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Published: January 11th 2007
Well, after arriving 36 hours earlier in santiago from Auckland, the first big event of our trip kicked off. New Years. A taxi from the ariport delivered us to Hosal de Sammy in Santiago, where we tried to convince Charles, the American who ran the joint, to give us a couple of beds even though I´d managed to botch our online booking. He obliged, and gave us the ¨hot-box¨- the smallest four-bed dorm in the place, complete with floor-fan and no window. No matter, we were there.
New Year´s eve began with a BBQ at the hostel, where all 25 or so guests really met for the first time. I manged to get there late, after a poorly-timed siesta (Hey I´m new at this) and then managed to drop my full plate just to announce the arrival of Captian Clutz. Un detered, I started on one of the free cervazas that were going, resolved to put the bad omen behind me, and met my fellow hostellers.
Before long, we were all well lubricated with the fine ale and aquainted with each other, and it was time to hit the streets into the city for the big countdown. It became
apparent to us all that this was going to be quite the party, as the main stretch in to the town square (which is very wide) began to fill from all directions. We stopped when we couldn´t get any closer to the TV Tower (still about 1km away), from which the fireworks display was going to be launched.
About half an hour before the New Year, the crown began to work into frenzy, with deafening chants of '¡¡VIVA CHILE!!´, showers of confetti and some strange wet ´Snow in a bottle´ spray flying from all directions. When the final moment came, it was mayhem. Of course, we all went nuts, and locals all around us, who had enjoyed our unusual presence and antics embraced us and cried ´¡¡Feliz Año Nuevo!!´ etc.
The rest of the night is a bit of a blur. I recall getting back to the hostel where some of us proceeded to´re-charge´. We then headed into town, in the back of what seemed to be a ´dibby-van´, about a dozen of us packed in like happy dunken sardines. After a short journey, we arrived at a small club in a trendy spot and danced the night
Dan with a sneaky Celine
I think someone´s grabbing my arse!away.
The blur extended into the next day, and I was pleasanty surprised to wake up back in the hostel.
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Pernille and Thomas
non-member comment
Thanks for a great time in Santiago!
We hope you are having a great time in Patagonia.