Santiago

The last stop for us on this trip is Santiago, capital of Chile. We travelled here last Sunday arriving late after a long trip which began with a 4am start heading out by bus to the geyser field at Tatio (the geysers are at their best in the -8 degree temperatures before dawn), passing through some interesting villages and ruins on the way to Calama airport, where we heard the news of two quite large earthquakes in southern Chile (7.1 and 6.5 on the Richter Scale).

Fortunately after the huge earthquake last February in nearby Concepcion, this time there was no serious damage. However the relatively small percentage of old buildings in Santiago is testimony to the many earthquakes that have hit this part of the world.

Santiago is a very civilised place with everything you could need and it feels a good deal safer than Rio. It is also clearly growing and more prosperous than Buenos Aires as the many cranes on the skyline suggest.  For sure, like the other South American states, Chile has inequality and poorer areas but it hides it well and seems a bit more at peace with itself than Brazil or Argentina and more organised. On the other hand, despite the greater prosperity, stability and the incredible diversity of fantastic scenery it has a lower profile than some of its larger and more famous neighbours.

In the city centre

We have six days here and our great friend (and Spanish teacher) Yvette has given us a fantastic guided tour around the city and the outlying coastal city of Valparaiso.

It has been really nice to spend some time with Yvette and Jay sampling the restaurants and bars, meeting friends and doing some sightseeing.  Our superb tour guide has shown us  the historic centre of town, we've eaten lunch at the legendary Donde Augusto (Yvette was greeted by the man himself) and drank a number of Pisco Sours.  We've looked down on the world heritage site of Valparaiso from the Brighton, our museum-piece of a hotel, and been round the newer up-market beach resort of Vina del Mar by horse-drawn carriage.  On the way back to Santiago we sampled the wines at a vineyard in the beautiful Casablanca valley.


The view from the apartment


The feeling of being more at home has been added to by renting a serviced apartment rather than staying in a hotel. After five weeks of buffet breakfasts and eating out twice a day it was a treat to have a night in cooking pasta.  We ate it while watching the sun set from our balcony over-looking the river and hills while sipping some local wine. Thanks to Ana, our other Chilean friend who is also here, for helping us with the apartment.

So we have reached our last night here before the long journey home begins via Madrid and London.