One thing Chileans are not too bothered about, seemingly, is food. We can´t find anywhjere to eat out, although last night we stumbled on a fairly okish cafe. I went for the trusted favourite (empanada pino) as usual but they´d run out...I hadn´t bargained on that eventuality so went for about the only thing on the menu I understood - dos huevos y papas fritas, 2 eggs and chips, which had a mysterious inngredient - cebello (sp?) which turned out to be onion. I managed to try a Pisco Sour (pisco - kind of grape brandy, lemon juice, sugar and topped with merenguesque egg white) it was surprisingly nice. I also asked for a beer (grandé) which came in something more similar to a bucket than a glass. It was bloody good though and oh so cheap, under a quid! Jen had pasta which was OK, and we left fairly full for the first time in South America.

Finally got a good night´s sleep as well...no dogs, fewer cars, and only a few drunks on the way home at 5am (why do the South Americans speak quite soooo loudly??) so after a brief lie-in we headed out into town. With it being Sunday there were loads of people out in their ´Sunday best´, most on their way to mass at the numerous churches in the town. There was also some sort of cave next to one church which I presume was a replica of Lourdes or some other place where the Virgin Mary was spotted.

Pur first port of call was at the Escuela México, the school donated to Chillán by the Mexican government back in 1939, after the devastating earthquake. Paplo Neruda, a famous Chilean poet, lobbied David Alfaro Siqueiros, a Mexican muralist to decorate the library, and he did. One was is a tribute to Mexican figures like legendary agrarian rebel Zapata, whilst the other depicts Chilean heroes, such as our mate Bernardo O´Higgins ((much) more of him later...) Although not in the greatest state of repair the murals themselves are stunning and well worth the trip. We offered a donation to the bloke who´d let us in and the 2,000 pesos (just under 2 quid) was duly accepted...and pocketed...not sure how much of that will go towards restoration!!!!

The market that the lonely planet reckons is the best in Chile was a real let down even for market lover Jen. Yes the produce was pretty, but the Chilean local craftwork left us a bit cold to be honest, all straw hats and saddles. Jen did however find some lovely tasting walnuts, so that´s alright then...

After a stop at the local delicatessan for lunch (McDonalds - literally nothing else is open on a Sunday) we decided to try to catch a local bus to the old town to see the now heroic Bernardo O´Higgins and his memorial. An illigitimate child of Irish descent he was born here some 200 years ago, and was central to Chiles independence, in fact it was he, who in 1818 signed for their independence. In every town there is ´O´Higgins Av.´ or the like. The sad part is that he was forced into Peruvian exile by a mixture of the military and aristocracy in 1823 and then died in 1842, never returning to the land he helped free. And he´s called Bernard. Sort of. So off we went, except in my starling Spanish I thought ´Rio Viejo´meant old town but in fact it means old river (nice one Dan...) so we ended up quite literally in the middle of nowhere, apart from a few locals looking bemused at the idiot gringos...eventually we managed to flag a bus down who refused to take money from us and then took the bus out of service. I had visions of ending up on a backstreet with the cast of West Side Story waiting to carve us up but to be fair to the bloke he took us to Av. O´Higgins (I kid you not - this guy is such a hero) and flagged down a cab for us that was going to the old town...and we eventually made it. The monument itself, which marks his birthplace, is very grand, kind of Bernie on a horse (he´s got a lovely pair of sideburns by the way (think that bloke out of Emmerdale)) with 3 flags behind him (one nowadays Chilean presumable the others rebel or first confederancy flags). Bordering the whole thing is yet another mural, some 60m long and 6m high which was pretty cool. Couldn´t work out what any of it depicted but there were some really intricate rock mosaics. Interestingly enough there is alot of graffiti around (very different to Asia for example) with daubings similar to those found in most primary schools in the UK.

Sated (and relieved) we eventually squeezed our way into another share taxi and found ourselves back in the centre of town where we are now.