Blogs from Santiago, Santiago Region, Chile, South America
May 28th 2012
25.5.2012-29.5.20.12 Arrived in Santiago Friday night about 9.20p.m. after having a stopover en route from La Paz at Iquique in the Northern part of Chile, it looked like the most desolate place I have seen. We really thought we were just dropping off and taking on more passengers but we were all asked to leave the plane and clear immigration here. By the time we got through immigration they were calling us for our flight, so much security it was unbelievable, scanned our bags etc three times. Anyway got here safely and Patty, who we rented the apartment off, sent her driver to pick us up and all was good. The apartment is sensational on the 20th floor of an apartment block on the edge of the CBD, Patty was an artist in her other life ... read more
19/03/2012 - 25/03/2012 Santiago, Milipilla y la cordillera.
Published: May 24th 2012South America » Chile » Santiago Region » Santiago
May 19th 2012
*** 19/03/2012 Camino a Santiago Bus Pullman 780kms 9hrs Estos buses con sillón-cama son un lujo. Los dos podemos dormir sin problemas. Las carreteras son muy lisas, las frazadas y almohadas buenas y de mañana nos despiertan con desayuno. Genial. Arribamos en Santiago frescos y listos para más aventuras. *** 20/03/2012 Santiago: Museo de la memoria y de los derechos humanos. Salimos de la estación y después de un desayuno (¡que malo el café!) caminamos por la Calle Matucana en busca del la biblioteca, queremos ponernos al día con nuestro programa de lectura. Al principio la calle pinta feo. Hay muchas casas de reparación de electromotores. Encontramos la biblioteca y el guarda de seguridad dice que no habré todavía, faltan diez minutos. Creo que la mitad de la población santiaguina trabaja de guarda de seguridad.¡Están por ... read more
Route 40, Chiloe and the Lake District
Published: April 23rd 2012South America » Chile » Santiago Region » Santiago
April 22nd 2012
The last two and half weeks since my last entry have been fairly fast-paced and I’ve travelled a long way from El Chalten to Santiago, visiting Patagonia and Lake Districts in both Chile and Argentina. It’s been one of the most interesting and rewarding sections of the trip so far – combining stunning scenery, touristy highlights and some off-the-beaten-track locations. I arrived in El Chalten expecting a hiking Mecca and found it had closed for the winter. To describe it as a one-horse town would be to overstate its liveliness. The first day there was actually fairly grim – a futile five hour hike through rain, snow and ice with literally no views of the surrounding mountains. I arrived back at the hostel soaking wet and fairly miserable. Yet the next few days were to be ... read more
Santiago - Frick and Double Frick
Published: May 8th 2012South America » Chile » Santiago Region » Santiago
April 18th 2012
Mango peeling, my friends, is an exhausting exercise. No, really! It really wears you out! Slap on walking to the airport for two kilometers loaded with an extra 22 kg pack, you're pretty damn tired. So, when I arrived in Santiago from Rapa Nui, all I really wanted and needed was a truck ton of rest. I checked in to my usual stop-over hostel and snuggled in for a traditional siesta. Post-siesta activities ensued and were soon followed by an early bed time as I had an early transfer to the airport the next morning. Not long and the first "frick" presented itself. Around 5 AM I was awoken by the late-night crowd tucking in and the staff cleaning the bathroom. No big deal, right? I just turned over to catch another 2 hours of sleep. ... read more
April 5th 2012
*** Temuco - la nena se re-encuentra con su familia, yo descubre un tesoro de familia que desconocía en persona. En la terminal de bus nos espera el tío Tayi, Karin hace 27 años que no lo ve, sin embargo se reconocen inmediatamente. Yo al instante me siento cómodo con él. El tío Tayi no das un recorrido breve de la ciudad de Temuco y conocemos a la escuelita y ahí a la tía Guiselle (y también a su hermana Mariaeugenia). La escuelita es un proyecto de los tíos y unos amigos, la escuelita estaba a punto de hundirse en una tumba financiera. Aquí estaban todos trabajando arduamente en su fin de semana, haciendo trabajos pesados de mantención y mejoramiento. Vamos a la casa de los tíos donde conocemos al primo Ricardo. ¡Que persona tan linda! ... read more
April 1st 2012
Saw the Foo Fighters with 70,000 other screaming chileans. THEY ROCKED SANTIAGO!! nuff said.... read more
March 29th 2012
March 2, 2012 Santiago, Chile 19S 260848, 6762003 Santiago reminds me of New York - you have to fight to walk down the street past the skyscrapers and expensive restaurants. Everyone is dressed up and in a hurry to be somewhere. The other day we found a Central Park type place, although not nearly as large. It is called San Cristobal hill and houses the zoo (which we visited - it had an amazing aviary), a beautiful garden which I intend to inspect more closely later because of its species diversity, and a 450 year old church under a gigantic statue of the Virgen. Next to the church was outdoor stadium seating facing a stage with an altar and a pulpit, accomodating thousands of people ... read more
From Sao Paolo to Santiago (the long way)
Published: March 27th 2012South America » Chile » Santiago Region » Santiago
March 27th 2012
When we were in Ilha Grande we met a couple that said the first two weeks of travelling goes really slowly as you adjust to it and then after that it flies by. At this point we were nearly two weeks in and time was sauntering along at a nice leisurely pace. Then it broke into a power walk, then a jog and before I knew it we’re six weeks in and have travelled from Brazil, to Argentina, to Chile. Oh time. Why do you have that annoying habit of flying by when fun is being had? The end of Sao Paolo and Iguaçu Falls So I left you in Sao Paolo just before we took part in the messiest night out we’ve had here. It was an organized bar/ club crawl with unlimited beer and ... read more
Chile - Alcohol related incidents!
Published: April 11th 2012South America » Chile » Santiago Region » Santiago
March 26th 2012
Naz: After saying goodbye to the German girls who we had been travelling with since Peru, we arrived in San Pedro de Atacama and were greeted to some very timely good weather. We stayed in a hostel not far from the centre of the town with Guy and the Spaniards, along with the two English girls who we had bonded with over a good winge on the salt flats trip, Josie and Morwenna. After everyone had had a shower and made themselves fee better after the trip, Ric cooked up a good feast along with his kitchen assistants (the girls) and we all sat down to eat and to have a few drinks. Of course, as per usual, a few drinks turned into drinking games and a lot more drinks and not wanting to end the ... read more
16/03/2012 - Viaje al sur.
Published: March 24th 2012South America » Chile » Santiago Region » SantiagoMarch 24th 2012
Tren a Chillan. Tren Terrasur 410 kms 5 horas Arriba a la cinco, terminar de empaquetar, 6:15 caminar al metro, 6:30 tomar el metro hacia Central, 7:30 tren a Chillan. Como siempre la imponente cordillera esta a plena vista pero esta mañana mi vista se fija en otro foco. Algo que ya había notado el martes camino del aeropuerto a las condes. A mi mano derecha había notado la gran pobreza de los suburbios cerca de la carretera. Pero una mezcla de la conversación con los amigos y el "shock" no me permitió fijarme bien. Pero aun en esa breve mirada me dio una gran tristeza. Ahora parado en el bar del tren tomando un café puedo mira más detenidamente. Creo que ni 25 azucares en el café podría levantarme el animo. Como siempre al tratar ... read more
