Woke early and managed to sort out the money problem by ringing home. A big relief. As we ate breakfast, the news was new earthquakes around Santiago and the north.
Headed north to Tocopilla. Stopped at La Portada, which is a big arch in the sea. Then headed up the coast road. Every now and then there was a railway crossing and the Chileans took a lot of care across them…so we did too!
Eventually we reached Cabija, a “ghost town” though a few people are still living there but without basic amenities. It was a thriving port, founded by Simon Bolivar in 1825 but was hit by a tsunami in 1868 and a yellow fever epidemic the next year.
A bit further up the coast is Gatico, a former port that operated to 1930. The old hotel, Casa de Huespedes, still overlooks the sea, though it is gutted.
A couple of kilometres north there is a cemetery full of strange cot-like tombs, or wooden crosses with body shaped mounds. There were a few “sheds” too. There were no names on most of the graves.
Next was Tocopilla. It was hit by a big earthquake last month and many houses have collapsed. There are loads of temporary huts where families are living. We booked into the Hotel Vicuna, which has big cracks in its walls. A house opposite has completely collapsed. The man on reception told us they had a big tremor last night.
This is the entrance to our hotel!
Below is a picture of a bank van. It has an ATM built into it. Beneath is also a picture of the bank which is being rebuilt.
We found an Italian restaurant where we had a late lunch or early dinner. It had loads of nice stuff on the menu, but when we asked they were out of stock.
This is just a picture of some cloud. It is a rare thing here.
This is what is left of the hotel opposite.
We had some sad news about Molloy.
Sorry to hear about Molloy,
ReplyDeletewew are enjoying the pica.