Are we Chilly in Chile, or are we eating Chilli.

Day 30 - Saturday 2 June 2007 ( 706 hours down 182 to go)

 

Woke up to an overcast day in Rio with rain threatening, must be time to leave , we hang around hotel until it is time to leave and take hotel Taxi to airport. No problems in checking in and we spend an hour in Club Lounge catching up on reading and blog. Get on board LAN flight 751 and it is a brand new Boeing 767-300 with enough room between the seats you could dance all night. As there are only 4 in Business Class service is pretty good and we have a quick flight to Sao Paulo, Capital of Brazil, where we have a one hour stopover without deplaning. The one hour turns into two hours while they do some maintenance. Hello, the Hostie just told us the plane was only two weeks old. Eventually we get flying and it is a smooth five hour flight to Santiago with a nice dinner and wine, good entertainment system, and seats that fold down flat for sleeping if you wish, which I did after a couple of nice Chilian wines.

 

Landed at 9.15pm, no worries apart from Hostie forgetting to hand out immigration forms, and forgetting to tell us that Australians had to pay US$56 entrance fee per person.

So we get to immigration first in line only to be sent back because we missed the booth to pay entrance fee, so we finished up getting through last and the only bonus was that we didn’t have to wait for our bags this time as they were getting giddy from going around so may times. Welcome to Chile.

 

We get a taxi and head off to Grand Hyatt Santiago, we think, as driver does not convey a lot of confidence in knowing where hotel is. When we found it I don’t who was happier, him or us but it looked pretty good. On checking in, we are told that the Club Floor was closed for renovations and we think too bad, but the hotel still looks pretty good. Then we are told that to make up for it we have been upgraded to a Diplomatic Suite, so our spirits are lifted somewhat. We are taken up to our Suite and we were just blown away, we have never experienced such luxury in a hotel, we had a huge lounge room with a dining table for eight settings, a separate business section, kitchen with separate entrance for butler/chef. The bedroom was huge as was our bathroom with spa. Of course there was a separate bathroom/toilet and cloakroom for guests. Then we found a huge balcony and garden area with outside furniture all overlooking the snow-topped Andes Mountains. Bloody hell is this any good.

 

We have a look around the Hotel looking for a nice quiet bar to have a welcome to Santiago drink and our initial observations are confirmed, it is a swanky hotel. The only bar open is also a local nightclub with a latin American band playing in full volume, we soon decide that our Suite is a far better option and head on back to enjoy it.

 

Pedometer Reading 3295

 

Day 31 - Sunday 3 June 2007 ( 737 hours down 151 to go)

.

We wake up to a brilliant autumn morning in Santiago, bright sunshine on glistening snow capped mountains, autumn trees dropping their leaves, and we kick ourselves that we only have one day to enjoy it. After a very nice buffet breakfast we head off for a walk and come across a huge shopping mall complex, and as I need a new razor we have a look. Bought a nice pendant made of silver and Lapuslazuli, a blue stone mined in Chile.

 

Wander back to Hotel to enjoy the last hour of our luxurious Suite before heading off to the airport, once again, and catching our flight to Papeete, Tahiti. We decide that LAN Airlines are pretty good, not only do they have a completely separate check-in area for Business Class, we also get our own immigration check-in next door with nice immigration officers. Lounge area is pretty good and soon our flight is called and we hope for a similar plane as our previous flight, sadly our luck does not continue and we get an old plane without cocoon seats, but they are still very comfortable with more than ample leg room. We have a five hour flight to Easter Island where most people disembark, it is 8.30 at night so we can’t see any statues but we get off to stretch our legs and to say that we have actually been on Easter Island. We manage to get rid of the last of our Chilien Pesos on local trinkets and get back on board for another six hours of flying. Have a look at menu and decide that we have eaten enough for one day and try to get some sleep which is somewhat successful.

 

We land in Papeete at 11.20pm, which is about 3.20am, Santiago time, Immigration and Customs are very casual as are baggage handlers. Taxi drivers are several degrees below casual and most are of an un-recognizable gender, but try to rip you off in the fare to the hotel which is just around the corner. Weather is warm and humid, 25C, and Sheraton Hotel looks alright. Room is large with a balcony looking out over the lagoon and gardens and it is not too long before we hit the comfortable bed.

 

Pedometer reading 9662