Blogs from Santiago Region, Chile, South America

We arrive in Santiago 4 hours after we leave Sydney, this is something none of us got over in terms of jetlag for at least a week. The ATM machine in the arrivals hall won't let us take out any more than 50 pesos which we are told is just over 7pounds and every taxi driver in the area soon swarms us offering their services. Being totally dewildered, tired and keen to get anywhere that wasn't there, we followed the one with the most english to his car and headed into town. Our hostel; the Chile (Aji) hostel is in Providencia district near the student area of Bella Vista. Run by locals and with an attached cafe it is one of the best places I have stayed thus far including my Sydney hostel at around 4 ... read more

*** 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

After a whole lot of prior issues with my flight, I was able to board my flight to Santiago with no dramas. Descending into Santiago was stunning to say the least. As we descended, all you could see out the window were the tops of the Andes poking out of the clouds. Memories of the movie 'Alive' starring Ethan Hawke came into mind. Alot of travellers I have spoken to mentioned the exact same movie when speaking about this flight. Fortunately our plane didn´t crash and we didn´t have to turn to cannabalism to stay alive. Once we landed and collected our riduculously heavy backpacks we headed straight to the Terminal Autobus in Santiago to catch our bus to Mendoza which was to depart in a couple of hours. The bus station was in the suburbs ... read more

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

*** 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

Saw the Foo Fighters with 70,000 other screaming chileans. THEY ROCKED SANTIAGO!! nuff said.... read more

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