Santiago (22 - 25 March 2008)
We arrived at the Santiago Aeropuerto at around 20:00 and headed straight to the information booth that assist in booking accommodation free of charge. With our limited Spanish, we asked the attendant to phone the hostel we had in mind… “complete …full” he replied. And this was the reply to the next six or seven hostels he phoned. We were getting desperate, not to mention irritated with the attendant’s incompetence. The more we explained to him that we need cheap accommodation, the more he tried to push us into phoning the expensive hotels.
After about a half hour’s phoning, we found a hotel in Providencia, the more upmarket area in Santiago. But it would cost us $60! It was already after 21:00 and we were tired and hungry - a bad combination on my system. So we swallowed hard and in desperation decided to take the room before someone else snatched it up. We negotiated with the taxi driver, managed to get a minute discount and jumped into the car. The taxi took off at the speed of light and weaved through the traffic on the highway. This is the first time in months that I actually got scared in a car - if I remember correctly, the last time was in India when we were dodging the cows and oncoming traffic. But this was a different kind of driving, in India you feared that you would hit something, but at least we were driving pretty slowly. Here in Santiago, it seems that everyone is speeding and driving like maniacs! Even though I was sitting in the back of the taxi, I decided to rather fasten my seatbelt and keep my eyes closed - to say a prayer and at least then I would not be able to see what might have happened.
We arrived at the hotel and on checking in found that the price had suddenly gone up to US$70! It is so frustrating not to be able to communicate - we had no other place to go to and the hotel owners knew that very well. So we had to cough up the money. At least the room was worth the money - it was more of an apartment than a room. With a fully equipped kitchen, a balcony, cable TV, a proper bed and a stunning bathroom, we felt like royalty! We quickly settled in and then headed out to the nearest fast food outlet, a Pizza Hut. We bought the special “2 medium pizzas for the price of one” - by the end of the following night, we were so fed up of pizza as we had the leftovers for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
The next morning we were served breakfast in bed. Well, actually we went down stairs to find the dining area so that we could enjoy the perk of ‘breakfast included’. Again, we had to mimic what we wanted and the poor Chilean guy looked very puzzled. After playing a hard game of charades, he finally understood and ordered us back to our room. We were so confused, but obeyed in anyway. About 10 minutes after the disarray, there was a knock on our door - it was a servant with our breakfast. Viola! Breakfast in bed 
Chanel and Werner referred us to Hostal Sammy and so we made a couple of phone calls and found a dorm room closer to the centre of Santiago for a much better price. We caught the Metro to Republica station from where we walked to the hostal. We have to admit that the hostal looked a bit scruffy at first glance, and besides the fact that we got bitten by something (not sure yet if it was bedbugs or fleas), it turned out to be good value for money. The owner, Charles is quite a character - he put us to work to help out with dinner that he cooked free of charge for everyone at the hostal. How nice is that?!
The next day we were off to Santiago Centro to do some sightseeing and book transport to Puerto Natales in the South of Chile. Santiago city has quite a vibe to it - I just did not like the fact that everyone kept telling us to look after our belongings. Are we not from South Africa? Did we not work in the most dangerous city in the world? Come on - we are on holiday for goodness sake! I think South Africans do not realise how naturally vigilant they are - it is in our nature to be constantly aware and alert. Almost like the Karate Kid
We managed to book a flight to Punta Arenas, from where we would take a bus to get to Puerto Natales. Then we ventured into San Lucia Park to catch a view of the city from one of the highest hills in Santiago (all that we could see was smog). We spent some time in the Plaza de Armas and popped into the Cathedral.
The architecture is quite nice - it almost has a European feel to it. What impressed me was the formal way the businessmen were dressed. They were all in tailor cut suites with matching ties and some even had matching hats (Panama hat style). Also, when acquaintances great each other, it is with a kiss on the cheek between women and between men and women and a hearty hand shake followed by a hug between men. We sat on a bench in one of the pedestrian streets and just watched the people go by. The culture is very different from our own and I find it intriguing - I am almost jealous to see such warmth among friends, family and colleagues.
On our way back to the hostel, we were walking through a small park when this young guy approached us. He must have been about 20 years old. He put his arm around Eon’s shoulders and started speaking to Eon in Spanish. Eon laughed and told him that we do not speak Spanish. All of a sudden this guy turned psycho on us - he got very aggressive and clinched his fingers into Eon’s flesh. Eon broke away from his grip and told the guy to stop, but he got more aggressive and he started swinging punches at Eon. This guy was clearly drunk or high on something. Meanwhile, I’m standing on the sideline, totally numb! I always thought of myself as the girl-hero type, the type who would keep a cool mind and pull out some self defence moves. Or at least kick the guy in the …. well, you know where. But no - I just stood there. It was like watching a horror movie in slow motion. Luckily some Chilean guy saw what was going on and he rescued us (not that Eon needed any rescuing - he was just a proper gentleman and did not want to fight with a drunkard teenager, pushing him away all the time). The Chilean took old psycho away and apologised on his behalf. We survived our first South American run-in!
Our flight to Patagonia was for the 27th, so we had two days to kill. We decided to do a short excursion to Valparaiso and then back to Santiago. So the next morning we caught a bus to this quaint little town.
Click on image below to view Santiago gallery: