Santiago

Plenty of people had told me not even to bother going to Santiago, but that I should try some place down the coast. But I decided to go anyway, and had a good time - including one of the most bizarre experiences of my life. More of which is to come...

As I was still recovering from the excesses of my time in BA and Mendoza, and because of the late arrival time, I ended up heading into town to find a place to stay.

And ended up finding this really great place.

I`d already decided that I needed to take it easy before my flight to Oz, and that meant steering well clear of party hostels - or any kind of hostel for that matter. So I checked out a few places in the Planet, and ended up at a place bang in the centre of town. Only $18 a night - which was great. It was also quiet - which was also what I needed.

The hotel was in a place called Paris London, which looks a bit like this:



And is called this because of this:



And what it looks like at night:



After a quick sandwhich I headed to bed and managed to get a good night's sleep.

The next day I was out of the hotel for 10am and exploring Santiago. I must say, after all the negative things people had said, I was really surprised by it - it`s actually a really neat place (did I just sound American?).

It`s not the kind of place that`s going to blow you away - but it`s perfect if your looking for a few easy days of hanging out.

I started off doing the walking tour from the Planet - here's a few pics of Santiago:

A classical style arch:



The stock exchange - and where all the business gets done:



Not sure what it is but it's pretty cool:



A view of the city:



Clean, fresh, healthy air - and the Andes in the background:



The main art gallery (OK - but no cigar):



The Cathedral:



The Presidential Palace (I think):



Now this is a terrible picture, but this building grabbed my attention because it shows what you can do with a terrible concrete building and a few lights:



Another interesting building:



Street art:



And then a really strange thing happened. I stopped by one of the squares to see where I should go next, and I`m thinking that I could do with a coffee, and that a Starbucks would just be the thing. So I put my book back in the rucksack, and when I turn around...

...I`m standing outside a Starbucks. How weird is that!!!

Unlike back home - they ask for your name here. Now for some reason - all South Americans have a major problem with my name. Like this:



The next day I headed to the park where everyone goes to hang out, and caught the small funicular up to the top of the hill. The views were great, and it was nice just to walk around and enjoy the sun (sorry :-).

The funicular:



Needs no explanation:



The Cable Car down the other side of the park:



"Swinging AND Smoking are forbidden". What about just swinging? Or just smoking? I decided to swing on the way there, and smoke on the way back :-) :



After a really early night, and after sorting my stuff out I went for a wander around town and then off to the airport...

So what`s Santiago like? Well the downtown area is like the world`s largest shopping mall. If you`re into retail therapy - this is the place for you. It`s chilled out, with plenty of international brands - although it`s not as expensive as BA.

If BA is the wild child you likes heavy rock and all night parties, Santiago is the the more laid back twin who likes to take things easy and hang out with friends, go shopping, and eat ice cream.

And so - on to the most bizarre experience of the trip so far - and one of the wierdest in my life.

They have a thing here called "Cafe Con Piernas" - which translates as "Coffee With Legs". Now a few people had told me that they were coffee shops where the waitresses wore short skirts, hence the name. And the Planet walking tour had one of these Cafes as the final destination - describing it as a perfect place for people who like cultural experiences, or for caffeine addicts.

Given I fall into both categories I decided to give it a try.

And nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to encounter.

One minute I`m standing on a bright hot Santiago street, and I open the door and step into a pitch black room.

I`m struggling to adjust to the sudden change in light, when a young lady appears before me, dressed in nothing more than a tiny string bikini.

The next thing I know, her face is getting closer and I realise that - just like everyone does on the streets here - were supposed to kiss each other on the cheek.

So I lean forward and she plants a big kiss on my cheek, and says hello.

As you`re supposed to drink coffee in these places - and as I`m not entirely 100% certain of what the done thing is here, I order a coffee without milk in my best Spanish, and she walks off to get my order.

There`s no tables - just long bars, where you`re supposed to stand - which is not unusual - as plenty of the coffee shops here (where the people are more normally dressed) have this format. The room's also lit by nothing other than ultra violet tubes - so not only is it really hard to see, but as my shirt is half white, I`m glowing in the dark - in fact - I'm the brightest thing in the room :-)

A few minutes later she returns with one of the best coffees I`ve had on the trip so far.

