Talca looks bad, Constitutíon smells worse, but they're well worth a visit.

When we told Chileans we were planning to visit Talca, without exception they gave us a look of concern mixed with confusion and asked: ¿Porqué? Why?

We would explain: it's surrounded by vineyards, there's a funky old train to the coast and easy access to national parks. They would nod politely and suggest somewhere else - usually Pucón. The ticket guy on the bus checked with us twice to make sure we really did want to go to Talca.

When we arrived, it wasn't hard to see why everyone was confused by our choice. Talca suffered severe damage in the 2010 earthquake and things only recently began to reopen. The original train station was falling apart, buildings still had entire walls missing and anything fixable was under construction. It's also not a town set up for tourists - people live and work there, but not many just come to visit.

We liked it. Being Americans who couldn't speak much Spanish, we were a novelty and people went out of their way to help us figure out the local bus to a winery and the train to the coast. While it isn't the prettiest of towns, it has tons of fresh fruits and vegetables (thanks to miles of surrounding fields and vineyards), an easy to use bus system that will take you almost anywhere, and constant (bad) street entertainment.

We were less enamored with Constitucíon when we arrived. It's a papermill town on the coast that also suffered in the earthquake. A tsunami destroyed many of the beach side restaurants and drowned hundreds camped in the islands near town. Because of the papermill, it also smells pretty bad. Fortunately, the beach is upwind from the paper mill (by about 100 yards). But is downwind from the large sea stacks along the coast where hundreds of pelicans, seagulls, and cormorants were nesting. So, its one or the other wafting in the breeze...

We ended up having a nice beach day in Constitucíon, thanks to a lucky off shore wind, but the best thing about the town is getting there and back. The Ferrocarril Constitucíon is a 1961 passenger train with two cars that follows the Rio Maule from Talca to Constitucíon with views of the valley and vineyards along the way. It stops in one- or two-building towns with no other public transportation, or in some cases, no road access, all surrounded by fields. These are the places whence your organic grapes and tomatoes appear on the shelves of Whole Foods in February.

Much like Chile itself, these two somewhat gritty towns are very honest in their aspect. Imperfect, but hard-working. Confusing, but friendly. And above all, looking forward.

You can find a few pics here: https://plus.google.com/photos/103829313469224560701/albums/5981082374574962225