Santiago and Andes


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South America » Chile » Santiago Region » Santiago
November 12th 2010
Published: December 6th 2010
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Best thing about Santiago had to be Chile Hostales, arriving in the rain it offerred a level of homeliness and comfort that makes you think you are not only in someones home, but perhaps your own home. First tip for Santiago is to try the hot dogs, especially the one with copious amounts of cheese and avocado. Then work it off by going for a hike up Cerro San Cristóbal, when i was there the train was not working, a taxi is a lazy option but for an intense but mercifully short hike you get the rewards of the full Santiago vista. If it rains do hike up once it stops as it tends to clear the smog nicely.

I also went on a daytrip to tours the nearby ski fields up in the Andes, would of liked to snowboard but the fields were not open for business. Be warned if you visit the skifields if you're on a budget take your own lunch as it's very pricey to buy a meal up there. I'm talking several days budget if you are hungry. It's always going to be expensive dining at over 3000 metres. Best thing was the windy drive down the mountain.

Santiago from what I experienced is easily the 'easy city' of South America, and as such might of been a better place to start than edgy Rio, public transport is safe and reliable, streets are clean and relatively safe, accomodation etc is great. And it has some cool studenty areas for cafe and bar culture so it's not the dullard city that many backpackers dismiss it as. And very importantly it has a decent coffee culture


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6th December 2010

Great Time
Wow, looks like you had a great time in Santiago. How about its surroundings? The Wine Valleys are something worth visiting... Gives you a "taste" of the real Chile too, if you know what I mean! Then there's Valparaiso, a personal favorite.

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