It certainly was .......

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Chile

Before we arrived in Chile we hadnt heard great things, everyone told us that it was wet, expensive, was almost nothing to do and that there was little point staying there more than a couple of days. We had a week there so needless to say we went not expecting too much out of the visit. Which is probably better than going in exitedly and then being disappointed.

We arrived at the airport to more of a clamour than we had experienced anywhere else, with people literally grabbing you to get into there taxi's and other various other forms of airport transfers. As usual we managed to get ripped off, but again it wasnt to any really significant amount so there wasnt really much harm done. The only thing that really irritated me about it was that the driver demanded 5000 pesos (about 5 quid) to get out of the car park, and then paid only about 750 pesos and kept the change. Without knowing the language its almost impossible to argue that kind of situation and we had to let it go. Through speaking to other people at the airport i think we got off quite lightly though, so we should probably be thankful. And it also seems to have become a bit of a ritual so it would a shame to buck the trend.

Ive got to say that most of what people said about Santiago was true, except that it was cold rather than wet. I dont think i was warm at any point for the whole week whether indoors or out. I think most of the problems stemmed from the fact that the hostels really werent very good at all, as they didnt assist in daytime or nightime activities, which meant that it was pretty hard to meet people and also to visit certain things economically. Despite the fact that the prophecies were indeed true, i did have a good time in santiago and there were a few things that i was really glad that i did. It was just a little lacking in quantity.

The only place of real note to visit was San Cristobel which is a hill with a statue atop it, sort of like a smaller scale version of Rio. It was good because on one side of the hill you ascend via a funicular railway and on the other side descend via two cable cars. It gave us a chance to look right over Santiago which really is in a stunning natural setting as its overlooked by the Andes which really creates an amazing views from whereaver you are in the city. The only problem is that it is quite a poluted place, and from above you can see the smog that hangs over the city.

As there wasnt a great deal to see in Santiago we decided to take a couple of excursions, most notably was the Wine tasting tour. Ive got to say that it was probably by far the biggest rip off that we have experienced all trip. It cost 25 pounds which is a small fortune in south america, and for that small fortune we got to sit on a coach for 2 and a half hours, have a brief tour of the wine cellars (we couldnt even see the vinyards because it was raining) and try two half glasses of wine before spending another hour and a half on the coach on the way back. It wasnt that it wasnt enjoyeable its just that it cost a significant part of our weeks budget for half a days tour - most of which was spent on the bus. But i will stop moaning now.

Chile was our last stop in South America and i guess it was a bit of a shame that our last stop wasnt the best, but it was still a great place to see, and also allowed us to get some much needed rest ahead of 13 hour flight to New Zealand.

Tom 07/06

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