We have decided to try and sell the van here, in Arica. The parents of Javier, our Air BnB host in Santiago, live here and they have very kindly agreed to help us. One of our strategies is 'For Sale' posters on the van itself which people have actually been responding to. I always wondered how effective they were. Well apparently here it's the done thing, we've had a lot of people ringing us (and thankfully asking questions I can understand and answer!)
In fact, on our first day in Arica while Paul and I were at Fiat asking about windscreens (more on that in a moment), a man who spoke really good English said he was interested in the van and we arranged to stop by his house later that evening. He made us an offer, but it's not quite what we are hoping to get for it. Still, an offer on its first day on the market is encouraging.
So yes, the great windscreen hunt continues. I had emailed Fiat in Arica asking if they could get us one. Someone had actually replied asking for the chassis number, but then never got back to me despite me sending it several times. Funnily enough, they asked if it was me who emailed when I explained what I wanted, they'd just decided not to answer my emails when they realised they couldn't help me. They sent us to a windscreen place down the road though. The guy there said he could make a new windscreen for us if we returned the next day. Yay!
So we headed back early the next morning and the guy removed our windscreen to use as a template.
While we were waiting, we had a couple of people ask to look around the van - one guy telling us there was a market-type place down the road where people took vehicles to sell and that we should go there and get more viewings!
Meanwhile, the windscreen guy was in and out of his workshop with different pieces of glass, trying to find one with the right curvature. Then we could hear him sanding away, which meant he had found an appropriate piece of glass to cut to fit. When he came to us about three hours later, we thought he must be ready to install. Instead he goes, "I've got some bad news, I haven't been able to make you a new windscreen." Wah!!!!! Turns out he'd almost finished, but the new windscreen had split down one side - it probably wasn't the right curvature after all. For the second time, we had to have the old windscreen re-fitted with even more cracks!!!! I could've cried.
Oh well. We cheered ourselves up with the easiest experience we've ever had buying gas. We exchanged our empty 5kg Chilean cylinder for a full one at the Lipigas plant, where we were served by two very funny staff who just reeled off all the English (and German) words they knew! ("Hey baby!")
Then we thought we'd check out the car market we'd been told about. It was exactly as described, a place where lots of cars for sale were displayed. So we parked up to see what would happen.
Even before we'd wound the awning out, a few people came and had a look and asked us some questions. Some even took down Paul's phone number. I don't know how many are genuinely interested, but I love that Chileans aren't too shy to inquire.
It was here that Javier's parents came to meet us!
We spent the rest of the day with them, managing to have conversations with them in Spanish. They even took us on a sightseeing tour of the geoglyphs near Arica and a museum where Chinchorro mummies, the oldest-known in the world, are displayed.
Then it was back to their house, where Javier's dad created an online advert for the van and Javier's mum made mango sours!!
Inevitably, we both ended up unfit to drive, so were at their house the whole evening. We even had champagne after midnight because it was Javier's mum's birthday!!
Javier, we love your mum and dad!!
