Bahia Inglesa, Chile 03-04.01.16

• How to get there: From Santiago to Bahia Inglesa is 894kms (9-11 hours). We got a night bus from Santiago to Copiapo taking 11 hours with Pullman bus company costing 16.000 CLP. The road is in perfect condition throughout the journey. From Copiapo take a bus to Caldera, takes 40 minutes to get there. If you go to the bus station in the morning, they will tell you how to do it. It costs 2.000 CLP per person. From Caldera to Bahia Inglesa we took a taxi that charged us 1.000 CLP each, takes 7 minutes to get to Bahia Inglesa.
• Arriving to Bahia Inglesa: Book your accommodation before you arrive, or camp at the beach if you like. Accommodation is expensive and for several days only. If you're in a tight budget, make sure you buy your food from a supermarket in Copiapo.

We stayed in a room that had a view to the sea, spacious, clean and comfortable. It cost 50.000 CLP per night paid cash. You can cook your own food at the place, so you don't need to eat out when you're here if you don't fancy spending that money.

The place looks more like a touristic area in the south of Spain than a Chilean coastal town, they live from the hundreds of people that gather here every summer to sunbathe and relax. We point out that summer here means December, January and February and as we arrived on a Sunday, it was as crowded as it gets.

Walking along the beach all you could see was the white sand and the reflection of it everywhere. The water is clear and clean, the avenue that stands beside it holds restaurants, shops and bars. By the road side, street stands sell hats, necklaces and toys that give you the true beach feeling.

The beach is empty every morning, when the clouds still cover the bright blue sky and the wind blows buoyant. When the clouds clear up, people seem to come out of nowhere and the beach becomes noisy and lively. The water remains bitter and bathing is not everybody's choice, withal it's still pleasant to sit by the sound of the sea.

We ate at Coral de Bahia, the menu is more international and it's in English and Spanish. Even though we are not very big fans of seafood, the choice of seafood is varied and appetizing. We both went for the Chicken Tikka Massala for 9.000 CLP each and had a couple of drinks. It all summed up to 24.000 CLP tip included.

Salvador de Bahia 26 & 27/11/15

Salvador was the first capital of Brazil, one of the oldest colonial cities in the Americas. It has the second largest bay in the world and it's known as the city of happiness for the amount of street parties and music, and also has the largest carnival in the world.

We arrived in Salvador the 26th very early in the morning, and from the cruise we could already feel the Caribbean vibe of this city.

After the immigration control, which was quick and easy, we jumped in a taxi to go to the host's house for 80 reales. It took 45 minutes to get to the building, in the area of Costa Azul. Many, if not most buildings in the city have a reception counter with 24h surveillance, and the receptionist helped us contact our host who received us earlier than agreed with a smile on his face. George and his wife, Naiara hosted us during our stay in Salvador. They are a relaxed, friendly couple and we spent the day with them: went grocery shopping, had lunch together and dinner.

At sunset, Naiara took us to Barra, to see the lighthouse and explained us where the carnival starts and finishes and we all watched sunset over the ocean.

The 27th we made plans to visit the city with our friends from table 277. We met at 11:30 at the bottom of Elevador Lacerda, which connects the lower town and the port with the upper town (we didn't try the lift but it costs 0'15 reales per ride).

We decided to head to Barra and see the lighthouse we visited the night before. We walked along the beach and up to a statue that represents Jesus. After taking pictures at the lighthouse and walking the entire avenue and beach, we went for lunch at the "LightHouse" restaurant, which offers a food buffet by weight (1 kg  - 29.90) and we walked in the direction of the port, where we found another beach. This was a little smaller and locals crowded it, and after a few stares we decided to get the bus to the Old Town (Pelourinho), which we hadn't seen.

The pelourinho really is the heart of Salvador. The colourful old fashioned houses gathered in steep and irregular roads. Accompanied by the sound of drums we walked until we managed to sit down on some stairs where some locals were selling something. It was five in the evening and we had to go back home to cook a promised meal for our hosts.

When we arrived we had dinner, that I cooked and prepared our luggage for a late flight to Rio de Janeiro. Our hosts kindly dropped us off in the airport at 1 am.

We heard all sorts of things about Salvador on our way there and we were a little nervous about getting around but we were pleasantly surprised by the kindness of locals who would warn us and help us find our way with a smile. We definitely recommend it.