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Published: January 6th 2014
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Santiago
A hotel at last! Friday 13
th December (Odyssey Day 35)
We left our beautiful riverside camp today at 0600 because we all wanted to get in to Santiago at a decent time. It was still dark when we got up and had to use our head torches to pack away our tents for the first time on this trip. A combination of the rather early start, and being so much further north.
My ankles and feet are really swollen today, a reaction to the sunburn from yesterday. I believe I was also suffering a bit from the heat after falling asleep in the tent yesterday afternoon. At any rate, I was rather cold on the truck and spent the morning wrapped in my duma sleeping and trying not to bump my legs into anything. Ellie, sitting next to me, was in a singlet trying to keep cool, whilst also trying to avoid touching her sunburn to anything. We were both feeling a little sorry for ourselves today.
We stopped mid-morning for an optional wine tasting tour which I passed on. I decided to stay
Santiago
Plaza de Armas on the truck and sleep, while Danielle and Hannah blew up some balloons to hang by Donna’s seat for her birthday. A few people went shopping in the little town instead and Emma shopped for lunch stuff. Apparently the wine was really good though because a few people decided to buy some for the bar.
We arrived in Santiago in the early evening and headed for our hotel. The roads were very busy at that time and it took a while to get through. This is the most traffic we have seen on the trip.
The hotel we are staying at is a nice one. It has air conditioning, ensuite, television – what more could any of us want? Not to mention everyone was thrilled to have a bed again!
Saturday 14
th December (Odyssey Day 36)
Our full day in Santiago started slowly. I skipped breakfast although Ellie went down and informed me it was a good one. Around 1030, we walked down to
Santiago
Plaza de Armas - old and modern viewed together the big square a couple blocks from the hotel. I needed a pharmacy to get some medication and some more antihistamines. The pharmacists were very helpful even though they didn’t speak any English. The lovely lady helping me did manage to mime how often to take them, and thankfully, the numbers are easy to translate and the drugs are the same as I would get at home, just a different brand name.
I then took a bit of a wander around the square. It was quite interesting and certainly large. Santiago is the largest city we have been to since Buenos Aires. Here again you can see some old buildings next to brand new glass ones although the difference is not as eclectic as in Buenos Aires.
I headed back around 1200, stopping at a supermarket to buy some lunch before going up to rest in the hotel room. Ellie had to explore the city by herself this time, since my legs are not up to much walking. Hopefully if I rest up here, I’ll be able to do more later.
Santiago
Plaza de Armas - a modern statue We met up at 2000 to have dinner next door in a large restaurant. We came across Eamon and Andrew there and joined them. The food was wonderful. Ellie had some fish and I had a beautifully cooked steak.
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