My final South American days

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- FOOD: Popcorn at the cinema, pisco sour that tasted of washing up liquid.

- PEOPLE: Taxi driver who got all my money, fast moving city workers, more patronising Chileans, reunion with Laura (met in Brazil)

- AREA: Full hostels - a first. The smartest South American capital - but maybe also the dullest. Excellent 2nd hand clothes shops though.
Qantas flight the best.

- WEATHER: The pollution is trapped in this city giving it a surrounding mist.


Fri 22nd July: The bus arrived in Santiago early damn it - 5.30 am. After bus daze had settled in, I couldn't work out how to get in the terminal to waste some time before going to a hostel so just got straight into a taxi and hoped for the best.
The best didn't happen - the taxi driver was very chatty but in a way I didn't trust. Have I been in South America too long now? Is my luck running out? He was asking me where I live, if I'm on holiday, how long for, the length of it, the cost of the ticket, if I work - all the usual questions but suddenly it hit me that he had the visor over the meter and when I'd asked the price at the start and he's quoted it, even though he'd quoted over what the price should've been, I'd agreed readily to it.
So that plus all these questions - he's sussing how wealthy I am to work out how much he can rip me off!!! Am I so very naive that I've only just realised this scam? Have ALL the 'friendly' taxi drivers been doing the same? Or are they actually just being friendly. How I hate thinking like this - I need to get out of here.

So I made him take the visor off and only paid the price the meter said (a lot less unsurprisingly) - he was 'surprised' the visor had 'accidently' fallen over the meter and oh, the money is less than he quoted!
So the first place we stop at that the Rough Guide had described as cheap was some luxury hotel - the man I woke up took one look up and down at me and then my backpack and said there was no room at the inn.
The taxi man's eyes shone as he knew I was stranded at 6am in this big city if he didn't take me elsewhere. Of course he took me miles away to a place that was also full. I asked to go to the Hostel International out of sheer desperation and got faced with a snotty nosed teenager who was high and very unfriendly who also told me they were full.

What is going on in this city? It's winter, Santiago is not the premium tourist destination so why no room? This had never happened to me before. Taxi man took me to his choice of hostel - very dodgy. Some suspicious lady opened a hatch, seemed to know the taxi man, told me there was room but when I got inside she discovered there wasn't after all. Good thing as it looked like a brothel. Funnily enough the taxi man was still waiting outside. I suppose it was a relief but of course, he was charging me a fortune for each of these stops... even though for most it was just a crawl round the corner.
I was SO exhausted and SO frustrated and ready to give up and sleep in a park when Casa Roja took pity on me. They were also full but the 'hey man' Aussie guy in charge was so out of it that through the room full of smoke, he let me jump the waiting list queue. I gladly paid off the taxi man and then only just had enough by using a manked up note and dollars to pay for the hostel. The hostel seemed horrible but I just collapsed on the bed (which nearly collapsed on the floor) fully clothed and clutching all my belongings.

My dorm mates got back from their night out and 6am but that only slightly interrupted my deep sleep in this luxury top wobbly bunk. As day light crept in, I realised the prison cell I'd been sleeping in was actually quite a nice, old colonnial but newly refurbished room and my roommates were lovely. The showers were hot and even though I'd entered gringo heaven, it had a really nice feel to it. Apparently this place appears in every other guide book except my useless one. It even had a sophisticated computer check in rather than a big book to write in - the class!

Feeling newly refreshed with bus, taxi and full hostel nightmares behind me, I checked out Santiago. Very posh and smart and reminded me a bit of London. No-one was even glancing my way, I had no hassle but I still couldn't find a stall selling sandwiches - just the usual junk. What a business someone could set up - packaged sandwiches.
The Plaza de la Constitucion was very smart and guarded well (too well - big weapons), the main plaza (de Armas) was packed so I skipped the cathedral and the banks were so posh it took me 5 different ones before I worked out how to get money out. City workers were rushing around giving me evils as I was being a dawdling tourist.
I started walking up the Cerro but couldn't be bothered to get to the top so just sat in the sun for ages. Apparently, the surrounding mountains trap the air and pollution causes a mist over the city anyway.
It's not the best capital in the world to spend time in - most people don't really like it. I thought it was ok but a bit boring architecturally. It felt safe though and I didn't see a single homeless person.

For my evening's entertainment I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. My mind wasn't very switched on when I asked for my ticket and I wasn't expecting him to ask me any questions. So when he did, even though it was a question I understood, I gave him a blank look and he repeated the question in English - in the usual patronising Chilean way. He explained the film was in Spanish and gave me a weird look when I said that that was fine (not that it was fine - how can they dub Johnny?!). The same thing happened with the popcorn woman - question asked, blank look from me while my brain caught up with reality, weird look from her). All worth it though to see Johnny and eat popcorn (haven't been to the cinema in 4 months) - everyone clapped at the end!

When I got back to the hostel, I found Laura who I met in Brazil - HOORAY - the email communication worked. How nice to see a familiar face. They let her in even though they 'had no room' (I think they behave like a poncy nightclub - make you all hang around to think they are important and the best). We went for a beer and a catch up and then bed.


Sat 23rd: Fantastic hostel breakfast (egg, bacon and a proper toasted roll) even though we had to pay for the pleasure. I decided I like this hostel a lot after all even with my roommates coming in and out at all hours throughout the night.

Laura and I found the street with all the second hand clothes shops - LOADS of them. It reminded me of Camden a lot (same prices too). As hunger took over we tried to find a cheap pizza place we'd passed at some point. Talk about the blind leading the blind - not a good idea to have 2 people crap at directions who take no notice whatsoever when distracted by conversation.
After walking around in circles for 3 hours or maybe 3 days we found the place. Only to be let down by tiny pizzas (although nice) and pisco sours that tasted like washing up liquid. Oh well, we just had some pints to bring our taste buds back before heading to the airport.

Wow, what a plane - Qantas came up trumps with Tetris, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Solitaire, Battleship, Space Invaders, films you could watch whenever you wanted (although the only one worth seeing was Miss Congeniality 2 which I saw half of in Spanish the other week), very nice plane food (beef), toilets with refreshing wipes....
BUT uncomfortable to sleep on after having such 'luxury' bus journeys and crap radio stations although you could choose CD's to listen to - The Best of A-Ha did it for me!

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