Laura: Ahmad found super cheap flights to Santiago (£112 each with 20kg baggage) so we headed to the airport feeling good about the fact that this journey would take 5 hours instead of the mammoth 50 hours on a bus! We arrived around 10pm and found a minibus service to take us directly to our hostel. As we were gringos we were the last people left in the van and although the driver had taken great care to drop the locals off on their doorsteps, he wanted to dump us at the end of the road at night in a neighbourhood full of hookers! We communicated in very bad Spanish that we wanted him to drop us at the exact address and he complied grudgingly.
The hostel was really nice and was decorated in the same way I would style my home, you could instantly tell it was well looked after. The beds were absolutely massive and had proper duvets which was a real treat after blankets and sheets.
The next day we met a nice couple from Holland, an Australian girl called Rachel and an English guy called Jason. They were all discussing the free walking tour of Santiago and the guide who told them that there is a coffee place with half naked waitresses who strip completely for one minute during the day! All this to encourage people to drink good coffee! Chile produces excellent wine but not coffee. I spent half an hour discussing the story lines of EastEnders with Jason before he headed out to find the coffee place and we went to the supermarket.
We joined the walking tour at 3pm. The guide was called Phillipe and was really animated throughout the afternoon telling us about Santiago’s history with the Mapuche people and the Spanish. We walked for about 4 hours and got a really good feel for the city and the great neighbourhoods. We also learned about traditional Chilean things like the pisco sour, a really strong alcoholic drink with egg white and lemon (??), traditional food such as french fries topped with cooked onions, sausage and fried eggs (Chilean my arse) and other day to day thinks on the streets of Santiago like sweet nuts and a drink made out of of peach syrup and wheat (random!). The tour is based on tips and we handed over £15 because it was worth the money and helped us get our bearings. We decided to stay for a week in Santiago at this point because it’s a beautiful city, one the greenest we have seen.
The following day was a bit of a non event. We visited the cultural exhibitions downtown and then Ahmad broke his flip flop (every backpackers worst nightmare). If we had been in Asia we could have got it fixed on the street but typically we were in one of the most expensive cities in South America! I wrapped a bobble around Ahmad’s foot and we headed off in search of flip flops without success. Bear in mind it’s 29 degrees here and people are still wearing winter jackets – it appears that summer clothes don’t arrive in stores until summer officially arrives in November. It baffled me to be honest.
The search continued the next morning, also without success so we gave up and went to Santa Lucia Hill, a park on a hill in the middle of the city. We got a great view of the city and it was a nice place to spend an hour.
We also visited the cultural art museum which Ahmad really enjoyed. It was full of central/south American statues, pottery and textiles. The same night we decided it was time to sample the nightlife of Santiago. We rarely go out due to tight funds but we insist on having an outing in each country. We headed to the bohemian area of Bellavista, conveniently 20 minutes walk away. We had no problem finding a bar, there were about 20 places to get cheap litre bottles of beer (£3!) with great outdoor seating. It felt great to be out at night properly and so it’s probably no surprise that we ended up a bit squiffy after a litre of beer each! We decided to sample some traditional Chilean food at a restaurant called Galindo. We ordered a bottle of red wine, french fries with sirloin and onions heaped on top and shrimp with parmesan cheese. The food was a little bland but it filled us up and the entire bill was only £20! By this point we were both drunk so we decided to walk home. We debated whether a taxi was required because Santiago is a dangerous city but then figured it would still be busy at 12am because most people don’t leave their houses until this time! Ahmad stayed up until 2am chatting to an American guy called Kevin (nice bloke) and I collapsed in bed!
On Sunday we felt a little fragile so we had a lie in, got loads of yummy food from the supermarket and stayed in watching movies. We seem to be getting into a routine of having weekends again which is nice!
The Inca trail is looming and we have both been running once a day to get the fitness levels up. Ahmad does 5km per day but I am so out of shape I have only been managing 3km before I get a bad pain in the side! For those of you who don’t know much about the Inca Trail, it is a challenge. The second day is all up a very steep hill for about 10 hours and at the end you have to climb up hundreds of steps known as a the gringo killer! Eek!
Our last couple of days in Santiago were spent relaxing. We really enjoyed our time here, it’s a great city! On 4/10/11 we headed to our last stop in Chile; Valparasio.