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Chillin in Chile
Entry 33 of 50 | show all | print this entry |
A few of you have been asking what exactly am I going to be doing in South America so heres the rough plan....
First stop Santiago for a few days. Then bus it through the Andes and over the border to Mendoza in Argentina. After a few nights there I´ll get the overnight bus to Buenos Aires for about 6 nights and I´ll meet Sophia (my friend from London) on the 11th February. I can´t wait to see her and its going to be great having a friend, especially from home, to travel with. After a few days of throwing some crazy tango shapes (we´ll have to give it a go!) in Buenos Aires we´ll catch a flight to Salta in northern Argentina and then bus it to various places in Chile, Bolivia and Peru and work our way northwards to Lima in Peru. After that we´ll go our separate ways and I´ll join a 2 week tour which will take me through Peru (Cusco, the Inca trail, Macchu Pichu...) and Bolivia (Lake Titicaca, Tiahuanaco...) and finishes in La Paz. From there I´ll fly to Sao Paulo in Brazil for a brief stop and onto Rio de Janeiro for a few days craziness before flying into London on 27 March. And that´ll be the end of my round the world adventure - noooooooo!!!!!! But I´ll try not think about that yet...
So anyway... I arrived in Santiago on Sunday afternoon after an 11 hour flight from New Zealand. I actually arrived here before I left Auckland if that makes sense. It felt like my Sunday was going on forever! With that and the after effects of the Yellow Fever vaccination, I felt a bit under the weather for a few days so was happy enough to take it easy and just wander around the city.
Arriving in Santiago airport was a bit daunting. Much like any other airport in South America or Asia there were loads of taxi and bus touts competing for your service. One tout almost managed to get me to take a shuttle bus but I made a point of asking the driver to confirm the fare before we set off, and what do you know, it had more than tripled. Damn pesky scamsters! After arguing with them for a while I set off to find alterative transport and ended up getting the public bus. I knew when everyone unboard cheered when the driver manage to start the engine that it was going to be quite an experience! It was fine though and getting the metro afterwards was also very straightforward so it didn´t take me long to get to my (very pleasant!) hostel.
I´m picking up some Spanish slowly but surely. The people here are nice and patient about it though and will repeat things a few times or help you out. I´m off to Mendoza in Argentina tomorrow on the bus, I´ve heard that its a nice city. Buying the bus ticket was quite an experience... The bus station was crazy busy - everyone and they´re granny was going somewhere with loads of luggage and there were queues everywhere! Apparently its holiday season here. I managed to get the ticket with my pigeon Spanish so I felt quite proud of myself!
The smog is really bad here and the mornings seems to be dull and overcast until the sun can break through and by the afternoon its hot and sunny. Unfortunately all the museums are closed today as its Monday, just my luck! I has a wander around the city and there are some lovely parks scattered around. I haven´t taken any photos yet, I´m not sure if thats because there isn´t much to photograph or because I´m afraid that it´ll get stolen! Must get over my paranoia...
I´ll update soon from Argentina. I´m sure the $5 steaks will be worth talking about!
Latest Comments (3)
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Smog; you ain´t seen nothing yet ! (reply)
Feb 23, 2007 14:11 EST by womblepeter
Hi Evelyn, If you think Santiago was full of fumes then best take a mask if you are venturing into La Paz, it really is dire. I´m passing you somewhere going in the opposite direction, it would help if you could mention some of the hostels that you found to be OK, Mendoza and Santiago are two of my planned stop-overs. Thanks, Womblepeter@yahoo.co.uk
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Details for Contact in Rio (reply)
Feb 8, 2007 02:16 EST by kelving
Hi Evelyn, sounds like your South American leg is full of challenges. Contact Darren Wright 0055 21 9352 9391
or email him darren.wright@attglobal.net
He will be more than happy to show you the sights of Rio de Janerio, or at least have a coffee and point you in the right direction.
Cheers
Kelvin, Jay, Ben and Gabs
Hastings
New Zealand
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YES (reply)
Feb 7, 2007 16:10 EST by eamonn
Hi,
Are you in Argentina yet? Well all sounds good and reminds me of African style of society..in Chile anyway. Hope you got a nice bus with no fumes (as i didn't), meet anyone you knew?
x É
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