Well, today, David decided he wanted to go on a train ride! So, we made our way to “Estacion Central” and checked where we could go. In Chile, there is only one train line and it runs south. We asked for suggestions of what town would be nice to visit. It was suggested that we visit Paine (Pay-ee-ne).

The train left at 11:00 AM, so we had about a 15 minute wait. The station and the trains are extremely clean….not to mention cheap. I think our 45 minute trip to Paine was about $2.00 or so. The scenery was so pretty….everything is getting green with the spring time temperatures, not to mention all the beautiful wild flowers everywhere. As always, the Andes were in their majestic glory.

Paine is a small town with not much to offer. David did get a great haircut for $4.00! We decided to hop on the next train heading south and visit Rancagua….a city of about 200,000.

In Rancagua we explored the market area and visited some tack shops as I want to buy some of the wonderful carved, wooden stir-ups that they use here in Chile. David said that would be my birthday present! I did find a pair that I liked, but want to look around in Santiago a bit more before the final purchase.

Rancagua also has a wonderful pedestrian mall that was very busy with shoppers on a Saturday afternoon. It was fun wandering through the streets and watching the people. As always, David fed as many stray dogs as he could with hot dogs he had bought earlier.

The train ride from Rancagua to Santiago took about an hour and fifteen minutes. We were back at the train station around 5:00 PM.

It was another fun day of exploring.