Sleepless in Santiago

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Well - i made it. If it wasnt for the battler next to me who decided to snore and drool for the entire trip, the flight would have been bearable. Instead, the 17 or so hours felt like 40 or so as i didnt manage to get a second of shut eye. I thought my luck had turned when the dude next to me swapped with his mate, but his mates subsequent nose bleed and general movement made it worse, even when i thought it wasnt possible!

Anyway, i got here eventually and managed to find my hostel all on my lonesome which was a pretty mean feat in itself i thought, and its really nice. Big room, comfy beds, good chill out areas, and a pool. I would recommend La Casa Roja to anyone (and they arent even paying me to say this!). I got in at about 1pm yesterday and although my body just wanted to crash, i decided against it as i wanted to flight Señor Jetlag as best i could. I did a bit of wandering but couldnt really maintain it so i crashed out at about 6pm. Woke up at about 8 or so today, feeling much more refreshed and have since been out and about soaking in the sights.

Ive really enjoyed Santiago so far - really bustling and something always happening. Ive checked out one of the main attractions in town, which is the Parque Metropolitano which was great. Has a big statue of Virgin Mary at the top so got the classis tourist shot but managed to lose my ticket to get back down the mountain in the process so found a walking track and followed that instead. I wasnt impressed but if thats the worst thing that i lose, then ive done well! Other than that, have just wandered the streets looking like a real tourist with my shorts, backpack etc but havent copped too much shit from anyone. Some punks harrassed me for money but i just showed them my guns and i was fine (they were about 12 years old mind you, and they probably still would have beaten me up).

Ive even managed to utilise my weak spanish to a certain degree, when i went into the supermarket this morning, and couldnt find any cold milk, just long-life milk on the shelves. Managed to say ¨I dont speak Spanish¨ and then said very poorly ¨where is the cold milk¨ The answer i didnt understand but it seems that it doesnt exist, so no cereal for me!

The food here is interesting to say the least, and i´ve got a very bad feeling im going to pay for it all later. Have been getting stuck into completos (hotdogs covered in everything....cheese, salsa, mayo, avocado), empanadas (pastries filled with meat, egg and olive) and some funky drink that was made of only peaches, peach juice and bits of dried wheat (very strange).

Im all tuckered out now though and it is only 2pm so when in Rome, im going to go take a siesta.

Hasta Luego

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Photos

Parque Metropolitana
Me with the Virgin

Auckland airport
My nightmare for the next 17 hours

Santiago
Some waterfall

Parque Metropolitana
A view from the top of the park - Santiago is incredibly smoggy but the snow capped Andes are right behind me

Parque Metropolitana
Her again

Strange and exotic foods
Me empanada and weird peach thing - note the peach and wheat stuff in the bottom. Needless to say, i didnt quite finish it.

Comments

[Ant Bray]

Hey there
Hey mate, Good to see you arrived ok, nose bleeds and all. iM so bloody jealous of you over there, reading your email made me want to throw my computer out teh freakin window and get on a plane. Good work with the guns mate, u show em!!!! haha Ant

[guaton loyola]

hey dude
good luck on your adventure. the 'waterfall' you're standing in front is called "la fuente alemana" (ther german fountain) and was a gift from the chilean german community to the city of santiago in the early 1900s. the peach drink is called 'mote con huesillo' (good description, by the way). if you haven't already, you should go eat something at one of the restaurants in the central market (try the 'paila marina', at's a nice seafood stew piled with all sorts of sea food). the pastel de choclo is one of the best dishes (like shepherd's pie but with sweet cornmeal instead of potatoe).

[davesilva]

good eggs
creg, that weird bevvie looks amazingly chat. i cant believ u got it near ya mouth, but proud none the less. glad to hear ya havin a good one. debut for the blues on the weekend was awful, all out for 36. shit me. anyway, get off the puter and enjoy yaself/ see ya egg