From Santiago to the edge of the world . .

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Ho´la!

After a friendly taxi journey I arrived at my chilled out Hostel (they’ve written ´just ring the bell´ on the wall outside with a marker pen) to be met by Pedro who had a nice big spliff in his hand along with a big smile on his face. . . Pedro gave me a good overview of Santiago and places to go and when I asked is it safe to walk round the neighbourhood he laughed and assured me this is the safest place in South America . .

Hooked up with a guy from Leicester called Ben and we ventured out in the evening to try the local cuisine and some beer . . we weren´t sure what we were getting but ended up with a big mettle bowl full of chips and covered with a variety of meats and fried eggs. . . tasty, and everyone else was eating them and drinking from 1 litre bottles of beer. Enough food for four people really and with a good few litre bottles of beer it all came to a cheap 8 English pounds, each. Got very drunk playing pool back at the hostel with Ben till about 6 in the morning. Next day headed out to the flea´ markets which have been here for hundreds of years, and then headed up to central point of Santiago to overlook the city, which has an enormous statue of the Virgin Mary on top - with satellite masts right next to it. Its like you always imagine a city in SA . . can see nothing but white buildings for miles and surrounded by mountains with a haze of smog above the city. First few things you notice here are that everyone smokes (starting to think its against the law not to smoke), dogs roam the streets in packs and lye there all day doing nothing - people seem to love them and you also see a lot of people carrying them around, huge cakes are in shop windows everywhere, buses chuck out a thick cloud of black smoke when they stop and start. Getting around is very easy with a great underground system and fans spray water out to keep people cool . . . at least three people stopped to help us with directions without asking and it all seems very safe. Had a night out with Ben and watched a band in a crazy bar .. . men ask the women very politely if they can dance with them - even in a club we went to later on. . . was a funny night, the clubs are a bit naff and girls come over and drink out of the beer bottle - we ended up standing with the bottles behind our backs at one point! No one can speak a word of English . . would love to be able to speak the language as everyone is so friendly . .

Fox sport here show all Liverpool games so managed to watch the Man City game with Pedro at the hostel - stayed up talking football for ages with him and when he was drunk he started beating his chest and singing his teams songs . .funny. Headed up to the coast to a place called Vina Del Mar and Valparaiso . . holiday destination for the Chileans and they reminded me of San Remo in Italy with all the houses built on hills and steep walks to get anywhere. Something got lost in translation for my transfer to Valparaiso and I ended up in a town 45km outside called Quintero . . very third worldish! Ended up a good place though as the backpackers was right on the coast and it was an Irish guys birthday so they had a BBQ on the beach and we played drinking games till late. Got back to Valparaiso the next day and met Ben for a great Tapas on top of a very steep hill . . went out and watched a Salsa show with the strongest Capriani drinks I´ve ever had . . Got back to Santiago and went to an interesting pre-Columbian exhibition which gave a good insight into the indigenous people and their history and how the conquistadors from Spain came in and almost destroyed everything from their culture.

Great thing about these hostels in SA is how they are so much cheaper and informal than Aus and NZ . . you get a massive free breakfast, free internet, wash all ya clothes for next to nothing and go out their way to do anything for you, and best of all you can check out at 1PM! Watched the Liverpool Madrid game with Pedro and a few English people . . great result and went for a massive steak (like a doorstep) and a good few red Chilean wines with a couple from Surrey - Ed and Karina. Santiago is close to the main wine making region in Chile and went on a tasting day with Ed to Concha Y Toro. Good day tasting the wines and they gave a tour of the vin yards and a bit about the history . . a guy in the 1800s brought the French grapes over from Europe as the climate, location of the valleys and soil is perfect for wine making . . I´ve had the wine in England called Casillero del Diablo from this vin yard as well. . it gets its name from back then as people kept stealing wine from his cellar, the guy made up the myth that the devil (Diablo) was in his cellar and we went deep into the original cellar; no one stole from him again and the wine is now one of the most popular in the world. Finished off the day with a cheese board and a bottle of red . . wobbled out of there with Ed late on. Spent my last night in Santiago with the guys who ran the hostel Pedro and Sebastian . . talked music and football and they went through all the legends of SA on youtube till the early hours . . funny night and good way to end my time in Santiago . .

Flew to the far south of Chile right on the southern edge of the continent at a place called Puerto Natales in Patagonia . . to see one of the great natural wonders of SA - the mountain of Torres Del Paine (Paine is pronounced Pie Nay I found after a week or so not saying it correctly!). Officially the bumpiest landing I´ve had the pleasure of being on, not good when you see peoples heads in the front of the plane bobbing up and down, everyone was laughing on the plane though so think it´s normal for landing here. . Puerto Natales is a small sleepy town and looks derelict in parts, but is still very touristy with lots of trekkers coming here for the walks around Patagonia and up to the mountain. Backpackers was a ramshackle of a place with beds that looked like they were put together by the owner himself . . went on a day tour through Patagonia and up to the mountains, toured a huge cave where the prehistoric Milodon sloth used to roam 12000 years ago . . looked like a giant bear with a tail. Driving through the landscape is similar to NZ but more rugged and windswept, bare Magellanic trees line the hills and are bent out of shape by the wind - an uninhabited wilderness. The flora and fauna is more varied than NZ as well with bright pink flamingos, ostrich, eagles, foxes, and guanacos (lama´s) are everywhere . . vegetation and colourful flowers pop up in parts and the contrast in colours and vastness of the hills are something to see as well.

When you get up there the view of Torres Del Paine is stunning, with the towers and shape of the mountains spectacular. . the mountains are shaped out of granite and thousands of years of glaciers movements have given it its extraordinary shape - thick blankets of cloud come and go between the peaks. Very cold here though and wind has really got a chill on it . . think I´ve been used to the sun for too long now . . took my photos and ran straight back to the tour bus! Had a good walk through a track on the mountain side and stopped off for a few other walks taking in lakes. One things for sure I´m not a trekker and by looks of some people coming down the mountain they didn’t want to be a trekker either! Could have gone of a 3 or 5 day trek but didn’t fancy the cold and camping on the mountain side in the wind and rain. . this place must be absolutely awful in winter time. Had a good few meals here with lots of great steak and I think fried eggs are mandatory with everything . . again people are friendly and helpful and as long as you make an attempt to talk some Spanish they will always help. Hung round with Shavaughan from Ireland and Andy from NZ at the hostel of an evening . . . Spent my last day walking the town and the harbour and feeding the black neck swans. . .

A short distance away is Antarctica .. would love to have gone but a bit too expensive for the boat trip . . maybe next time. Will be heading over the border to Argentina to a place called El Calafate to see ice bergs and the some of the biggest glaciers in the world . .

Having a great time and looking forward to Argentina!

Adios!

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