Santiago

Another day another bus station!
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DAY 39 - 11 JANUARY 2008

We caught the bus at San Pedro for the long trip to Santiago (24 hours).  The bus is a huge double decker with very comfy seats that recline.  We left on time heading through Calama and Antofagasta on the coast which joins the Panamerican highway.  The scenery is just constant deserts and doesn't seem to change, except with the addition of the coastline.  We got out and stretched our legs where we could but the bus didn't stop for long, at one point it left without some of the passengers, who managed to catch up to us at the next stop.  Some of the towns looked like real struggle towns, with not much going for them, just hanging on.  The Lonely Planet said some of these towns have problems with poisons from the mines etc, so that could be why nobody smiles or seems happy and they they cant swim in the ocean either.

A beautiful city, well laid out and easy to get around, especially with the metro. The weather is also lovely.

The presidential palace in the heart of Santiago
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By the time it got dark we just fell asleep and didn't see much else until we got closer to Santiago.  We were given snacks on the bus, but they weren't much chop.

DAY 40 - 12 JANUARY 2008

We made it into Santiago approximately 24 hours after starting from San Pedro and caught a taxi to La Casa Rojo and then checked into the hotel next door.  We had a coffee while waiting for our room to be cleaned and dropped our stuff off before having a shower and washing a bundle of clothes.

The buildings here have so much character
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We then headed out for a walk (detailed in the Lonely Planet) to get our bearings.  It is nice to be able to breathe when our walking, you dent realise how hard it can get at altitude, just makes you realise how amazing people are who live there.

Santiago is nicely laid out and fairly flat which is a bonus.  We wandered around Barrio Lastaria to have a look for a cheaper hotel, but the hotel where we looked was fully booked, so we have decided to stay where we are.  The weather here is nice and warm, just like Perth.  We found a supermarket and bought some provisions including some very cheap wine.

That is Santiago behind us
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We wandered back to La Casa Rojo and Scott caught up with Simon and we are having dinner on Monday night.

We made plans to leave Santiago on Tuesday and will be getting a bus to Mendoza in Argentina.

DAY 41 - 13 JANUARY 2008

Well we got up late after a wonderful nights sleep and had desanyo at the hotel.  We headed out to the metro and caught a train near San Cristobel.  The metro is cheap and easy to navigate, you purchase one ticket per journey and it is fast and efficient.  We walked to the entrance and caught the furnicular up to the top of the Cerro, and from there we walked the remainder of the way to the top for some great views of Santiago.  There are loads of people cycling, all too like hard work for me, so we walked down from the top to the bottom and somehow came out at a different place so we walked to the nearest metro stop and caught a train back to near the hotel, got some shopping at the Mercado and then went to the internet cafe to try and get some accommodation in Mendoza.  Finally logging onto the SAE website for some phone numbers and getting a place.

Cerro San Cristobel that we walked down yesterday
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We had a nice relaxed lunch involving a couple of glasses of vino tinto.  We are absolutely shattered after the long walk around Santiago, so are utilising every drop of hot water and the hotel facilities as we know the next place will probably be just a camp mattress of the floor.

It is a Sunday so a lot of things are shut.

DAY 42 - 14 JANUARY 2008 (MONDAY)

We had a healthy brekkie and headed towards Santiago centro and did some emails.

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From there we caught the tube to Los Libres and the suburb of Providencia but couldn't find a bookstore selling any English books so we headed back on the tube to Universidad de Chile and walked up to the local Mercado and fruit markets which went on and on forever.  Although most of the markets sell the same types of fruit and vegetables it is pretty fresh and extremely cheap, so we topped up on provisions of fruit, nuts and dried fruit for the bus ride to Argentina tomorrow and also had lunch in the food stalls.  This is probably our cheapest meal so far and was really nice.  Most of the time we have no idea what we are ordering as nobody can understand us and we cant understand them, but this time it worked a treat.

From there we did the long walk back through the malls, stopping to buy Scott some cotton as he wants to learn how to make friendship bracelets!

We continued our walk to Cerro Santa Lucia, which is a small hill (650m), so a doddle compared to 5000m earlier on the trip.  The parklands are absolutely beautiful and right in the heart of the city.  The weather today is very hot, so this made a lovely break and we were able to cool down.  We spent a while walking through the grounds and then headed back along the malls following another street to the hotel, where Scott treated me to a Bilz Pap Pop, which I think I am becoming addicted to.

We are having a little nanna nap to get ready for dinner tonight.

Simon came to collect us and we went to Casa Roja for a drink and a walk around the hostel.  It is a huge operation with lots of open spaces and even has a pool and cricket net outside.  Tati arrived and we headed off to an italian restaurant for a nice dinner and finally tasted a Chilean pisco sour.  We left there replete and headed back to Casa Rojo for a final drink by the swimming pool.  Watching some of the other kids playing drinking games.  Finally staggering to bed in the very wee hours.