capped volcanoes. I started walking in what I hoped was the right direction to find a bus stop. But…

Public transit in this little town does not seem to involve marked bus stops or bus route numbers. I passed a few shelters on the side of the road that seemed like they might be bus stops. But with absolutely no signage, I didn’t spend a ton of time waiting at them.
What I am looking for is apparently not called by locals a “bus.” Buses are for going between cities. For a local bus to take me downtown within the same city, I need a “micro,” so asking a local couple for directions to a bus stop did not help.

Left to right: (a) One of the intercity buses I was originally searching for, a “bus azul” (blue bus). Cost depends on which city you want to go to, from between 85 cents to $2.00. (b) A “micro”: a non-descript white bus with limited signage. Also about 85 cents. (c) One of the shelters on the side of the road. The shelter itself does not say anything about which buses stop there. (d) On Day 5 I did see the first “PARADA” sign associated with a shelter (click to enlarge).

That I didn’t yet know the word “micro” is not the only reason that asking for directions was fruitless. I have quickly learned that although Chileans can understand me, I CANNOT understand them. I am operating on 20% understanding the Spanish, 30% body language, and 50% no fucking idea what they are saying.

Ultimately, on Day 2, I got a colectivo to the town center. A colectivo is a kind of “group taxi” that operates a little like a bus by traveling establish routes at a fixed price but can only fit 4 people at a time. I had read that locals depend on these, so I was prepared. But I didn’t know (and still don’t) what the established routes and fixed prices are. On that first day, I persevered and waved down a colectivo. It stopped for me and I bent toward the window to ask if the driver was going toward “El Centro.” Of course, he said several sentences that I did not understand AT ALL. So I employed a trusty phrase that has helped in the past, “Mi espańol no es bueno.” My Spanish is not good. It works magic. Suddenly people speak slower, using simple Spanish words and phrases, and my understanding skyrockets to about 60%. I KNEW my Spanish wasn’t THAT bad!

Colectivos in El Centro. The larger print on the roof-top signs seems to be advertisements, and the small print is the route. That’s all I’ve figured out. Decoding the “route” still eludes me. Cost: about 95 cents.

There were already 2 passengers in the colectivo, one in the front and one in the back, so I climbed in the back, determined the price, and got out my pesos. But we hadn’t gone but a few blocks before he stopped again and took on another passenger.

This new passenger was not a small man.

I sat in the middle.

Luckily, the colectivo stopped again a couple blocks later, and the original two passengers got out, so now it was just 2 of us in the backseat. The driver was kind enough to try to speak slow Spanish with me, and I successfully arrived at the main shopping district and downtown. The weather was gorgeous and I enjoyed my first look at the lake and 3 snow-capped volcanoes rising on the other side. Families were enjoying a sunny Sunday afternoon. It was lovely. I returned home in what may have been a colectivo operating as a taxi for my benefit, and my extra pesos. I really have no idea how I ended up back in my neighborhood and an easy walk to my apartment. Pure dumb luck. (Maybe with a little Spanish and much gesturing and pointing.)

The three volcanoes across Lake Llanquihue on a clear day: Osorno (left), Tronador (middle, in the distance), and Calbuco (right). (Note: the view is rarely this clear!)

DAY 3

I felt that I had learned enough about my transport options that I could find a colectivo closer to my apartment building than the day before. Alas, it was not to be. There was still a lot of aimless wandering while observing traffic patterns, buses and taxis going in multiple directions with no clear stops marked, until stumbling upon a colectivo that actually stopped. I wanted to go as close as possible to the train station. Dumb luck: I made it within a walkable distance.

The train: I have learned that this is a new, or newly restored, method of transport here. It uses old restored stations but has new trains. It is the modern-city transit system that a stupid tourist craves! It has a schedule and clearly marked stations. You buy tickets on board with a tap of your card or phone and the conductor prints a receipt. The downside: It only goes to 4 towns, one stop each, and not within the towns to specific neighborhoods.

I had gone to the train station with the idea that I would go to an even smaller city to the north as I continued to orient myself and take in the sights. But when I got to the station, I learned that the next train going north was in about 1.5 hours, whereas the next train going south, to the larger city, was in 7 minutes. Southward I went!

I considered just taking the train back to where I started. But instead I got off and discovered a connecting bus to the downtown that accepted my train ticket. The train conductor who sold me the ticket had also disembarked and explained this (or … I think he did. I was operating on my 20/30/50 ratio of understanding, body language, and wtf). I boarded the bus and arrived downtown. I felt so smart!!! Or like the beneficiary of more dumb luck.

To get home, I walked where Google Maps told me I could find a major bus hub, with buses going back to the town where I “live.” I hopped on, gloried in the fact that the bus driver made change for my too-large bill, and had a seat. We were heading in the right direction, but I began to wonder whether the bus I was on would take me to my neighborhood or only to El Centro. I suspected I was on an “express” bus that would turn left where I wanted to turn right. As we neared the city, I decided to ask. He confirmed that he would not be going that way, so I hopped off near a major intersection and thanked him. Had I moved beyond luck to knowledge and understanding?!!

I had been at this intersection before. It is where I had gotten the colectivo that first day, when I enjoyed the very intimate few blocks squeezed 3 people in the backseat. So I had hope that I could find a colectivo. I positioned myself on the correct side of a street going the direction I needed to go and flagged down the first colectivo. How surprised was I to find it was the same driver from that morning?!? And he remembered me. We conversed as we headed toward my neighborhood — meaning he spoke quickly and incomprehensibly and I nodded — until we got to a corner I recognized and asked him to drop me there. A short walk home and I had survived Day 3 of getting where I (mostly) wanted to be.

DAY 4

I admit I started the day enjoying my comfortable apartment, with big windows to look out upon the beautiful weather, and considered just hiding there and avoiding more transit adventures and incomprehensible Spanish. But I told myself that I must take advantage of the gorgeous weather while it lasted.

Volcan Osorno. Not visible FROM my apartment, but this view is just a short walk away. On a sunny day, that is.

And so it was on Day 4 that gave in and called an Uber. *Cue the soundtrack for clouds parting upon a vision from heaven!* All functioned exactly as expected: The Uber driver came directly to my condo complex and took me exactly where I wanted to go, with no broken Spanish required. It was 3x as much as a bus or colectivo. But that is 3x $1. So it was $3. Yeah…. I know….

But I am not going to give in to the Uber drug. I will use it in the rain or when speed and accuracy are vital to reaching a destination. But while I’m living in this small town on the edge of one of largest lakes in South America, at the gateway to Patagonia, I want to learn the basics. There’s no subway or obvious regional bus system. There are no pre-paid transit cards that you wave at a scanner. There are local solutions like “colectivos” and “micros.” I want to be the person who lives here for 6 weeks and learns about the local way of life. And I’m doing that. With the help of some dumb luck.

But check back in a week to see if I’m still saying that!

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