DougViages
Recycles dryer sheets
Yes we chose a great vacation here, arriving on Thursday.
We experienced the quake in Vina Del Mar, west of Santiago on the same bay with Valparaiso. We were literally tossed out of bed, and ran to our room's balcony, to get out from under any overhead roof. Our hotel suffered no damage, only lost power. We didn't really know how bad it was the next morning, even though we experienced some severe aftershocks after the quake. So, we continued south to our next hotel.
Well, we are back at the Hotel Oceanic in Vina Del Mar. In retrospect, we were really optimistic to drive south to Santa Cruz only hours after the quake. Major roads are closed, bridges are down, and roadways torn up. After a winding ride, including down dirt roads through the countryside, we arrived at Santa Cruz last night to find a town with some (10%) collapsed buildings, no power, and no water. They had experienced an 8.5+, and continued to have severe aftershocks while we were there (in the range of 5 to 7 on the scale). We bought fruit and melons for dinner, washed down with Chilean wine. While our little hotel was open, it had some damage, and we ended up sleeping in our car's front seats.
A British couple had experienced the earthquake there, and were a bit in shock. They were really happy when we showed up, and we led them back to Santago this morning on our way back here. The Chileans are coping quickly, but travel further south then we went is just about impossible.
In Vina Del Mar, there is power and water, and we can have our room with a balcony over the breaking waves for as long as we want. We will recast our plans, and let you know how we are proceeding.
Mierda hace! (Told to me by an old Chileano.)
We experienced the quake in Vina Del Mar, west of Santiago on the same bay with Valparaiso. We were literally tossed out of bed, and ran to our room's balcony, to get out from under any overhead roof. Our hotel suffered no damage, only lost power. We didn't really know how bad it was the next morning, even though we experienced some severe aftershocks after the quake. So, we continued south to our next hotel.
Well, we are back at the Hotel Oceanic in Vina Del Mar. In retrospect, we were really optimistic to drive south to Santa Cruz only hours after the quake. Major roads are closed, bridges are down, and roadways torn up. After a winding ride, including down dirt roads through the countryside, we arrived at Santa Cruz last night to find a town with some (10%) collapsed buildings, no power, and no water. They had experienced an 8.5+, and continued to have severe aftershocks while we were there (in the range of 5 to 7 on the scale). We bought fruit and melons for dinner, washed down with Chilean wine. While our little hotel was open, it had some damage, and we ended up sleeping in our car's front seats.
A British couple had experienced the earthquake there, and were a bit in shock. They were really happy when we showed up, and we led them back to Santago this morning on our way back here. The Chileans are coping quickly, but travel further south then we went is just about impossible.
In Vina Del Mar, there is power and water, and we can have our room with a balcony over the breaking waves for as long as we want. We will recast our plans, and let you know how we are proceeding.
Mierda hace! (Told to me by an old Chileano.)
