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Other entries in Santiago

Hola to Pisco Sour!

Our first South American city! Our first impressions of Santiago were of a modern and quite European city... that is until you look up through the haze of smog and see the snow-capped Andes towering above. Aconcagua, South America's highest peak, is only three hours away from here, just on the other side of the Argentinian border. We also noticed fairly quickly that South American driving and traffic are scarier than anything back home. The roads are choked and the drivers are ruthless, especially the bus drivers. Santiago's buses are known as 'micros'. They're bright yellow, single deck buses that can be flagged down anywhere (adding to the general chaos as they randomly screech to a halt). The drivers, according to our Chilean friend, work on a commission basis depending on how many paying passengers they pick up so the incentive to stop wherever and whenever they can is very great.

For our first few days in Santiago we stayed at Hostal Forestal, a really friendly, comfortable place near the centre. There's not a massive amount to do in Santiago as a tourist but we visited Cerro Santa Lucia (a little rocky hill with a park and tiny chapel, rising in the city centre with panoramic views of the city and mountains), visited the indigenous cultures museum, and took the cable car up to Cerro San Cristobal. While in Santiago we also met up with some friends of an ex-colleague, Tomas and Cristobal. They dissuaded us from going to any more boring museums and took us out clubbing and to visit Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, seaside towns near Santiago. We also went for dinner at Tomas's house where his sister made a great meal, and stayed a couple of nights at Cristobal's bachelor pad.

After more than a week of fun and relaxation it was time to join our budget overland tour to Rio. After so many months of travelling independently we knew this wasn't going to be easy but was looking forward to visiting all the places on the itinerary and meeting new people! 

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