Holiday Inn Express Santiago, Chile

... the fish market we were greeted by a friendly man who spent 20 minutes talking to us about history of conflicts between Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, including the Falklands war - we just stood there mostly clueless. So there you go - something you wouldn't expect on the street - a history lesson delivered by mr friendly. <br><br>Since fish is apparently a Chilean speciality we decided to have lunch at a recommended fish restaurant. We had more fun ...

... think it might have something to do with futbol (soccer for us Am-urh-icans). Anyways I am using this blog to come to this skinny possibly anorextic country's defense. Upon crossing the border from Peru one notices immediately a change in both the faces of the Chilean people (read: less indigenous looking) and the national psyche. My first stop was Arica which apprently is a resort town but I think I got here too early for the beach rush. Either way I enjoyed getting to know ...

... as in another guy in room started coughing &amp; had to leave the room which was ridiculously funny, they also decided to keep leaving and coming back back into the room &amp; leaving the shutters open &amp; door wide open so that noise and light was happily keeping us wide awake(poor Fitzy got like 5 hours sleep).Was even so funny when the Spanish dudes left the room that managed to leave the window shutters open when closing the door, had to get up and close them.<br><br>Anyways we all ...

... like a sack of potatoes due to the altitude...he was fine with a little oxygen. We bared all for the crowds by changing behind a washcloth sized travel towel, and sank into the not-so-hot thermal springs amidst freezing outdoor temperatures, The rest of the day we toured the "altiplanos" (highlands), watching herds of wild vicuna's graze on the slopes of volcanoes. A small village stop offered a skewer of llama meat, which was ...

Pause dans la pause: temps perdu à Santiago Break from the break: lost time in Santiago ---------- Bariloche étant malheureusement terriblement cher (comme Ushuaia), je ne m'y suis pas éternisé. Résultat, je n'ai vu la ville qu'un dimanche, tout était fermé et il pleuvait. Chouette. De Bariloche en quelques petites heures de bus on arrive à Osorno au Chili, légèrement au nord de Puerto Montt. Giuliano y était arrivé deux heures avant moi, après un long voyage directement depuis ...

... smoggy. We look forward to doing more exploring tomorrow. For the birders out there, our first two birds in country were the Chimango Caracara and Eared Dove. Rufous-collared Sparrow is our fave so far. (Update) The next day we went for a walk up a hill to find some birds. The view from the top was obscured by the fog, but still nice. Our feet were sore from walking, so we took the funicular back down. Cool but scary! Eek!

... people i have ever met. Paula´s mum runs a school that has ties to several New Zealand schools so they have a constant stream of kiwi´s on exchange in their house, including at one time former Education Minister Chris Carter! We also met Paula and her Sister´s boyfriends and have decided we quite like the South American custom of kissing people on the cheek when introduced ;) actually we have fallen in love with south american manners ...

Yet another ****** sleep ... up at 5:50 ... back asleep at 7:10 ... up again at 8:00 ... that's when I said screw it and got out of bed, had a shower, and grabbed breakfast. There was a pretty good selection of fruit - cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon ... and also a bunch of canned fruits, which I skipped. There was a scary looking bowl of eggs in a bowl that had been left in a chafing dish - all dried, chunky, and caked onto the sides, it ...

... whereas Santiago's blue skies had almost a pastel shade. <br><br>We decided to do what all good travellers do when they find themselves in a foreign city, a good old Lonely Planet walking tour. <br><br>If truth be told this was actually a bit ****, but I guess it did give us ...