Planes, Trains and Funiculars

We really are limited in the transportation options we have in the U.S. Unless you live in a big city, you have to get in the car to go anywhere. We've taken lots of different forms of transportation already:

• Planes
• Taxis
• Buses - including an English-style double decker bus on our Cochabamba city tour
• Subway and commuter trains
• Tram to the Christ statue
• Feet

The most unique way has been the ascensores (elevators) here in Valparaíso. Even though they are called ascensores, the guidebook says all but one are technically funiculars (I guess this is an English word). You get in a little cabin then chains and cables pull you up the hill while a cabin on the other side goes down. Valpo is a port city surrounded by hills, so these funiculars are a good way to avoid climbing hundreds of stairs.

Walking is certainly one of the best ways to see the sights, and we've done a lot of it. Luckily, Mom's ankle stopped hurting the day we arrived in Chile. Because so many people walk, you have minimarkets and pharmacies and all types of businesses around every corner. Some of the comerciantes (businesspeople) set up on the street every morning and put their stuff away at night. Last night we saw people hauling all of their wares on different wagons and dollies and such. I'm not sure where they were going, but it looked like hard work.

Tonight we're taking a bus to Puerto Varas in the Lake District of Chile. It's an overnight bus, so we'll arrive tomorrow morning.