It appears that the job of the ladies is to entertain the customers (all male - unsurprisingly), and given that I speak no Spanish, and she speaks no English - the conversation is going nowhere fast.

We eventually work out that I`m English, and that she`s from Columbia. After some other faltering conversation, she wanders off to talk to someone else.

My eyes have adjusted to the dark at this point, and as I look around I find that there are three or four other girl`s all with next to nothing on - although there's nothing more on display than you'd see at the beach (just in case anyone was wondering).

After a few minutes the waitress returns and, it`s obvious she`s supposed to keep me entertained - but the conversation`s not happening - and the next thing I know she`s touching my new ear piercing and pointing at the one in her tummy button. Nice!

I try to explain that mine`s new (in Spanish), and that I only got it 10 days ago. But there`s not much you can say to that. So she wanders off, and I finish my coffee, settle up, and head out back into the sun - and normality.

I wish I could speak Spanish - because there were loads of questions I had for her.

I`ve since found out that there are loads of these places in town, and that it`s a bit of an institution, and I was told that even business people go to these places for meetings (yes - you read that correctly - although I'm not sure if that bits true).

Everyone if quick to point out that there`s nothing more on the menu except coffee, and that the places close at 6pm or so - and that it`s all very innocent.

Now I`m no prude - and I`ve always thought that people should be free to do whatever they want in private. But it kind of felt really strange, and it left me asking the question: why?

It was certainly an experience.

My final day was a bit more normal. Starbucks and a large chocolate cake for breakfast, pizza for dinner, and ice cream for tea - such a healthy diet. And then it was off to the airport for the flight to Oz...more of which - next time.

Just in case my plane explodes mid-air and I land on a deserted island - be sure to look out for the TV series :-)

The long, long, long, road to Chile...

The trip from Mendoza to Santiago is supposed to be a fairly straight forward 7 hour journey - which it`s worth doing during the day to experience the drive through the Andes.

Except that`s not how it ended up working out.

I got to the bus station at 10:00 for a 10:30 set off, and got my seat - upstairs right at the front of the bus.

An hour into the journey, the bus pulls off the road onto a patch of gravel, and the driver appears and announces something in Spanish - non of which I, or the two guy`s from London who were sat next to me could understand.

So everyone gets off the bus, and it turns out that one of the belts has broken in the engine and we aren`t going anywhere.

So we hang around for over an hour until a new bus arrives, and after they move all of the luggage from one bus to the other we set off.

Here`s a picture of the broken down bus, and the incredible view of the mountains:





The road goes through the Andes, climbing the mountains, through some really dramatic scenery. I took loads of pics, a sample of which are below.

I sat next to a nice old Argentinian lady and we got talking (kind of) given that her English and my Spanish were just about on the same level. But she kept pointing stuff out and telling me what it was - which was kind of cool, and I could just about follow what she was telling me.

Rather bizarrely she did say that as I was English and she was Argentinian - and then she held up her fists with a serious face and then started laughing. Kind of weird, but I knew what she meant.

One of my favourite Silverchair songs contains the word Andes, and it got stuck in my head the whole journey (which is better than having Rick Astely going around). You can hear it here.

Close to the edge, down by the river:

















This bridge marks the border between Argentina and Chile (note the little blue sign on the right) - this is the Argentinian side:



And this is Chile:



The border:



The scary road down - no barriers, and the everyone has to drive really realy near to the edge:



Chile:



Because of the hour`s delay, we get to customs late, and it take over two hours to get through. After about an hour, we get the passport stamps, and then we all have to get back on the bus, wait almost an hour, before being herded off and go through customs, which included having all the bags x-rayed).

We were also at high altitude, and which didn`t help, and I was really hungry so picked up a really bad sandwhich.

We ended up pulling into Santiago at just before 10pm - more than four hours behind schedule.

Mendoza

I must admit that it was quite hard to leave BA, and if it was not for my flight to Oz, and the fact that I wanted to do the wine tour in Mendoza I could have easily stayed a bit longer.

But I caught the overnight bus, and managed to get a bit of sleep while on the road. As we crossed the long flat land towards the mountains, the night sky was lit up by electric storms in the distance: rather dramatic - and perfectly in tune with my mood.

