After my amazing flight over the Andes (so beautiful!!) my first experience of Santiago was the ghettos as my airport bus dropped people off at their home....the Chilean guy was most concerned at me travelling by myself and gave me his number in case I needed anything (he also asked if I was married or had a boyfriend, so perhaps his intentions weren't all innocent!). I 'reassured' him by telling him that I had travelled in many dodgey cities and was always careful...
The area near my apartment was fashioned after Europe and gorgeous - a few blocks away and it was a whole less pretty...I hadn't quite figured out the exchange rate so I withdrew $80,000 mil pesos having no idea whether that was $8, $80, or $800 (turns out it was $160 - my funky exchange conversion was to double the value in pesos and drop the last 3 zero's). Wondered around town for a bit (picked up a funky mother of pearl ring and some gorgeous amber earrings - so cheap!!) and tried to organise a day trip to a nearby town for the next day - to no avail.
Was awoken the next day around 9.30 by my hotel telling me they had organised my trip and I had to be at a hotel of unknown destination by 10am...made it there to be told that I would be picked up at my hotel at 10.45 (excellent time to get some breakfast).
The trip was to Isla Negra to visit the house of Pabalo Neruda, a noble prize winning poet very important in the political and cultural history of Chile. On my trip was a beautiful Colombian family who were fascinated by this strange aussie girl travelling across south america by herself... The house itself is more like a museum and one of the craziest places I have ever been. Pabalo was eccentric to say the least and a collector of everything (my Pa would have just loved this place). His attention to detail was extreme...feng shui gone mad and a psychoanalyst's dream (or nightmare).
And then before I knew it, it was my last day in South America...I spent the morning at a museum and the afternoon doing a 'parks and politics' cycle tour with an American tour guide who had been living in Russia for 3 years - how perfect! Several hours of Chilean, American, Australian and Russian politics while riding around Santiago - oh I was the only one on the tour. Then one last utterly indulgent meal...ceviche entree, king crab pasta and a bottle of carmenere wine....
After 16 hours I finally made it back onto Australian soil...happened to arrive in Sydney in the middle of world youth week...the airport was a nightmare!! Took me hours to get through the line at customs and despite the multitude of questions I'd answered yes to on my incoming passenger card I managed to make it out without any dramas. A spur of the moment phonecall from a friend and I was down at the beach enjoying breakfast!!
And then finally, after yet another qantas delay, I was on a plane back to Perth........and so ends my south american adventure! Adios amigos!!
