Made it to Argentina, 2nd to last country. Thus below is all about the end of Chile.
After I left north Chile, Arica and San Pedro de Atacama, I headed south to beachtown Valparaiso with a buddy I met in San Pedro, Richard from London. Nice guy, smoked 2 cigarettes at a time, 3 packs a day, well at least it looked that way! I hiked from the bus station across town, up an unexpected hill and found a great bed and breakfast for about $20 per night. Although this seems cheap, overall I must say Chile is expensive in South American terms and in some cases like shopping in the US. In this B&B I had a single room (a huge commodity among hostels) and hence the name, a spread of cheese, ham, fruit, bread, juice and coffee every morning for breakfast... I really liked this place.
After meeting up with Richard we set out on the next full day to explore the hills of Valparaiso, apparently the thing to do there. The city is composed of 42 seperate peaks, all loaded with houses and little trams that take you up to different levels. So we did that for a while, found a sweet place for lunch and tried Ceviche (mix of raw fish and veggies) for my cousin Lisa who told me I had to try it. It was better than I expected and was a little hesitant at first.
Us 2 then hiked for what turned into 4 hours to the next town in search of golf. I was the pusher of this, wanting badly to play since I arrived in Chile. We arrived at a private country club and after fighting some poor spanish with the guy at the front desk, happened to be interupted by the president of the club. He told us (in english!) that usually guests are not allowed on but he would let us play! The price... $50 per person green fee and tee time for the next day, Sunday... the best day for a man to play golf! Haha!
That night, Saturday we had a big night on the town, Irish pub for a couple hours and then to a big dance club. Instead of describing the whole thing, let´s just say we got back at 6am the next morning! That translated to 5 hours of sleep to 11 am, a quick breakfast, and taxi out to the golf course for a 1pm tee time. Because of high prices on extras like club rentals, balls, tees, etc, Richard and I shared a bag and took turns carrying it. They luckily loaned us 2 putters for free whiched helped a ton. An Irish guy, in his 50´s, had asked to join us the previous day, so he played along.
I shot 150, about average for me. The course was well kept, deep sand, fast greens, short and rough grass resembling San Diego ¨bermuda¨ type. I actually played ok except (as usual Dan and Dad) had a nasty hook goin on so I spent most of my time with a machetti club in the forest. And did I mention, with the price of loaners I only had 6 balls to work with!! That made things pretty interesting.
Next day, headed out 2 hours bus ride to Santiago. We checked into a huge, popular hostel ¨Casa de Roja¨ (the red house). I slept in a room with 8 beds for 9000 pesos, $18 per night. First night just hung out and met some different peope over beers and beer pong. Next day explored Santiago´s city center by metro, took lots of pictures, ending with a big dinner full of beef steaks, fries, and grilled onions... a little too much. It would have been a great meal but I had been eating something similar for the previous 2 or 3 lunches and dinners and was growing tired of it. Next day Richard left, set off on my own finding a hill full of trams, sites, gondola cable rides, and panoramic shots of the smoggy city. Instead of settling for the usual meal, I finally found a great place and had a glass of wine, pasta and shrimp, grilled veggies, and a grande piece of chocolate cake to top things off. That meal was a high point of the trip!
Yesterday, 5-14 Thursday, I woke up, went for a run and caught a bus for Argentina, just across the border for an 8 hour ride to Mendoza, wine capital of the country. Got some great shots of the Andes as we passed through them and near the border crossings. Without the mountains it probably would have been a 3 hour bus ride! Anyways, found a hostel and room with 10 beds in it, and spent last night chillin with 2 girls travelling for a year from Ireland. One is a biochemistry major and other a teacher who both just up and quit to travel, a common story among others that I´ve met.
Upcoming plans? Tomorrow tour the many vineyards for 4 or 5 hours by bike, possibly end with the hot springs depending on the state I´m in! Then I have to make a decision to go to the beautiful but cold this time of year, Beriloche (way south to Patagonia) or north 10 hours to Cordoba, another cool city and warmer. We´ll see what happens.
Angela, have fun on your planned girls night out tonight and thanks for putting up with my mom for a day (I know, it´s very very tough). Hello to all others and thanks again for reading!
Paul
