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So, the big flight through the time zones, over ocean all the way, so no emergency landings if required. Quite a scary thought, but no enough to put me off!
Flew with LANchile, and it was superb. Big private widescreen tv with tons of films, joypad for all the games, thousands of songs, oh, and unlimited free lager & wine! I was sat near the back, so had excellent access to the booze cart! They happily served me plenty of beers, although i think they thought i was strange when asked if i would like orange juice or apple juice with my breakfast, i replied 'lager.' In my defence i was still on New Zealand time!
Didn't sleep a wink on the plane, watched 4 films, some tv, and played some games. So arriving after an 11 hour flight, 4 hours before you set off is a weird feeling! Still, i managed to negotiate a bus and tram to the hostel ok! Really nice place too.
Chile was never a place that intrested me that much, so i only planned to do a few days here, work out how to get around South America, and move on. Plus,
Yes, Flares!
It turns out everyone has them! the better things to do are in the south, and its pretty wintery down there now!
The city itself is actually really nice, the Cathedrals especially, tons of them, and always busy. The nightlife is pretty crazy too. There was a really good bar in the hostel for cheap beer to start the night. But no one actually goes out till midnight, so by that time its fair to say you'd had a few. A few of us went to a club with some locals. Weird place, in the middle of nowhere, like a derelict warehouse, but it was pretty cool. One floor was all the latin / salsa stuff. And apparently it's rude not to join in. Thing is, they're all really good dancers, as of course, am i, but just not in that style. So, a quick scout around and i discovered a floor with a live band playing, that was me sorted! Also, in all the clubs i went to, you don't buy drinks at the bar, you have to go to a little booth, normally opposite, where a guy is sat there with a till! Its ridiculous, you have a single file queue, order from
him, even tho you don't know what the drinks are as they're at the bar, then take your receipt back to the bar to get a drink! Rant over, sort it out Chile, it's daft!
So, the upshot of not going out till midnight, is you don't get in till 6am at the very earliest. Long stint, as the non chileans generally have a good few beforehand, can't be waiting till minight for a drink! Got to a few clubs in the time i was there, and they were all really good, the locals were really friendly.
I'd planned to visit a place in the North before leaving, but happened to notice there was a local game on! Hmmmmm, the chance to see a nice seaside town, or a chance to experience a South American match...no contest! And i was very lucky. It was the top 2 teams in Chile in the title playoff game, and they were both from Santiago, and it was at the National Stadium!!! Queued for hours, and managed to get tickets. Got the tube down, and finally found the ground! Really old delapidated concrete thing, looked russian, but set by the Andes, so
pretty stunning! Got there 2 hours early to have some pre match beers in the local pubs and some at the game! No local pubs, and no alcohol in the stadium. Eh!!!! It was half full with 20 mins till kick off, and i was pretty gutted, thought it would be sold out!! Worry not, it was, and in the space of 10 minutes the place was packed, and constantly bouncing & singing, fireworks, the lot, great atmosphere! Felt sorry for the away team, they only got 1000 tickets, so everytime they started a song, 65000 fans drowned them out!
The game was really good, not sure if they'd survive in the premiership, but nice & attacking! I've got some really good videos, and i actually captured the equaliser on film and the craziness afterwards! Oh, and the game also featured a much loved football distraction i like to call "Dog on the pitch." After running on the pitch for a bit, it literally did about 4 laps of the running track while the game was still going on!!
Rounded off a great day with a roof top BBQ at the hostel with Steaks, sausages, chicken, and a
bit of salad thrown in.
Finally managed to leave Santiago today, after 6 nights, and got the bus over the Andes in Argentina!!
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