We made a quick stop in Santiago before heading off to Valparaiso for the new year celebration. I had to go the US embassy to drop off my passport as I was running out of room for the stamps and needed more pages put in. We are going to come back to Santiago, so I will write about it and load some pictures after we visit the city properly.

He Said: In our travels this past year we have been to a LOT of cities. Most have been dirty, corrupt and plainly unlivable. Santiago is far from all of that. Although other than a few museums and modest sites, is doesn't have much to offer the casual tourist. But with that in mind, Santiago is a city that I found totally livable. In a way it re...

I donīt know how but we missed our connecting bus for Santiago.....I mean, we were early for our bus...again the whole lack of Spanish was probably our downfall, apparently we were announced on the intercom, silly paddys!We had a day to spend in Antofagasta which is a bit of a drab city that really we could have survived missing....although it d...

Well, I have to say that I have been rather lazy since I got to Santiago on Thursday evening. I'm staying in a fab new hostel right bang in the centre of Plaza de Armas so I've been vegging out on the terrace listening to traditional drummers on the square and generally watching the hub bub below. I fell in love with a painting on my first day h...

Maybe I should start by correcting everyone on the pronunciation of "Chile". It's not like chili that you eat. It's pronounced more like "chee'lay". So when I get home no one better ask me how "chilly" was or I'll say it tasted fine, but I don't much like beans. Chile is the long, skinny country on the west coast of South America. It has the Pac...

I arrived in Santiago and wasnīt very impressed. I think I was somewhat off Santiago before I even got there because Iīve heard some bad things about the city and petty crimes and scams are on the rise. Well the first experience I had was getting off the bus to be hounded by guides trying to help you find your way around the terminal and to a ta...

Here are some more photos (finally). They are extremely out of date, everybody looks different now but hey, its something.