From coach to couch

---

After nearly twenty four hours, two buses, and a tedious border crossing (where we were forced the surrender the garlic clove hidden in our bag, in order to prevent an outbreak of foot and mouth) we arrived in Santiago. The sky above us was shrouded in smog, the morning air was warm on our faces, and there were people everywhere (some of whom even had English-speaking voices). This place couldn´t be further from Patagonia. We chose the cheapest hostel listed in our guide book and headed for the subway. Our guide book warns to "use Santiago´s subway if you dare".

We did dare, and the description was apt. The carriages were dangerously packed, and people waited six deep at the platform edge. Each time a train arrived the mob of commuters surged forwards, but only two or three were able to squeeze into the bursting carriage. Even with the Hopkins elbows at my disposal, I saw that, with our backpacks, we had no hope. Luckily Tom hatched a plan. We scampered round to the opposite platform and jumped on a nearly empty train going the opposite direction. We rode the train until the very last stop, where we ran round and jumped back on our original train, this time ensuring we would get seats because it was the beginning of the line. It was long-winded but it worked. We smugly rode the metro past hoards of frustrated faces and then walked a few blocks to Hostel Casa Roja, a converted mansion brimming with backpackers.

We weren´t able to check in immediately. Instead we had to wait a few hours until other backpackers had checked out and vacated their beds. Even though I was longing to be able to shower and go to sleep lying down (instead of upright on a bus) I didn´t mind waiting. The hostel was like no other we´ve seen - three bars, a swimming pool and beautiful gardens. There are worse places to kill time. While we were waiting, we decided to check out couchsurfing.com to see if we might be able to stay for free in Santiago.

We registered with the website and sent out a request, and within minutes we had a reply from a guy named Christian. He had lots of information and photos on his profile, and over 80 positive reviews from travellers who´ve ´surfed his couch´.

Tonight will be our third night spent at Christian´s. His ´couch´ is actually a rather comfortable double bed in his spare room. Within five minutes of meeting him we were issued with our own set of house keys. He is a great guy, lots of fun and enormously kind and trusting. Couch surfing has turned out to be so much more than a free bed for the night. Christian has welcomed us into his family (we have met mum, dad, grandparents, and most of his seven siblings) and we have spent time with him and his friends, which has taught us more about Chilean culture than a guide book or city tour ever could. Plus, we are being forced to speak Spanish, which is a blessing in disguise...

---

Photos

Parade
Cristian took us to a Fiesta at the local Catholic temple. We sat in the sunshine and watched the carnival parade of lavishly decorated horses and push bikes.

One of us
Some members of Cristian´s family and the gringo couch-surfers

Comments

[Cristian]

Saludos
Estuve viendo su blog y esta muy entretenido, asi que gracias por acordarse de mi... Bueno chicos espero se encuentren bien un abrazo a la distancia

[cristian]

hi
I was looking at your blog and is very entertaining, so thank you for remembering me ... Well guys I hope are well a hug to the distance