Santiago

I headed to Santiago the same evening as the others left Mendoza. Spent most of the day wondering around town trying to find an "I climbed Aconcagua" t-shirt. Left Santiago at the 22:30 bus. Someone needs to remind me that I NEVER want to cross a border again by night. It was just a nightmare. We were woken up at 2am at border control for passport checks. There were a massive line of night buses each with 40 passengers, and only 3 people checking passports. To make matters worse, child kidnapping is a massive problem in Argentina, so any child who went through took so long! 2 hours pass. YES! We can get back on the bus!! For 10 minutes, until they pile us all out again and file us into another building, take all of the bags off the bus and pass them through a conveyor similar to an airport and had a lecture on the importance of not bringing in food products into Chile. We don't care. It's 4am. We just want to shut you up and go to sleep. Lecture over and bags checked, we all load back into the bus, and go straight back to sleep. Bliss.

I arrive in Los Héroes at 6:30am and head to the Che Lagarto hostel, where I've been recommended by some friends in the UK. The place is deserted. I ring the doorbell over and over again. Nothing. Great. This lady who I recognise from the bus journey comes up to me and asks me if I'm OK. I reply in my very broken Spanish (you'll be glad to hear it's much better now) that I'm looking for the Che Lagarto hostel, but I'd rung and no one was in. She asks a couple of passers-by where this hostel is, and they all point us to the deserted building. After many more frustrating conversations with passers-by and a receptionist in a very expensive looking hotel, she introduces herself as Monica and invites me back to her place. Well, I say invites. It was more of a statement. She doesn't want me hanging around that part of town while it's dark and I don't know my way round. That's very nice. I was a bit cautious. But in about the next 10 minutes, I realise that she's just lovely and that she's a bit lonely after I think she said she was widowed. She gives me the double bed room (all her things are in her son's room) and tells me to relax and if I want anything. We both go to bed for a few hours, and she wakes me up at about 10 to tell me she's nipping out and she writes down her mobile number, her address and the name of the nearest Metro station. "Relax, help yourself to whatever's in the fridge for some breakfast, have a shower, I'll be back soon".

So nice. I, feeling so happy to be being looked after call the hostel and get their real address and fall back asleep. Turns out they moved 2 years ago after the earthquake in 2010. And this guidebook is updated every year. Pah. I wake up and gather up my things and write Monica a note to thank her for taking me in. Just as I'm leaving, she walks back in with some man in tow and asks me if I had any breakfast. Since I haven't, she insists on me having either a tea or coffee, and explains that she's just bought a car off the guy who she introduces me to (but I can't remember his name). She tells me to put down my bags and to tell me what the situation is with the hostel, and after explaining the situation, she asks for the new address and tells me she'll give me a lift to try out the car!! So sweet. I honestly don't know what I would have done without her. She's my South American heroine.

As I get out of the car outside the real hostel, she tells me to call her anytime while in Santiago if I have any problems. I say "Thank you" for the millionth time and head into the hostel and check into one of the dorms. After the relative luxury of the hotel in Mendoza this is a little bit...worse for wear but functional. The staff are friendly and within about 10 minutes of settling down in my room I meet a Brazilian girl from Rio, Carla, whose English is brilliant, and she's just the sweetest. She gives me advice on where to go in Santiago and heads off.

I realise that I pack like a girl and that I'm going to have to send some stuff home (sorry Mum). The big pack is just too heavy. Once I've sorted the clothes that I'm going to send back home, I head out and walk around town and find the Museum of National History, which shows artifacts from pre-colonial era through to the early 20th century. Very interesting. I get back to the hostel to find a British couple playing pool. We have a super yummy "asado" (Chilean/Argentine BBQ) with as much wine as we could drink...they clearly underestimated the amount that we can drink! The Santiago nightlife is pretty cool, mainly European music with a few Brazilian hits. The clubs don't open until 2, so staying up for breakfast was pretty much the only option we had when we got back to the hostel (we definitely wouldn't have woken up in time).

As it happened, I barely woke up in time to get to my bike tour round Santiago. It was led by an ex-history teacher from New York, and everyone on the tour was from the US. But in all fairness, the tour was very interesting, and who knew how much political history there was in Santiago?? The dictatorship vs democracy, Allende vs Pinochet, civil war literary cafés. We then stopped for the BEST ICE CREAM EVER. Yum.

We headed to Viña del Mar for a few days, we were longing to see the sea with the 35ºC that we had been experiencing. We managed to make it there in time for the international music festival, which was a South American version of Eurovision, and the streets and beaches were PACKED. There's a clock made of FLOWERS here, which is pretty cool. The main attraction though is the Casino, and of course we went in and placed our bets. Quite a swanky place, and we had a good time, if stressed at the amount I was losing (at one point). I had a LEGEND sitting next to me who kept looking over my shoulder and helping me out by betting on my cards. I came out with what I went in though, so I'm pretty happy at that outcome!

Before heading back to Santiago, we spent the day in Valparaíso, a nearby port town. We didn't plan this bit very well, we turned up on the Monday, the only day of the week when everything is shut! But we went up some of the cable cars to the top of the hills and walked down after seeing the beautiful views from the top. There's a massive street art culture here, and we found ourselves mainly taking photos of the Banksy-style art on the walls. Some of it was really clever, other bits just strange.

We've discovered it is so difficult to get a Chilean meal around here. Italian? Check. Mexican? Check. American (KFC, McD's, Burger King)? Check. Chilean? Not one place. I've enjoyed Santiago, but it's time to move on now, heading further south to the Lake District. Next stop Pucón. Over and out.

PS. Sorry for the essay.