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Published: November 2nd 2005
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View of the Andes from Cerro San Cristobál
You can hardly believe that you´re in Santiago Santiago came as a bit of a shock. Anything that you want is on tap, the youngsters wear funky clothes and hang out in roadside cafés slurping beers, the food is good, the wine is great and the parties don´t stop until dawn. We can certainly testify to the latter - our hotel was located in Bella Vista, which is rammed full of bars and clubs. The music didn´t stop until after 6 am. However, that was no problem for SuperSnoozeSuse and her earplugged sidekick.
As it was Doug´s last night we felt like we ought to get in on the action. It was no problem finding a suitable location for a few swift ones and we soon had glasses of Pisco Sour in our hands. This is the national drink of Chile. It consists of a foamy mix of Pisco (a 40% grape spirit), lemon juice, powdered sugar and egg white and they slip down very nicely. Our drinking buddies were James from Sydney and Lulu from Lima, a fun-loving duo that we had met on the bus on the marathon journey down from San Pedro. Pisco actually originates from Peru and Lulu wasn´t too impressed with the Chilean
Pichilemu beach
No donkeys with straw hats around here version sold in the bar. It seems that Peruvians are discerning and protective about their Pisco. Tom did the gentlemanly thing and disposed of her drink for her.
It wasn´t long before we were bouncing off the walls. Drinking games were commenced, James did a chair dance in the middle of the bar, Dougie spent the whole night pretending to be a chicken, Tom ended up in the lap of a very surprised middle-aged waitress (very much against his will I might add) and Suse masterminded the whole nefarious affair safe in the knowledge that everyone else was far too drunk to get their own back on her.
OK, let´s skip the next day - all headaches and bad tv...
The following day we decided that a healthy option was in order and we set off to climb the 869m Cerro San Cristobál, a volcanic outcrop which surveys the otherwise flat bowl in which Santiago sits. Wandering around not knowing exactly where we were going (a common occurence when you´re trying to follow a Lonely Planet map) we bumped straight into Miss Heidi Gale, who, chance would have it, is also travelling around South America and was
also trying to find the route to the top of San Cristobál. We had thought that there wouldn´t be anyone else we even vaguely knew in Santiago and were fairly shocked to find out that we were mistaken. The shock was exacerbated as Tom simulanteously stepped back in surprise into a dog mess.
We spent a pleasant morning struggling to the top of San Cristobál with Hid and her boyfriend Rob. At the top of the hill there is a huge statue of the Virgin Mary and a fantastic view of Santiago´s sprawl between the Andes and the coastal cordilleria. It´s strange being so hot in a city while snowcapped peaks look on. Santiago is a chilled city - families promenade eating ice-cream and idly browse market stalls and shop windows. Our hotel was comfortable, with cable tv, breakfast in bed and even a microwave in the room. This wouldn´t do - we were in danger of becoming softies - our hard nosed travelling peers would be snickering behind our backs, calling us names and no doubt planning to steal our lunch money and give us a wedgie.
The next morning we set off for Pichilemu on the
Pichilemu point break
(stay off my wave Bodie - back off Warchild etc.) coast south of Santiago. The rather circuitous bus route took 5 hours. However, the second half of the journey took us through the Valle de Colchagua, a beautiful valley full of orchards and vineyards. This is the heartland of Chilean agriculture and wine production, and it really has a Mediterranean feel. Even the less auspicious houses are surrounded by colourful blooms and the meadows are carpeted with orange and yellow flowers. After a while we passed through the evergreen forests of the coastal cordilleria and dropped down to the coastline.
Pichilemu was once marketed as a seaside resort for the people of Santiago, and it´s not hard to see why - it has a huge sandy beach, a warm climate and is situated in a lush valley flanked by forest. A rail link was even built with Santiago, though this now sits there rusting and the station building has been turned into a tourist office. While the grand vision of the early investors has faded, it´s still a fairly popular summer retreat, largely because of its big barrelling point break which draws surfers from all over the world.
The Chilean holiday maker is a hardy sort. Having dipped
our tootises in the water it was hard to believe that anyone would want to brave the water without a 5mm wetsuit, with boots, and gloves... and hat. However, the Chileans were out in the sea (albeit moving rather briskly rather than basking). Also on the beach were numerous horses being ridden and one rather bewildered llama - maybe he was on his holidays too.
We tried in vain to find a map of the area but had to settle for making it up as we went along. We walked out of town along the railway track and then up into the forest surrounding the town. We decided to leave the path behind and beat our own trail through the forest and back down to the shoreline. About an hour later and Tom (for it was he that was supposedly navigating) was making bold pronouncements that the sea was "just over there", more for his own sake than anything else. Luckily, we finally made it through the shoreline scrub and onto the sand. We were quite a way from town and there was virtually no-one to be seen (except for a wetsuit-clab snorkeller that unaccountably kept on popping up in the sea) and we enjoyed a fantastic picnic (sand in sandwiches excepted).
Next stop is the Lake District, a beautiful glacial landscape further south. However, the bus doesn´t leave until midnight which has given us time to inflict more blogging on you.
We would like to thank everyone very much for all their kind comments and messages. It´s great to know that people are actually reading our journals. Please keep them coming!
Anyhoos - thass all folks! We´ll be in touch
T&S
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habs & andy
non-member comment
nice wave....
... andy now most jealous... his comment was along ths lines of 'the buggers...!' Keep then coming - this is the closest we'll get to a travelling-type experience until the terrible 2 have left home, and we are thoroughly enjoying it ;) love us 4 xxxx