Santiago, Chile, December 2013

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After a 3 and a half hour flight we finally arrived in Santiago and the weather was incredible! Not a cloud in the sky and it must have been at least 30 degrees, a nice change from the cold, wet Cusco. We got a taxi to our hostel but the guy didn't have a clue where it was. We ended up driving around for over an hour with him asking loads of different people, including Police officers, where to go and we finally made it. We checked into the hostel and our room was pretty tight but we had a little balcony overlooking the small pool, nice! We nipped to the supermarket and it was so hot that we didn't enjoy the walk at all. We made lunch and then just chilled out in the pool. That night we just didn't go out as we were knackered. However, the rest of the hostel went out so they were pre drinking until late. I dragged myself up to bed about 11pm and when everyone finally left managed to get a much needed sleep in. I was woken about 3am by a scream and a splash so one of the lads had obviously thrown the girls in, but luckily I managed to get back to sleep quick enough.

I woke up at 9am but still felt horrendous so I went back to sleep and didn't get up until 2 in the afternoon, obviously needed the sleep! We finally got up, had lunch and took the tube to the museum for the free 3 hour walking tour around the city. Here we met Charlotte and Romney who had been in our room in Bolivia. The tour was really good, we went to numerous parks, different towns and learnt a lot about the history of the city. After the tour I had a 'Completo' hot dog (a Chilean favourite) which is a complete mess with tomatoes, cucumber, sausage, mayo and a veggie green sauce, way too much to fit on one hot dog and I didn't enjoy it. We took the tube back to the hostel, had a dip in the pool and then chilled out before showering and getting ready. We cooked ribs and rice and drank a bottle of rum as we had agreed to meet the girls out later that night. The girls were supposed to pick us up in a taxi but they took forever so after they were half an hour late I got impatient and we got our own taxi to the town. I was in a proper bad mood as I was still really tired and we walked up and down all the streets with bars for ages but couldn't find the girls. Just as we were about to get a taxi home we saw a group of guys and girls from our hostel and they dragged us out for a drink with them. We tried the local drink which is a cocktail of wine, pineapple ice cream and possibly some other stuff. It was actually really nice and one of the Aussie boys paid the bill, better from him! We then got free entry into a Brazilian bar as we were gringos and got offered a table upstairs but we just got a drink and hit the dancefloor. We boogied with nearly every person in the bar and I talked to loads of locals trying out my slowly improving Spanish on them, I had come a long way in our 6 weeks in Spanish speaking countries. We then left and Freeman got another hot dog, I did not fancy another one of them! We tried to get a taxi but they just told us to walk as it was only 2km or so. As we walked home we put freemans iPod on and sang together all the way home, how romantic! We didn't get back to the hostel until 6am!

Check out the next day was at 12 so we got up at 11 and packed. We made the checkout time but our flight wasn't until late that night so we just chilled out at the hostel most of the day and I went in the pool. We popped to the supermarket where i saw a guy drop a 10,000 peso note (sounds a lot but it was only about £15 I think) so i shouted to him and told him, my good deed of the day done. Back at the hostel I cooked some mince and couldn't be bothered to do the pasta so I literally just ate a bowl of mince meat with ketchup, I had proved my traveller status once more! We finally back doored it around 7pm as u were supposed to pay extra if u used the facilities after you checked out. We took the tube to the bus station but as I jumped on Freeman got blocked off by a woman and her push chair and the doors closed, I was on my own... Once I got off the tube I sat and waited for him and then we had a mare trying to find the bus station, we were getting aggy as we were worried we might miss our flight. We didn't expect it to take us as long as it did. We finally got on the bus and arrived at the airport with enough time to check in, phew! We had a Subway, got on the plane and it set off but then stopped just before the runway for ages. We were then told the plane had a technical fault so we had to go back to the parking bay! After two hours delay we set off on our 13 hour flight to New Zealand wooooo!! I watched Project X and Hitch, had my meal and then finally managed to get a few hours sleep.

South America has been a hidden gem! Everybody worries about how dangerous it is but we were fine and I am so glad that we did it. From the amazing Copacobana beach and atmosphere in Brazil, the finest steaks in the world and the breathtaking Iguazu Falls in Argentina, the incredible landscape and salt flats of Bolivia, the inca trail to Machu Picchu and crazy city of Cusco in Peru, to the beautiful city of Santiago in Chile, we have covered thousands of miles and still hardly scratched the surface of the huge continent that is South America. I would advise anyone thinking of going there to definitely do it and uncover all of the hidden beauties that this continent has to offer, it is highly underrated. Thank you South America, you have been absolutely incredible!!!

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