We're back in the valley!

Wait a minute... theres a flag missing!
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Pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianandkim/sets/72157603218051488/

on what we all fondly call the ¨Scott trail¨

We touched down in Santiago and had to do a double take!  It looked

ferrocarril... beats walking down the hill.
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like we were landing in California!!  Santiago is a big city, and like

any big city bordered by a mountain range, the smog gets stuck.

Supposedly there are fabulous views of the Andes after it rains, but

on the day we decided to climb Cerro San Cristobal (a hill in the city

with a zoo, a huge statue of Mary atop, and a ferrocarril), all we saw

were some silhouettes behind a thick veil of brown.  Aaaahhhh, city

life. We met some more nice folks at our hostal--this time an Aussie

couple Dan and Bee who were just starting a three year trip around the

world.  Sometimes it pays to sell your house and business and hit the

road. . .

Before we left Santiago, we had a drink with Carolina, the daughter of

a midwife who lives in Vina del Mar.  We hope to see her again on

our way back through. . .

At the bus station, we met an ex-pat Minnesotan guy named Scott who

ended up giving us some great info for the next leg of our trip.  We

kept waiting for there to be some catch, but so far all he gave us

were good maps, and good recommendations.  We have been able to get a

little bit more off the beaten path because of his suggestions, and

have met a bunch of other nice people, (who like us  were approached

by Scott at the bus station),  on what we all fondly call the ¨Scott

trail.¨   This time we were actually able to book seats on the

bus-cama, and actually got a good night´s sleep on the way to Pucon,

even if they did play ¨little man¨ on the way, it was worth it.