Blogs from Santiago Region, Chile, South America - page 157

Well, here I am! Santiago. Hmmm. Well, after Bs As, it´s got a lot to live up to. I actually feel homesick for Bs As, something I´ve never felt about anywhere before really. And so far, I´m not sure this place has what it takes. It seems much more low key, and, well, boring. And whereas Bs As sometimes had a strange Englishness in a way that reminded me of London, from the architecture down to the British style red cast iron phone and post boxes, Santiago has a strange Englishness that reminds me of Birmingham. Lots of big grey 60s tower blocks in other words. I´m living in quite an upmarket modern area (in fact Pinochet lives just around the corner), but it lacks any style or soul. The family I´m staying with are nice, ... read more

I arrived in Santiago after 24 hours on the bus. I had no idea what to expect but it wasn´t nearly as bad as I´d imagined. I sat next to a very nice woman for the first hour who kept talking to me while I tried to write in my journal. She was explaining to me different things about Chile and that if I was going to Calama that I could stay at her house. Since I wasn´t, she gave me her number and the number of a friend in another town in case I was going to go there. Once she left a guy sat down and didn´t talk to me for over twelve hours. In the morning he got off the bus and came back with a Coke for me and chatted a little ... read more

Day 1 - Friday 3rd Feb The trip begins in Springsure. To set the scene: Karen has had one hours sleep as she finishes her thesis. Roger is having a last minute nap and packing the bags. An 8am flight out of Emerald gets us to Brisbane in time to finish printing, binding and positing the thesis, and some last minute shopping (we forgot to pack toothpaste!). All is looking good for the trip. Day 2 - Saturday 4th Feb The Facts: 15 hour flight to Santiago Visit to Cerro San Cristobal to get an overview of the city The longer version: 6am out of Brisbane, then Sydney, Auckland and finally Santiago. The lounge area for our departure gate was also if interest as we spotted one South American with a big sombrero, shopping trolley ... read more

After the termite episode, and another practically sleepless night on an overnight bus, we arrived bright and early in Santiago de Chile. We decided to leave the sightseeing for a another day though and carried on to Valparaiso, a seaside town 75 miles away. Valparaiso was once a very important commercial town for business transactions with Europe and the USA in the 19th century. Indeed, it prospered more than any other town in Chile after independence from Spain in the early 19th century. It had already been an important port for trade with Peru during the colonial period (c. 1548 until 1818, year of independence), though it was raided by pirates on several occasions and whatever survived from these raids was later wiped out by other disasters such as fires, earthquakes and tempests. A couple of ... read more

I was surprised how quickly we were out of the mountains and onto the agricultural plains of rural Chile. Just regular, ordinary farmland with some rolling hills, and huge plantations of pines and eucalypts again. Once more the smell of eucalyptus in the air...aarrgghhh always gets me! Some of the locals are a bit sceptical when I tell them all eucalypts come from Oz.....well, that’s what I was told! I’ve seen a couple of massive treatment plants, don’t know if I just don’t get out enough to see them at home, but these facilities are monstrous. The central construction is about 50 metres high and looks similar to the Saturn 5 launch pad, with miles of coloured pipes, matching walkways, chimneys, steam venting from numerous outlets, shiny tin walls, strange chemical odour as I ride past, ... read more