Sleepless in Santiago

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After nearly three hours in what was purely an exercise in tedium on the border to cross back into Chile and a frustratingly sleepless night in the best hostel I have ever stayed in during my South American travels (Hostel Princesa Insolente), Tobias decided that I should get out of my dorm bed and see some sights in Santiago with him. I opened my eyes and was greeted with the vision of someone sleeping in another bunk with their back to me, no sheet, but plenty of cheek. I clearly didn’t need to get out of my bed to see any sights! I didn’t quite share the enthusiasm that Tobias had for sightseeing, due to a combination of tiredness and the fact that I had undertaken such an endeavour in the past. He would not be deterred, however, by my irritable demeanour over breakfast, so we set out onto the streets of Santiago, basking in the heat of a glorious 35 degree day.

Our first destination was the statue of the Virgin Mary atop the hill known as ‘Cerro San Crist<span>όbal’. Having not done this on my previous visits to the city due to pollution obstructing the view, I was keen to catch the funicular up to the top of the hill and take in the sweeping vista under a canopy of uninterrupted blue. We could see a faint outline of the high Andes to the west, with the city sprawling out further than I had imagined. I couldn’t help but notice that towering behind the large religious statue was a mobile phone antenna, which seemed to provide a visual representation of the changing icons of our times. Starting to need something to quench our thirst in the heat, we found a kiosk and watched the fitness nuts run up and down the steps of the hill whilst we drank in the healthy goodness contained in ice cold cans of sugary Fanta.

We made our way to Plaza de Armas and wandered through the peaceful and pleasingly cool cathedral, where I even noticed a dog trying to escape the heat by pretending to pray in one of the side altars. The highlight of the walk back to the hostel was stopping off for a coffee in the art deco inspired ‘Café Haiti’, also known (as I was later told) as ‘Café on Legs’. I figure that this is due to the fact that there aren’t any seats or stools, so you simply stand, whilst waitresses in mini-skirts which are no longer than a wide belt bring you your drink. The coffee was superb and it truly felt like we had stepped back in time. Having not been to the Caribbean, it made me wonder whether there are coffee and cigar establishments designed in a similar art deco fashion upon those islands.

My next task involved relocating to a hotel to meet my Intrepid tour group for my Patagonia adventure which was departing the following morning. Having surely lost a couple of kilograms during the sweltering walk with my backpack and being gobsmacked by the brilliant murals adorning the walls of the metro station ‘Universidad de Chile’, I arrived at the reception desk and the two elderly ladies working there were clearly concerned for my wellbeing, as it seemed that I was turning into liquid matter in front of their very eyes. They swiftly checked me in and showed me to my room, where I hastily had a cold shower and took a siesta in my air conditioned room to escape the heat.

When I awoke, the night was ready for the taking! I left my hotel, setting foot in the distinctly European environs of Barrio Paris Londres and made my way back to the Barrio Brasil district to meet up with Tobias and await the arrival of another good friend of mine, who had an overnight stopover between flights from Buenos Aires to Lima. He had e-mailed me earlier in the day on the off chance that I would be in Santiago that night, which, as fate would have it, I was. Considering he has been living in Arequipa, Peru, the opportunities for us to catch up have been limited to say the least. I was really excited and happy at this fortuitous timing and had a suspicion that the night may be one that I saw right through to the morning, as it was also going to be my last night of travelling with Tobias. As long as I made it to my airport transfer, all would be well!

I encountered Tobias in a street purchasing alcohol, so I did the same and we returned to the hostel. Here I discovered that in my absence, Tobias had befriended quite a few others who were staying there and was involved in a barbeque feast that they were preparing for dinner. One thing I love about staying in hostels is the social nature of them and this night was typical of that, as I spent time conversing with people from all of the inhabited continents, with the conversation being in turns thought provoking, hilarious, offensive and illuminating. One such example was learning from a Spanish fellow that ‘banderas’ translates to ‘flags’. I commented that Antonio Banderas could then also be called Tony Flag! Someone then suggested that his pornstar name would probably be Tony Flagpole – such was the level of our witty conversation… By the time Ryan arrived, having booked into a hostel down the road that he was never going to sleep at, we were in full swing and the night was immensely enjoyable. A couple of times members of the group took to wandering the streets in search of more alcohol, which we tended to find, although the third time was unlucky, as everything was closed. At this point, someone remembered that they had a bottle of unopened Pisco in their backpack, so we returned to the hostel, found two more large bottles of beer that we polished off whilst the Pisco was being mixed with lemonade and ice. It was served up at 4:20am, which gave Ryan a few minutes to consume it before his taxi to the airport arrived outside his hostel down the road. By the time I finished mine, it was time to embark upon the half hour stroll through the sleeping city to get back to my hotel and meet my own transfer to the airport. All’s well that ends well and after two sleepless nights in Santiago, I was on an aeroplane to Patagonia!

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