Well not really chilly, like Idaho chilly, as you can tell by the pictures, but the country I have indeed made it to after one HELL of a bus ride! I left Cordoba at 10 pm and finally arrived in Santiago, Chile at 4 pm the next day. An 18 hour bus ride that included a flat tire on an inside dualy that had to be fixed, several stops in the middle of no-where for unknown reasons (I would assume a smoke break for the crew), several slow semi trucks on two lane mountain passes, and one hell of an inspection at the Chilean border. I´ve never been through customs that has taken such a long time. After standing in line for about an hour to go through Argentine migration, you then stood in line for another hour at chile customs, where there were two gentleman serving about 75 people. After that you went to the other side to take your bags out from
under the bus and bring them inside for inspection while the bus itself was searched thoroughly. After the dog and the man with the rubber glove inspects you and your stuff, then the bus as a group can go back onto the bus. Tell you what, no slipping anything by those guys! What boggles me is that this is basically the only land crossing through the Andes between Mendoza and Santiago, two major cities, for miles. I can´t imagine it always being this slow. After the border, we then descended a pretty serious mountain pass into the Santiago Valley (see picture) that you ¨really¨wouldn´t want your breaks to go out on. The landscape around here in the valley much reminds me of the Los Angelas area...a smoggy valley from the big city with the backdrop of steep treeless mountains full of dry brush. Once we got into Santiago I decided to hotel it up for the night for a nice break from both hostels and buses. I found a nice little oasis for 15 dollars, nearly cheaper than hostels anyway, on a little cobblestone street that felt kind of like Europe. I hit the city by foot to get my bearings, check things out the rest of the da
y, and finally doing something active. I ate dinner at a Karaoke restaurant that was pretty entertaining watching Chilean folks rockin out to English music. The owner was real friendly, spoke excellent english, and referred me to a couple of places on the Chilean coast that may be nice to visit during my short stay. Like that I was out the next morning and on a two hour bus ride to Viña del Mar, my current location. I was lucky enough to sit next to the very large child that managed to spill soda all over himself and our seat on the trip. My time was pretty short lived in Santiago, but I am getting kind of burned out on the cities. I thought of treking up the little mountain in Santiago that has a big statue at the top of it, but the idea of getting out of the city and doing something active sounded much more appealing. I really like where I´m at, and I think I´ll be posting up here for the dura
tion of my stay. From this town I can easily make day trips to a few other smaller towns up the coast that seem appealing. I can also catch a bus from here to Mendoza direct, avoiding having to go back into Santiago for a night. As for the town itself, it´s one of the poplular Chilean summer get aways. Plenty of high rise residential towers along the beach, but has a nice chilled out main street, and plenty of coast. There is a port town just south of here with old houses scattered all over the hillsides. I like the vibes of the place. There were a bunch of fireman (bomberos) on some of the street corners soliciting money via raffle tickets for some charrity or other cause I wasn´t really sure of (something like fill the boot I´m sure). Some things just don´t change no matter wh
ere you go, and I happily donated some of my money to the cause. I´ve been a little over budget today if you will, when somehow 30 dollars disappeared somewhere between the subway and a buying a muffin at a shop, and I mistakenly thought the attendant at the hotel said 18.00, as in U.S. dollars, but meant 18,000 Chilean Pesos, which is 30 USD. Still don´t really have anything to complain about, you can´t win them all. The currency can get a little tricky figuring out here in Chile, because 1 dollar is = to apx 600 Chilean Pesos. When you start adding them up the numbers can get pretty big for something that shouldn´t seem to cost so much. It´s weird spending 6,000 anything for a meal. The chilean culture definitely has a different feel to it than the other countries I´ve visited in S.A, and has some amazing food. Some of the people tend to show it here and look a little ¨less fit¨than the other countries as well haha. Speaking of cuisine, I´m off to indulge in it myself. Take care all....Keith.
