Blogs from Santiago Region, Chile, South America - page 151

Carly arrives! I´m taking over for a little.... So i arrive in Santiago, and the first thing that hits me is...the smog. Even from the plane you can see giants wisps of white, combing over the wide red hills, but from the ground it is thick and overcast. On our first full day together we decide to tackle the 2 lookouts of the city, San Lucia and San Cristobal. Even from the top of Lucia, an old stone castle and gardens, you can barely see the outline of the Andes towering over the city...but the view is fantastic. Looking up to the bigger and more forested San Cristobal, with a tiny faraway statue at the top, I don’t really feel like the 6km upward climb (and neither does Greg, but he tries to hide it!), so ... read more

Our intention had been to spend time in Arequipa at the world´s deepest canyon, then to pass through to Chile and spend time discovering some coastal towns on the way to Santiago to visit Consuelo and Nelson (the couple we met in Valparaiso at New Year). It became apparent in Arequipa however that Tas was not well so we had spoken to Consuelo who was kind enough to book us an appointment at her Doctors. We were to get the bus from Arequipa, Peru to Arica in Chile where we would rest for the night before catching the bus to Santiago, a total journey of 3 days. It was a pleasure to arrive in Arica, especially from Peru. The Chileans are the nicest people we have had the pleasure of meeting. We arrived at bus station ... read more

We have been meeting people from all over the world in hostels, in the mountains or at places where we visited. And the amazing thing is, we still meet them after a week or a month later at some other part of the world. Even in our tiny Singapore, it´s not so often that meet friends/ acquaintance on the streets. Just a few examples of the people that we have met, not once but a couple more time. 1. Uncle Lufthansa: First met at Ushuaia Hostel. A week or so later, we met again in Torres Del Paine 2. 3 Sweet Israeli Guys: First met at Torres Del Paine Trek, then in hostel in Puerto Natales and then again in El Calafate hostel. Always see one another eating and eating. 3. Dao UK guy (actually still ... read more

Today, May 1, is a national holiday in Chile. It is the equivalent of Labor Day in North America so most businesses are closed. There are a lot of families traveling around enjoying the long weekend. Last night at dinner and again at breakfast we met Courtney (originally from Boston, now working in Santiago) and Roderigo. They were extremely helpful in describing the local customs and “how things really work in Chile” and gave us several recommendations for places to eat dinner in Santiago. We got a late check out and managed to squeeze in a tour and tasting at Vina Casa Silva. Vina Casa Silva Vina Casa Silva was originally founded in 1892 by a French family from Bordeaux. In 1997 they changed the name to Casa Silva to reflect the current family name. The ... read more

It was time to get out of Bariloche and continue heading north, so I hired a car along with seven Dutchies (Auke, Leineke and 5 others that were at the hostel) to explore the Lake District in Chile and to head up to Pucon for volcano climbing!! Well the weather turned to shite the day before we hired the car and it continued for a few days after, so while we were driving around these amazing lakes and volcanos we actually couldn't see shit. We stopped the first night in Puerto Varas in Chile before heading up to Pucon to meet up with Phil and to climb Volcano Villacarra. Getting organised for the volcano climb was all too easy - Claudio, the guy who owned the hostel we were staying at was also a guide for ... read more