Valdivia, Saturday

2019 Left hotel about 8. At Dino's in centreish for lomo a lo pobre; not super happy with the place but since I have to be back by midnight didn't want to dither too much. Fucking curfew. I might not have been out late but it's one thing to choose to be back and another to have to structure everything around being back.

Quick look at guide book says main thing to do here is fullish day boat tour. Plan is to book hotel and onward travel and boat trip tomorrow and do the trip Mon.

Given I want to be in Santiago over weekend am toying with doing an overnight bus Tuesday night to Santiago and staying there 5 nights. Bit long but still. Will see if there is availability, I would like a self-contained apartment and ideally Inmoba. Anyway, bread here. Having pepsi light now BTW.

2059 Getting bill, food OK. Steak was sort of good if slightly rarer than I prefer but was a bit bedevilled with intrusive bits of fat. Still.

If do go to Santiago overnight Tuesday would miss out on Concepcion which is perhaps - FFS 9400 before tip, oh well, most expensive meal in Chile yet - a shame but I really do want to be in Santiago for Thu-Sun. The alternative is to do Concepcion and somewhere else for about a week first. May do that if I can't get good accommodation in santiago but otherwise I don't want to stretch my time in Chile too much and barring major life changing events I will be back. Guess we'll see what happens when I look at accommodation. Anyway, making it 10300 which is a smidge under 10% but sod it. Let's go find somewhere nice for a beer, though can't waste too much time hunting.

2120 At Clover (not very) Irish bar on Esmeralda, this is in guide book which also said most nightlife is on this street. Wandered, this looked OK. Sat outside, waitresses ignored me so went in to bar after 5 mins or so. Got 700ml of Toromayo (sp, I forget, it was written on the pump, this is all artesanal stuff from nearby Kunstmann brewery), asked how much it was a chap said I pay at the end. Which doesn't exactly answer my question but will wing it. Multiple glass sizes up to litre, my Spanish is struggling, perhaps in part as I feel a little hacked off and dislocated. Still.

Not a bad drop. A touch fizzy but does have some flavour and body to it.

2205 Went to bar for 700ml of Kunstman Bock this time, dark (probably what Bock means, I dunno). Waitress on way back with beer asks if I am sat at first table outside. No problem but she might have said to tell her if I go to the bar (or bog?), fuck knows. How am I supposed to find her? None of them wanted anything to do with me when I first sat down. I feel slightly surly as a result of the various minor setbacks since arriving in Valdivia and my Spanish is suffering.

Now some male waiter just turned up and brough a Bock. Fuck knows. Given the guy I spoke to at the bar *poured it for me and handed it to me* I cannot see why this should happen. He took it away. The fact no one would fucking serve me at the table when I got here is making me resentful of the useless wait staff hassling me now.

Very full bodied, perhaps almost coffeeish. But not bad. I feel a twat trying to describe it, I like beer but I don't have a refined palate and I sure don't have the associated vocabulary. But might as well try.

2240 Told waitress going to bar and she kind of insisted on fetching for me. But she waited until I got back from bog before fetching it (she did at least stick a reserved sign on my table). Honestly, I don't try to make my Spanish worse in these situations. I think in large part as I feel so on edge my comprehension goes down and it spirals from there. I can only hope things will improve over time (years) as I continue to study and practice, though I sometimes wonder if I do enough. But maybe one day I will be able to be sullen in Spanish as fluently as I can be in English.

2307 Got bill, lots of third beer left but the Cinderella factor has to be accounted for. 7590 including suggested 10% tip. Paid 7500. Feels a bit fucking cheeky given lack of service earlier but sod it, not arguing. Not exactly cheap (given I paid 2k for a litre at that surly bar in Castro) but this is 'proper' draught beer and it could be worse. About eight quid for three more-than-pints isn't too bad viewed from a London perspective, putting aside the local one. Probably will try somewhere else if come out tomorrow but you never know.

2320 OK, nearly finished this beer. Would have drunk more slowly and been more relaxed if not for this midnight shit but can't be helped. Had slash few minutes ago and back to hotel shortly. Think is about 15 mins tops but definitely not time for another, plus even turning up 7pmish w woman from other hotel who had I think phoned ahead it took ages to be let in, woman from other hotel had started to wander around in hope of finding someone.

2337 Back at hotel. Knew it was close but came on it earlier than expected. Some woman who let me in asked about breakfast and did my best in my current state to say probably 10 but didn't want to promise to be there. Bar was still busy as left and other places evidently still busy but hey, I'm Cinderella tonight.

0045 Looked at Santiago accom. Suites predominate at low end anyway (on expedia; not bothered elsewhere). But I want aircon & a balcony. Inmoba is booked for 5 nights both this Wed and a week on Wed. There is one place which probably satisfies my criteria at £196 for five nights, will prob take a punt on that but given doesn't seem too overbooked will prob try to book bus ticket tomorrow first. Just conceivably might retrace steps south to visit Concepcion after Santiago before heading north to Calama, failing that will do it on a subsequent trip. Always good to save some stuff for the future,and as said earlier barring major life changing shit I will be back.

Don't want to get my hopes up re Santiago and 'party' but I've been lucky in the past and in any case it's a very pleasant spot to pass a few days, the fact I have done the major tourist stuff means I can take it easy and enjoy myself. I might hope, given the two months remaining to me, to pass similar 4-5 nights in apartment in a major city in Peru/Ecuador/Colombia a couple of times, if I don't dither too much on my way north.

Oh, to be scrupulously fair, though the curfew renders it largely irrelevant, this hotel is actually a bit more central than the one I was supposed to be in.

0110 Not exactly tired but fuck it, bed. Be good if could be up early and have breakfast and get Santiago all cut and dried.