Plaza El Bosque Park & Suites Las Condes

Bill and I went to see the virgin of the tallest mountain yesterday--had to ride the funicular straight up the mountain. <everything is closed because of the holidays, so we are enjoying fiestas in the parks with locals. <tried pisco sours first time, and moreno huesillo deserts. <tomorrow easter island

... on this plane (primarily full of Chilenos) was talking with some other passenger. People were turned around and talking to the people behind them, helping each other load things into the compartments, and there was no silence until the pilot began to give his regular run down. Even then I'm pretty sure I heard some jokes being told around the cabin.<br><br> That still didn't seem to make me comprehend what was happening. Sure, I realized I was flying to Chile to live in ...

... an 18 hr bus journey from looking at the map. It was in fact a 36 HOUR BUS!!! This is because (we think from our poor Spanish self-translation!) the Andes are so snowed over at this time of year that the only way of driving up Chile is by driving all the way to the other side of the continent and driving up the Atlantic coast of Argentina, then trans'continent back into Chile!!! Please look at a map just to appreciate the ridiculousness of this ...

... tour after our second day in Mendoza. For about $120 US for the two of us, with of course including Hutto´s new bargaining skills, we had an all day private tour to 4 wineries that included about 20 different wine tastings. It even included a 5 course meal that could have possibly been the best meal of my life paired with a particular wine for each course. The next day after we tried to walk off our wine headaches, we thought it might be a good ...

... TV room. I felt awful as had a cold. I lay on the lounge and literally only moved to make our lunch rolls. On the TV was a George Clooney movie festival , in English so I enjoyed seeing about 4 movies in arrow. Our bus left at 10pm so we never left the hostel till 9.30pm to cross the road for our overnight bus trip. We were over cities and had no energy to see anymore of Santiago.

... and it always fun to look at the fish stalls. I had a lunch at Pailas Denisse, a fairly scruffy, cheap locals place. Very friendly and the fish was nice - but I was slightly disappointed that machas (despite being translated as razor clams) are not the same as navajas which I love. I also tried Chilean conger in batter - which could almost be served at a fish and chip shop back home. Finally today I went to Bellavista - the sort of studenty ...

... amp; cableway for some great views over the city although smoggy. It is a easy city to get around &amp; always felt safe.....but.....it didn't appear to have any real heart to it. We were amazed that cars stopped at crossings &amp; people generally didn't bump into you as well as queued in an orderly fashion...made life more tolerable. Our last day was on a tour to Valparaiso area by the coast....a 10 hour day. The port is a UNESCO world ...

... and gave him the wink to let him know that I knew what his game was. Then off I went to the row of ATMs to get some cash an lo and behold, he was right...all ran out of money! It must have been a conspiracy, so I had to walk ages further to find one with some cash.With cash in hand and just to spite the taxi driver, I then decided to take a train to the hostel. It turned out to be a good decision. Santiago ...

... Elisa hosted us. Hospitality was so good we stayed for three nights, upon where - I played 6 a side football with Elisa´s boyfriend, Thomas and his quick-footed Chiliean friends, managing to hold my own for 90 (well...60 mins of 90). - We enjoyed the Local Chiliean Sushi - all local produce. - We BBQed on the Cassanova´s balcony overlooking the ...

... The further south we travelled the harder the language became to understand. Chileans and Argentinians both speak fast and both speak slang. By the end the traditional morning greeting was down to "Bun D", and that was the limit of my comprehension. By contrast as the language speeded up the pace of life, or at least the level of shouting and hassle we experienced, slowed down. In Ecuador people literally shout for a living, in Peru people drive cars ...