Hostal de Sammy Santiago

Ok! Since Salta has been rather eventful! We went to the little village of Iruya high up in the andes (one car got stuck in the river.... very funny) then made our way down to Mendoza. Here we spent 2 days at a little weird but nice bedsit (

Alas we arrive and it´s not as imtimidating as we thought. Quite the oppoiste actually! Santiago was actually better than expected. We took a day trip out to a couple fo the beachy places about an hour outside of the city which were OK but it was raining so we just looked round, got some pics and made our way back. We did take a bus trip to sample the local transport system which was interesting and pretty dirty at the same time as we were hounded by some local drunk/tramp fellow. The second ...

So here it is, adventure number two has begun... well, after what was a very longwinded and multiple stopover transit! From Burnie to Sydney, Sydney to Auckland, Auckland to Santiago, and after too many meals on the plane, way too many inflight movies, not nearly enough sleep, and suffering from far too much jetlag, we're here. Santiago, Chile. Stop number one in the vast continent that is South America, in a land where the people are very aesthetically pleasing to look at (i mantain there is...

In order to see more of the country I decided to go on the quest for a car. So for the last week and a half I was all around the caryards of Temuco and Santiago. My basecamp in Santiago this time is hostal de sammy. It is not as luxurious as the Casa Roja, but cheaper and includes a great breakfast (pancakes, scrambled eggs, REAL homemade bread, homemade jam) and offers more computers and free bicycle rental. All in all, a good place for my chase for a car.

So far I wasnt successful. U...

After an 11 hour flight we arrive in a rainy Santiago 5 hours before we set off. We find the company who is taking us to our hostel and soon we're at our hostle and checked in. We then go for a walk in the rain towards the main part of the city where we find some lunch and have our first attempt at SPanish which is fairly successful before we give up and head back to the hostel and dry out. The hostel has a free meal in the evening so we get to know some of the other people there and talk abo...

We ended up staying for an extra day in Mendoza just taking it easy and cruising around with the mendocinos eating ice-ream (helado). The residents seem to eat ice-cream everyday and there's a store on every corner making for good competition and lots of eclectic flavours. We took the chance to buy some top quality sports equipment like a basketball, soccerball and tennis balls and little packets of glitter for the kids we will be visiting in the community near Santiago. Another observation, ...

Before we left Franklin´s ¨End of the Trail¨ on Wednesday morning, he made us another one of his great breakfasts and told us we ¨gave him hope for the new generation¨. He informed us we were ¨excellent guests¨ and sent us on our way to the bus terminal.

I didn´t give it any thought until I was sitting on the 29 hour bus ride to Santiago, but when I did, I had a good chuckle. At every other place we´ve stayed, it seemed the hotel operators were the one´s trying to please us. At Frankl...

So we're finally here!! Started off a little rocky with a cancelled flight from Kelowna to Vancouver! We were very lucky to be invited to travel to Van in a rental suv that a stranger named Jim from Sydney paid for! Mike and I and another Australian guy got in with him and made it to the airport and 2 long flights later and 2 long days later we are at our Hostel in Santiago!! Havn't even seen the room yet too ealry to check in but Charles is making eggs and pancakes so it looks like we willl ...