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Published: December 1st 2012
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Over the weekend, some of the girls from Spanish School and I decided to make the trek out to El Maraido Glacier about two hours east of Santiago. Although we originally planned to catch the bus out there, Katie and I were met with an amazing surprise when we were picked up from the bus station by Felipe, the guy that Christiana from class was couch surfing with. The journey became increasingly interesting when the road became gravel (were in something smaller than a Holden Barina) but after a few words of encouragement and amazing driving skills on Felipes part we managed to make it there.
Usually entry to the park is 2.000 pesos ($4) per person, however the park ranger was so impressed that Felipe had managed to bring three girls with him that he let us all in for 6.000. As someone who has spent the better part of the last year working endlessly to save for this adventure, to say that I am unfit is probably an understatement. So logically the first bit of physical exercise that I decide to partake in was a 16km round trip hike through the mountains to a glacier. The
first kilometre almost killed me! After that however it became a lot easier and we started bombarding Felipe with questions so that we could improve our Spanish conversation skills.
The hike up to the glacier was really beautiful and 2/3 of the way up there was a really cute lagoon. The highlight however was definitely getting to the glacier and being able to throw the snow around and go tobogganing. It really just did not make sense how there could still be snow on the Mountain given that it is almost summer and it was about 27 most of the time that we were walking.
In order to fully utilise the weekend Helen (an Aussie girl from my Spanish school) and I decided to catch the bus across to Valparaíso which is a beach town about two hours west of Santiago. It is a really picturesque town with the hills meeting the ocean and endless multicoloured houses all over said hills. Helen and I went on the quest for the perfect photo opportunity to capture this, however after roaming for quite some time (and realising that the tour map that they gave us at
the bus stop was NOT to scale) we gave up on the quest and caught a bus to Viña del Mar about 10 mins north.
Viña del Mar was really pretty and completely different to Valparaíso. In Valparaíso everything is built wall to wall and covering every single bit of space that it can. The streets turn into boardwalks which are built over the bay, however in Viña del Mar there are beaches and cafes and oddly enough an endless supply of horses and carriages.
When it came time to head back to the bus station we asked a driver how much it would be. He replied 2.500. We agreed and got into the cab. When we arrived at the station we gave him 3.000 expecting change and he told us that he had said 3.500. While our conversational Spanish may not still be the best out there, we did learn numbers very early on and knew that he was just being dodgy so we just got out and quickly walked away as he shouted after us.
Just to add to my epic weekend of walking, the following day Katie, Helen
and I decided to take on San Cristobal Hill in Santiago. The entrance to the hill is actually about 20ms from my hostel so it was almost shameful that it took me three weeks to get up there. My excuse is that everyone had been telling me about how I should climb it after the rain as all the smog from the city clears and you can clearly see all of the mountains that surround the city. These people did however fail to mention that at this time of the year it hardly ever rains (it hasn't rained once in the time that I've been here) so it would have been useless to continue waiting.
While living in my own little Bellavista/Providencia bubble it is quite easy to forget just how big this city is (pop approx 6 million). The view from the top of the hill however reminds you of this as you can see the whole basin of the city stretch out to the mountains that fully enclose it. At the top of the hill there is a giant Virgin Mary (they are super Catholic over here) which looks over the whole city, however in
Chile three white girls with blonde, red and auburn hair appeared to be way more interesting and Helen once again fell for the trap where she thought that people were asking her to take a photo of them, when really they wanted a photo with her because as far as they were concerned her blonde hair and long legs make her muy exotica.
The one thing that I still cannot get used to is the amount of PDA (Public Displays of Affection) over here. Back home the only time that it is socially appropriate to publicly make out with someone is if you are at a bar or a club, it is very late at night, you are blind drunk and you have never met the person that you are making out with before in your life. Here absolutely anything goes. The parks are littered with couples intwined in each other. You cannot go out to a restaurant without the couple next to you making out OVER the table and you cannot catch the metro without witnessing two people licking each others faces. The worst that I have seen to date is two people who were crossing
the road stopping in the middle of the road so that they can suck face. Really guys? I need to walk there! Apparently the reason why there is so much public affection is because most young people live with their parents until they are married and as they are Catholic they cannot possibly be doing that around the house. Personally though I do not see how doing that in public makes it any better. It is even worse when the couple are well out of their 20s and 30s. Surely they must have a home to go to? Apparently not.
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