Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Santiago - Chile


Hi All,

We arrived in Santiago, Chile after the 11 hour flight from NZ at about 1 in the afternoon Santiago Time.

Leaving behind family was hard but thankfully the flight passed quickly and we both managed to get some good sleep that left us ready to get out and explore on our arrival.

We had planned to take a shuttle to our hostel but on exiting the airport a nice english speaking man pointed us to a cab to the hostel for $15 (US), which was about the same as the shuttle would cost. We hoped in the cab and arrived safely only to have an arguement with the driver who told us the 15 really was 15 thousand pesos ($30 usd). Needless to say Kim was not happy!

We set out that afternooon from our hostel, Hostal Forestal to see some of the city but it wasn´t long before we began to feel the flight catching up on us. The next day we walked up Cerro San Cristobal where we checked out the view of Santiago and the monument before catching the funicular (a cable car) back down. The view was impressive but would have been more so had the winter smog that impacts Santiago not been present, we just managed to grab a glinpse of one peak in the Andes. More exploring followed by dinner and a few beers with some of the hostel crowd followed.

Next day we visited Viña Cusiño Macul - Chiles largest family owned winery.
The winery we visited is essentially a museum now and there is a larger site further out of the city as the rapidly expanding city surrounded the existing winery. The wines (red) were divine and we would certainly recommend this place if you are in Chile. Interestingly the family has a special room in the underground cellar that contains wines from every vintage going back as the founding of the winery in 1856 for their personal use!

Day three had us checking out the city, which was great followed by a night drinking pisco sours (Chille´s national drink) at the hostel before heading to a pub with some hostel folk.

The next day was essentially a quiet day in preparation for the early flights to BA which after three days of cold showers would make a welcome change.

Overall Santiago was friendly and a great place to start out on the adventure we have planned...

Next stop is Buenos Aires - until then take care,

David & Kim

2 comments:

Ross Nikki said...

Buenos Tardes Travellers

Sounds like the adventure has begun. Cant wait to hear about more of you tales in South America.

Will have to steal some of your photos since I lost the USB that carried all ours.

Adios Amiga

Dave & Kim said...

we'll see, depending on how comfortable your couch in london is