Arriving at Mendoza felt like a real anti-climax, and as I walked through the deserted down town area at 9am on a Sunday morning, it felt too quite. Like being in a horror movie - picture the start of "28 Days Later" and you`ll know how it felt (OK - maybe I exaggerate slightly :-).

I also felt really drained and tired and looking for a place to stay felt like a chore. Someone had recommended the Mendoza Inn - a Hosteling International place, but it wasn`t in the book, and after some wandering around I finally found it. Unfortunately it was full.

They recommended the place next door - which was in the Planet - so I decided to give it a try.

I just wish I`d known what it was like before I went through the door - if I had, I`d have gone somewhere else.

It was the worst hostel I`ve stayed at. Sure - it had common areas, but (as I would find out that night) there was absolutely no life. The rooms were jam packed with beds - a normal hostel would have had 6 beds - rather than the 8 crammed into the room. And it was really hot, with the world`s biggest fan keeping the turgid air moving.

Don`t even get me started on the state of the bathrooms.

Felling slightly fed up, I went for a wander, and ended up at the Aquarium - which turned out to be nothing more than an underwater freak show. They even had a huge turtle in a tiny tank. It was heart breaking - I felt so sorry for this majestic creature that was clearly trying to swim through giant ocean waves, but just kept bumping against the glass, while people pointed and took pictures.

So I wandered through Mendoza, which is a really nice place. It`s success is wine - and the exceptional rock climbing, mountaineering, and walking that`s in easy reach. It also has the perfect climate: it hardly rains here, but the town is still green because of a clever irrigation system that keeps things watered.

Downtown Mendoza - so green for a place where it hardly ever rains:



Just one of the five main squares:



One of the banks:



You can read about Mendoza using the link above - but in summary: it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1861 - so they built a completely new town, with wide streets so if there`s another earthquake people can stand in the middle of the street and not get hit by rubble. They also have five squares where people can go and stay if the town is destroyed.

One of the wide streets:



And how you keep it green:



That night I went for Tapas along with a great bottle of wine, and as I`m sitting there eating (feeling shattered and slightly down) someone asks me what the World`s Most Dangerous Road was like.

At the next table are a couple from the Bristol, and as I know Bristol really well from my Uni days, it was fun to swop notes on the various places we knew.

It was great to have a good chat, and really lifted my mood somewhat.

And then it was back to the hostel to try and sleep. But the room was really noisy, and there were people coming in and out at all hours talking, singing, switching on the light, and I spent most of the night awake.

I felt tired the next day, but was going to do the one thing I`d been looking forward to - the wine tasting tour. Wine is something I`ve developed more than a passing interest in, and I was looking forward to trying the local produce.

The main wineries are about 16km out of town at a place called Maipu (pronounced my poo - which is rather amusing in a childish kind of way) to which you catch a bus, and then rent a bike.

Renee had already been to the tours, and e-mailed me with recommendations, which included renting a bike from Mr Hugo - great move, as they were all set up for rentals, along with maps and recommendations of where to go.

I met two guy`s - one from Manchester and the other from Leeds - and we ended up arguing over which is the best night out (sorry - but it`s Manchester).

We cycled along to the wine museum, which is actually a large scale working winery. The other guy`s decided to head off part way through the tour, but I was so interested I decided to stay.

After the tour you get to taste some of the wine, and I ended up chatting to the tour guide for about 30 mins on the wine making process. While I`d already got a fair understanding of the basic process, it was interesting to learn some more of the specifics, and it filled in some gaps and answered some of the questions I`d got.

It`s actually a really fascinating process. Half of the work is done by the vines, and the rest by the wine maker. It`s a complex process - half art, half science - because the base product changes year to year depending on the climate and amount of sun (terroir as the French would say (hope I spelled that correctly)).

A bunch of grapes - not any old grape - these are Cabernet Sauvignon:



And how they used to make wine: A wine press made of a cow`s hide, in which grapes were crushed by foot - and old fermentation pots:





How it`s done now:

French Oak Barrels - full of wine:



Modern steel fermentation tanks:



After that, I set off to visit some of the other wineries in Maipu. My favourite was run by a French couple, who produce only 70,000 bottles a year. The tasting included a good selection of the wines they make, including one of the top of the line wines they produce. It felt like real wine making, and the tour guide was excellent. I even got the answer to one of the questions they hadn`t answered in the wine museum.