Well not really chilly, like Idaho chilly, as you can tell by the pictures, but the country I have indeed made it to after one HELL of a bus ride! I left Cordoba at 10 pm and finally arrived in Santiago, Chile at 4 pm the next day. An 18 hour bus ride that included a flat tire on an inside dualy that had to be fixed, several stops in the middle of no-where for unknown reasons (I would assume a smoke break for the crew), several slow semi trucks on two lane mountain passes, and one hell of an inspection at the Chilean border. I´ve never been through customs that has taken such a long time. After standing in line for about an hour to go through Argentine migration, you then stood in line for another hour at chile customs, where there were two gentleman serving about 75 people. After that you went to the other side to take your bags out from 
under the bus and bring them inside for inspection while the bus itself was searched thoroughly. After the dog and the man with the rubber glove inspects you and your stuff, then the bus as a group can go back onto the bus. Tell you what, no slipping anything by those guys! What boggles me is that this is basically the only land crossing through the Andes between Mendoza and Santiago, two major cities, for miles. I can´t imagine it always being this slow. After the border, we then descended a pretty serious mountain pass into the Santiago Valley (see picture) that you ¨really¨wouldn´t want your breaks to go out on. The landscape around here in the valley much reminds me of the Los Angelas area...a smoggy valley from the big city with the backdrop of steep treeless mountains full of dry brush. Once we got into Santiago I decided to hotel it up for the night for a nice break from both hostels and buses. I found a nice little oasis for 15 dollars, nearly cheaper than hostels anyway, on a little cobblestone street that felt kind of like Europe. I hit the city by foot to get my bearings, check things out the rest of the da
y, and finally doing something active. I ate dinner at a Karaoke restaurant that was pretty entertaining watching Chilean folks rockin out to English music. The owner was real friendly, spoke excellent english, and referred me to a couple of places on the Chilean coast that may be nice to visit during my short stay. Like that I was out the next morning and on a two hour bus ride to Viña del Mar, my current location. I was lucky enough to sit next to the very large child that managed to spill soda all over himself and our seat on the trip. My time was pretty short lived in Santiago, but I am getting kind of burned out on the cities. I thought of treking up the little mountain in Santiago that has a big statue at the top of it, but the idea of getting out of the city and doing something active sounded much more appealing. I really like where I´m at, and I think I´ll be posting up here for the dura
tion of my stay. From this town I can easily make day trips to a few other smaller towns up the coast that seem appealing. I can also catch a bus from here to Mendoza direct, avoiding having to go back into Santiago for a night. As for the town itself, it´s one of the poplular Chilean summer get aways. Plenty of high rise residential towers along the beach, but has a nice chilled out main street, and plenty of coast. There is a port town just south of here with old houses scattered all over the hillsides. I like the vibes of the place. There were a bunch of fireman (bomberos) on some of the street corners soliciting money via raffle tickets for some charrity or other cause I wasn´t really sure of (something like fill the boot I´m sure). Some things just don´t change no matter wh
ere you go, and I happily donated some of my money to the cause. I´ve been a little over budget today if you will, when somehow 30 dollars disappeared somewhere between the subway and a buying a muffin at a shop, and I mistakenly thought the attendant at the hotel said 18.00, as in U.S. dollars, but meant 18,000 Chilean Pesos, which is 30 USD. Still don´t really have anything to complain about, you can´t win them all. The currency can get a little tricky figuring out here in Chile, because 1 dollar is = to apx 600 Chilean Pesos. When you start adding them up the numbers can get pretty big for something that shouldn´t seem to cost so much. It´s weird spending 6,000 anything for a meal. The chilean culture definitely has a different feel to it than the other countries I´ve visited in S.A, and has some amazing food. Some of the people tend to show it here and look a little ¨less fit¨than the other countries as well haha. Speaking of cuisine, I´m off to indulge in it myself. Take care all....Keith.
Keith, Looking forward to seeing you soon and hearing stories of Carnival. Take care and keep up the great journaling/blogging.
ReplyDeleteGreg Rod