Back in the Backpacking Game...

Well, after the bliss of being at home with my clothes all laid out in a wardrobe and sleeping undisturbed in a proper bed ... I once again am getting around with all my earthly belongings on my back and sleeping in a dorm room with 6 others, most of whom find it necessary to rustle their plastic bags of clothing at ungodly hours of the night !!! Yes, I am back in the backpacking game !!

My first stop is Santiago de Chile, which must have the world´s strictest customs officials ... all 3 packets of beef jerky i had (don't ask!) were confiscated, which is even stricter than Australia and I thought Australia´s borders were pretty tight! I stayed in Santiago for three days at a great hostel (eco hostel) exploring the city, getting out into the countryside and drinking great red wine with some fellow travellers in the hostel in the evenings.

Exploring Santiago
I spent one beautifully sunny day walking the length and bredth (and height) of the city !! If you can get past the pollution or smog like clouds loitering around, the views of the snow-capped Andes and surrounding mountain ranges, from the city, is absolutely breathtaking. I also met 3 very fun fellow travellers in the hostel, Sam, Nicole and Santiago (which was quite an easy name to remember given our location!). One evening we climbed a monument in the city at sunset, not only to view the mountains as the sun lowered, but apparently also to see all the amorous young couples in Santiago that maybe have no where else to go for a bit of ´privacy´, except to a public park!

Getting back to Nature with a bottle or two of vino!
We decided to head out of the metropolis of Santiago on one of the days for a trek in the nearby mountains, apparently to view the Andes in all their glory ... however unfortunately the day clouded over, so all we saw as we ascended into a cloud itself was a great wall of whiteness, a little disappointing but our tour guide was kind enough to explain the amazing scenery in front of us that we could have seen if it wasn't for the clouds!

Before we started the (one day) trek, our tour guide started dividing up the food that we needed to carry. Then he came to a very important question ... How many bottle of wine will we take on the trek ... two or three? At this point all of us started to wonder what sort of a tour guide we had especially when, over a bottle of wine and cheese (yes this was sophisticated trekking!), I asked him "And what about drinking driving in Chile?" (obviously meaning, what are the rules or limits etc) to which he responded " Oh it´s great fun!!". This was slightly unnerving as he was really getting into the vino and we knew he had to drive us 3 hours back to santiago in the dark that night !! Anyway, obviously we arrived in one piece and apart from the lack of visibility had a great day of treking!

Hanging out in the Andes at the Argentinian/Chilean Border
Sadly, this little visit to Santiago was rather short and I hope to be returning soon especially to catch up with some friends there. But I was starting spanish classes in Buenos Aires the next week, so after only three days, I boarded a bus for 18 hours with chairs that didn't recline (my only option as it was the national holidays in Chile and EVERYONE was leaving the city and had booked their tickets earlier than me!).

I must say that this bus trip would have to be the most spectacular in all my life. Zigzagging my way through the Andes to Argentina was simply breathtaking and something that I´m sure I wouldn't have appreciated on a flight (that's what I keep telling myself anyway!). However unfortunately as it was the Chilean national holidays, there were just so many buses and cars at the border crossing that we waited for over 5 hours to get through immigration... but I couldn't have hoped to wait in a more beautiful place, we were nestled in the middle of the Andes, snow covered mountains everyone, beautiful blue sky and crisp mountain air. I enjoyed kicking back and reading, listening to music and sleeping in the sun until we got past the very rigorous border checks ...

So an 18 hour trip turned into almost 24 hours by the time I arrived in Buenos Aires but it definitely was a journey I won't forget.

So .. until the next blog from Buenos Aires,

Ciao and keep in touch,

Tamara :)

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