The wine road:



And how you irrigate vines:



I also visited one of the olive oil factories, where I met a lady from Estonia who was in Mendoza to climb Aconcagua, but had been air-lifted off after suffering extreme altitude sickness and the on set of Pulmonary Edema. Her husband was still on his way up - which must have been scary, as a few days before some people had died on the way down.

As it was getting late I cycled back to Mr Hugo`s to drop the bike off.

My bike:



(As a side note, the Police drive along the wine route in pick up trucks and help people out if they need it. Which is kind of nice. I`d stopped at this point to photo the irrigation system pictured above, when one of these vans pulls up and they ask me if I`m OK. I got chatting to them for a while, although I`m fairly sure they were just checking to see if I was in a fit state to cycle back to see Mr Hugo :-)

Now one of the great things about Mr Hugo (and yes - it`s a little family set up with a real Mr Hugo) - and the reason you should go and pay him a visit if your in Mendoza and need to rent a bike - is because when you drop the bike off, he gives you wine - free wine.

It`s made by a friend of his, and (the red) is pretty good stuff. He even comes around and keeps filling up your glass and stopping for a chat.

And as more and more people arrive back, it turns into some what of a party.

I ended up chatting to quite a few people, including three really nice girls from Sweden.

The other really great thing about Mr Hugo is that he stops the bus outside his house, and makes sure you get on the right one. Just what you need after wine tasting and a few extra glasses (or four) of a good red wine :-)

So we`re chatting on the way back, and I end up spending the rest of the evening with the Swedish girls - including a trip to an ice cream shop.

After a fun day - I headed back to the dump which is my hostel and try to sleep.

And that was Mendoza. I`d definitely recommend it - it`s a fun day out...

Buenos Aires

Well - that was my time in BA. I have to say - it`s been one of the highlights of the trip. A great mix of sight seeing and fun.

Thanks to everyone who made it a memorable few days - Particularly Daniela and Veronica for supplying me with "The List" and the great people I met at Milhouse who added in a healthy (or is that unhealthy :-) dose of fun...

Culture and Clubbing - Last Day In BA

Along with the seriously hot rooms - there`s one other problem with Milhouse.

Check out is at 10am - yes - you read that right 10am.

So having got into bed at after 6am, I had to get up at 9am so I could shower and get my stuff together. I was - as you can expect from the little amount of sleep I had had - struggling...

Having stored my bag in the Luggage Room, I bumped into Eric, and a guy from Germany called Stephan. I told them I was going to do the last thing on "The List", and they decided to come along.

For the whole time I`d been in BA I`d been asking for this place called "El Atereo" - and no one knew were it was - or even what it was. So I`d kind of given up. Until I asked one of the guy`s who worked at the Hostal, who worked out where I was trying to get to. It turns out it`s called "El Ateneo" - so no wonder I was getting blank looks!

So we set off, had breakfast on the way, and then found the place. It`s basically a huge bookshop (think Waterstone`s or Borders) - except it`s in a large converted theatre.

Here are some pics:









They even had books in English. This has to be the coolest bookshop in the world!!!!

Having said goodbye to Eric and Stephan, I had a wander through town, and went for a late lunch to one of the best Italian Restaurants I`ve ever been too. Good food, great wine - what more could you ask for!

I picked up my bag from the hostal - chatted to Rob for a while, and then set off to the bus station.

As I`m walking through the park, this guy starts walking really close to me, and it all feels weird. And then he moves from my right side to my left, and there is something really weird about this guy. So I stop walking. A few seconds later a woman walks up to me and in perfect English says I have something on my rucksack and offers me a tissue.

Having told her to get stuffed I set off walking as quickly as I could to the bus station - to find that the guy had sprayed toothpaste on my rucksack. It`s a scam, were one of them sprays you, the other offers a tissue, and while you wipe off the toothpaste, they pick your pockets.

While I`ve never been targeted before, I have read about it, and spoken to other people, who`ve been caught out. But the guy was acting so suspiciously that I was already on my guard. I was livid - while I wiped off the toothpaste (luckily it`s not marked my bag). But it could have been worse...

And then I got on the bus to Mendoza.