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Published: December 31st 2009
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Santiago 15th - 17th December 2009
The bus journey to Chile went well except for a bit of a 2 hour wait at the border control to queue in a line of other buses waiting to have passports stamped and bags searched. Still, it gave us chance to eat any remaining food items that couldn't be carried across the border. You'll be pleased to know we were allowed into Chile but not before having to explain what Dulce de Leche (like a toffee Nutella) and olive and blue cheese paste were to the border control officials, but thankfully they let us keep them.
We arrived in Santiago at about 5pm just in time for the evening rush hour, so as we stepped out of the bus station and entered the metro (underground) we were faced with a wall of people scurrying between platforms. We waited on a platform for the train to take us two stops with the other hundreds of commuters which should have been a 2 minute journey. Well of course it wasn't a 2 minute journey. First we missed our stop, then we tried to catch a train back which skipped our stop, tried to go
back again in the other direction where whilst changing platforms dried spaghetti fell out the small hole in the bottom of Bowks's bag all over the floor and all in the not so pleasant, roasting hot underground atmosphere!
We emerged some 20 minutes later, slightly flustered but alive and walked the final few blocks to our hostel. The hostel, the Ventana Sur, was fantastic, recently opened and set back in amongst a quiet residential area. It had a really homely feel to it and was run by some really well organised guys, Tiln, Isaac and Ivan. That eve we walked to the local supermarket, got some a munch and then sat back and relaxed in the garden at the back of the hostel and chatted with some of some of the other travelers and enjoyed another warm evening.
After a very hot sleep in what was an 8 bed dorm we ate the hostel breakfast (where they had muesli!) and waited for Karem, Bowks's friend from where she used to work who lived in Santiago to arrive to show us the sights of the city. Karem arrived and we set out to see the sights on what was
a scorcher of a day. We saw lots of Santiago including the bright Christmas lights of the Cathedral (with open confession booths), the hill on which Santiago was formed, Central Market, world famous for its fish selling (where we got hounded to eat at different restaurants, but luckily our native Chilean guide could fend them off!), the art gallery and Bella Vista famous for its bar and cafe district. It was great having a local to show us the sights and provide us with a bit of the history, not mention Bowks being able to see a friend again.
Santiago had a very European feel to it and was the most westernised city we had visited in South America. Back at the hostel we cooled off in the pool and whilst chatting to some of the other hostel guests we found out that the hostel was putting on a 'free wine night' so keen to join in we cooked our dinner and settled down on the patio with our wine. The evening was great, we spent hours chatting about traveling experiences and practicing Spanish. The supply of wine seemed never ending, as when we finished a bottle it was
swiftly replaced with another. The star attraction of the evening were the local police who turned up to ask us, in their best English, to turn the music down a little, but we were more then fine to carry on the party. They then proceeded to demonstrate their policing equipment to us by allowing us to kick their shin pads as hard as we could (proper crackers!) The merriment continued until around 4.30am when we then decided it really was time for bed.
Thursday 17th December
We awoke early and retreated downstairs to cool off in the pool. We had a very chilled day making preparations and sorting things ready for our flight to New Zealand that eve. During the free wine night we had expressed our disappointment that we were not going to be at the hostel for the BBQ so Ivan and Isaac had agreed to do a practice one for us all that eve. They cooked sausages and 2 whopping steaks, all very tasty and a great meal in preparation for our flight. At 7.30pm we left the hostel caught the metro (more successfully this time) and a bus to the airport noticing the high
levels of Chilean public displays of affection! The airport procedures all fine, however no celebrity spotting this time. At 11.10pm we boarded our 13 hour flight to Auckland. We felt a little sad to be leaving South America, we'd had a great time and there was still loads more we wanted to see and do, but there's always next time!
See ya later South America!
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