Middle Chile

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We've slowed the pace down (a bit) since my last blog. No mad dashes across countries or fluctuating weather reports.

We spent a couple of days pottering around La Serena (the town with the offending mall). Nothing much to report really. Nice enough town but (save for these few lines) nothing to write home about. As reported, we went to a mall, had a KFC and watched Teror a Bordo: Snakes on a Plane to you and me. We haven't watched much telly so it was quite a treat to watch a film... even one as cheesy as that. We also wandered down to the beach. The map on the Lonely Planet suggested it was a short walk away. It wasn't. Oh well, we had nothing better to do.

Whilst on the subject, I should provide a quick caveat to anyone who is about to travel for the first time. The Lonely Planet is a useful book and invaluable in providing you with a quick heads-up, particularly when you are whizzing from place to place. However, take anything it says in that book with a pinch of salt. Recommended hostels in there often turn out to be awful or simply don't exist anymore. I've lost count of the amount of times you go looking for a restaurant/bus company/tourist info office and it just isn't there. Fans of the guide book point out that they can only print what was current at the time of going to press. I appreciate that but they make a lot of money and should really update their books more than every three years. Secondly, some of what they write is just utter fiction. I almost got lost today in Santiago because, on a map, it said that a Metro station was about a block and a half away from where it actually was. Its a bloody big station - I'm willing to bet a few thousand pesos it hasn't shifted down the road in the last couple of years.

Rant aside, we stayed at a lovely hostel in La Serena (Hostal el Punto). It was German-owned so everything was very precise. Nice though and a good place to chill before the hustle and bustle of Santiago. We headed down to the capital via a 7 hour bus ride. To be fair, the buses over here put National Express to shame. Comfortable, loads of leg room and plenty of films, albeit mostly in Spanish. To be fair, I don't think much of Ace Ventura was lost in translation.

Santiago is a really nice city. I want to make that clear because I spoke to a few people who had been here and they were a bit luke warm about the place. I really like it. Okay, its a bit short on 'ooh's and 'aah's, more the sort of place where you nod your head appreciatively at the surroundings. Its a very European city, a lot like Madrid in my opinion. Lots of pretty Spanish architecture, tree lined streets and pavement cafes. Santiago is a city to stroll round. Its real charm, like Paris or some other European cities I've been to, is found in the particular districts or 'Barrios' that are located just out from the centre. We stayed in the Barrio Bellavista, which is lovely. The streets are lined with brightly coloured restaurants and bars that pour out onto the pavements. The sort of place where you find yourself thinking 'I could live here'.... aside from the language barrier and the fact its on the other side of the world but you catch my drift.

My impressions of Chile so far have been very favourable. The people seem lovely. As I've said, it very westernised by South American standards and could almost be European. Almost. Its does still retain a certain quaint 'South American' air to it which I can't quite put my finger on. Its the little differences, as Vincent Vega famously said. The sort of things that have you shaking your head but smiling at the same time. One example is the fact that people seem to be employed without having any real job to do. You walk into a pharmacy and ask for, say, some anti-septic cream. One woman serves you. You then go to another woman and pay for it. You then go and find another woman entirely (who is discussing your order with a fourth woman) in order to retrieve your goods. Crazy.

Another typical South Americanism is the fact that shops just don't carry change. I don't know whether they simply aren't expecting to do any business that day but, if you have the temerity to had them something other than the correct change change, they look at you as though you've just farted in the corner. Bolivians (of course) are the worst offenders. Chileans aren't so bad - they've obviously worked out they should perhaps visit the bank before opening up - but I've still had a couple of glares.

That slight tangent aside, we've had a lovely few days in Santiago. The weather has been beautiful and we've just wandered around taking in the sights etc. We took a fernicular railway up to the top of a hill overlooking the city. Santiago nestles up against the snow/capped Andes which makes for a pretty spectacular setting. Allegedly. The air quality has been pretty dismal most of the time so you can only just make out the peaks but it gets better as the day gets on. I don't think its quite on a par with La Paz pollution-wise but it gives it a go. We also visited the zoo which was built on the side of a hill and offers great views of the city. In typical South American style, the security was a little lax and you could get right up to the bars of the cages. Had I feeling particularly stupid, I could have reached out and stroked a tiger. The highlight was seeing a girl feed the penguins. She stood in a little pen and grabbed one at a time shovelling a few fish down their throats before picking them up by the scruff of the neck and chucking them out again. Brutal stuff! The only downside was that the place was infested with screaming kids.

One unusual little thing Santiago has going for it is the 'gentleman' coffee bars they have in town. The general idea is that the guys can go for a coffee in these places and be waited on by scantily clad women. The genre ranges from open-fronted shops where they ladies wear short skirts to places with darkened windows wear the girls wear, well, very little. These places only serve coffee and seem to be frequented mostly during lunch hour. Its a Santiago thing apparently.

We had a couple of lovely meals in the restaurants near our hostel. Sophie had a weird Chilean casserole that seemed to contain a bit of everything (including the omnipresent egg) and had the consistency of porridge. It was actually really nice. However, we took advantage of decent supermarkets to actually cook some food for ourselves. Its actually a real treat and only the second time we've managed it since we've been away. Chile is the first country we've been to where its actually more expensive to eat out than it is to buy ingredients. However, the much-improved hygeine levels are a big factor as well. Its not very appealing buying food from market stalls that store their meat on a counter in the midday sun. Is that meat fresh? 'Si Senor'.

I also caught up with Stu Heslegrave (those of you who know him) for a couple of nights in Santiago. It was good to see a familiar face and we shared a few beers at the local bars.

After Santiago, we made a brief cameo appearance in Valdivia, for one night only. Described by the Lonely Plant as 'possibly Chile's most beautiful city', I was intrigued to see how they could get this wrong. I was surprised to find that it was actually a nice place, although its charm is in the beautiful countryside - rolling hills and clear blue rivers - rather than the town itself. One highlight was the spectacularly fat sea lions that lie on conrete blocks by the riverside fish market waiting to be thrown scraps of fish. They were huge. I should quickly mention our hostel (a Lonely Planet recommendation), the AiresBuenos, if only because it is the worst place we have stayed. Cold, over-priced and with a breakfast (described in the LP as 'satisfying') that wouldn't satisfy a gnat. If you are heading this way, give it a body-swerve.

We headed out of town today for Pucon and the start of our time in Lake District. I'm looking forward to this part of the trip. Fortunately, the 'Backpacker's bible' are a bit snooty about Pucon, so I'm expecting big things from the place. The drive itself was nice enough and Sophie uttered the immortal line: 'Its a bit like Devon.... with volcanoes'. To be fair, I saw what she meant.

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