Blogs from Santiago Region, Chile, South America - page 149

Well our last night in Santiago was definently interesting!!!! Tim made it back from Valparisio and decided to join us for dinner (he paid us in vodka!!). Unforuntuately some american college boys also decided to befriend us and invited themselves to dancing with us. EVentually we went out at about 12.30-1.00 (this is the time when it gets going over here - no such luck for early nights), walked around until we found the salsa club. Wow how sexy is that dance! Tim and Kate went straight to the dance floor (and tried to dance), Jill eventually got up the courage (after a few drinks) to dance with Ryan. Unfortunately Jill got the short straw with Ryan (maybe Tim got the short straw with Kate?!). We tried and had fun doing it! Lucky for us the ... read more

HOW BLOODY LUCKY ARE WE?!!!!!!! (that was for u cameron) well, here we are, having a ball of a time. However rather tired still (not sure if it is still jetlag or the beers and getting to bed at 2.30am?!) Have met some great people and decided never to come home!!! ha ha ha. The day we arrived we got settled and went for a stroll (Jill was not quite sure what she had gotten herself into?!). very dirty and smogging, but some beautiful parts. After the wine tasting that night, we had a fabulous nights sleep (no waking at 4am for us) wine was delicous. The next day we decided to see some culture, with the help of Tom, an english backpacker, and went to the Meseo de Bellas Artes (or art museam) had some ... read more

After a 16 hour flight I arrived in Santiago yesterday at 1pm local time and took a shared van from the airport into the city. I checked into La Chimba Hostel in Barrio Bellavista (and wandered around for an hour trying to find a phone to call Mum and Dad) then I explored the city and despite the layer of fog hiding the Andes, it is amazing. I walked from Barrio Bellavista to Central Santiago through Parque Forestal, with a detour through Mercado Central, which I discovered is a fresh seafood market. In the centre are restaurants and as you walk by waiters try and get you to sit down. When they heard my accent they asked lots of questions about Australia and what I thought of Chile, so instead of taking a few minutes to ... read more

To me, Santiago is an interesting city mixed with smog, an endless amount of wandering street dogs, evident sanitation problems, a homogenuous population, beautiful mountains and what seems like a million "micros" or buses. But I have fond memories of the friends I met there and the friendly Chilean teachers who made our intensive training bearable. Here are some tidbits and thoughts about my two weeks in Santiago: SMOG It´s hard to breathe in Santiago. And it´s not because of elevation, but smog. During an exploration of the city we visited a vertical park with vistas of the snow-covered Andes that were breathtaking. Unfortunately our breath was taken away by the layer of smog that hovers over the city that disrupts the beautiful landscape of city meeting mountains. PACKS OF STRAY DOGS Santiago (and what I ... read more

Me Nikki, jenny and rachel and the ozzie boys departed Pucon to make our way to Mendozza in Argentina via Santiago the day after the volcano climb. Jack bus company which was great as the bus waiter even tucked us in!! We arrived in Santiago at 7am and bought tickets to Mendozza straight away. Our bus left at 8am for Mendozza and after driving for 3 hours we got stopped as we had to wait for the Chile and Argentina armies to clear the snow from the andes. We jumped off the bus and our mates bow max dave and mickey were all stopped 2. After a 4 hour wait we find the roads can not be cleared and we have to drive all the way back to Santiago!!! Nigtmare!!! Typical south american disorganisation and no ... read more