Dec 2006

Hola!!!!

After 34hrs in transit we made our stinky arrival in Chile. After initial challenges with enterprising taxis and conversion rates, we arrived at Hostel Forestal a cute hostel tucked away in the bohemian district of Santiago. Venturing out on our first night, we overcame initial difficulties with the language barrier and were treated to grande bella food and wine served in large mugs (See photo with mug as large as kates head!). After the generous servings of wine and lack of sleep we finally crashed out.

We woke up to amazingly fresh bread and jam (It was FREE in case you were wondering Oli). Set out for the day to take in the sites of Santiago. Starting at a beautiful park in the middle of the city, Santa Lucia. The view from here revealed the sprawling city below. After taking a million photos and sweating like a couple of perros we moved onto to some lovely markets at the foot of the park. After finding a chemist that gives you what you want (You may now refer to us as Dr.Griffiths and Dr. Levesque), a bag repair lady and a tasty cheese pizza things were looking good.

After wandering through the city, finding ourselves on the wrong sides of the tracks. We eventually rejoined the mainstream tourist masses on the funicular of death. While Kate assured Monique that we were in the "safe" part of the funicular and if it fell we would be cushioned by those in the lower carriages, she later reassessed (while still on the ride) informing that we would die for sure. This was followed by a trip up some (more) stairs to see a very large statue of the vigin mary and then the cable cars of death (Kate was less sure about these!).We survived these experiences and our first day in chile. We topped it off with more pizza and cervaza.

Tomorrow we depart for Valparaiso for New Years. Stayed tuned as we endeavour to keep you up to date as the epic journey unfolds.

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