Santiago de Chile

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And so, South...
after the eventful final day in Venezuala, we spent a long day flying south, to Santiago, the capital of Chile.
At first impressions, this is a grey, drab city - the weak spring sun fails to penetrate the blanket of smog, and the stern government buildings seem to be straight out of the 70s cold war architecture handbook. It is rather reminiscent of eastern europe, and the cold wind echos this mood.

But on second inpection, you see the modern skyscrapers of western banks and mobile phone companies, and the steets buzz with fast food stores and designer clothes shops. The metro, again, is clean, fast, and there is even large plasma screens playing MTV on the platforms... there is also a real bohemian atmosphere to the place.. our hostel is in a trendy area of chic restaurants, and smoky bars full of students, poets, musicians, and other wolly types with facial hair...
They have some excellent museums, although many were closed due to a public workers strike, which gave an interesting forground to the impossing dictatorial style government palace..

This, also, is the home of the 1st "Sep 11". This is the date in 1973 that Pinochet (backed by the US, ironically) bombed the government buildings, murdered the democratically elected Allende, and took power in a bloody coup. (this was then followed by 15 years of a seriously unpleasant regime, involving the murder and disappearance of tens of thousands of people, and definitely no public worker strikes). During this time, Pinochet became good mates with our own Maggie T - not our finest hour, I realised, having heard of some of the General´s exploits...

anyway, thats all in the past, and Santiago is now an affluent and progressive city, and very wealthy. Although still cheap by european standards, it´s very pricey compared to the rest of south america... our hostel is $30 a night, and last night a good meal in a trendy restaurant with a good bottle of red cost about the same...

The nightlife and restaurant scene in Santiago really are outstanding, and it´s one of the main attractions for visitors here... however, partly due to 2 consecutive pricey nights, and partly to a longing to actually cook for ourselves for a change, today we have been food shopping, and cooked in the hostel kitchen - it certainly made a refreshing change, and I actually enjoyed the novelty of washing up!!

The other big attraction, for me at least is the 3 major ski resorts less than an hour away.. unfortunately, my arrival was on the very last day of the ski season, and the resorts are now closed.... will have to come and ski in south america another day..

And so tomorrow, we head north again, to Bolivia. After visiting 2 of the richer South American nations, we´re now going to the poorest, which is sure to be a bit of a culture shock, but there you go...

so for now, Adios from Santiago.

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Photos

Smoggy Santiago - the Andes are in the background, if you can see them..

The Government Palace, in the aftermath of a public demonstration..

Fountains of Neptune... in the hill enclave in the centre of town.. (cant remember the name, sorry!)

The bohemian suburb of BellaVisa.

The Military School, Santiago. Classical Neo-Soviet government building