I crossed the border from Argentina into Chile and arrived in Santiago in the early afternoon. Santiago is the capital of Chile - a huge city, very international and developed compared to everywhere else I've been in South America so far.

We went for lunch at a good restaurant named Liguria in the Providencia district where we were staying. Then we took the metro to the main square (the first metro system I've encountered in South America). Around the main square are the Cathedral and some fancy buildings that now house the main post office and Natural History Museum. There is also an interesting sculpture in honour of the indigenous Mapuche people.

There are loads of clothes and shoe shops and department stores around the main square and, excitingly, a Starbucks! It was the first time I'd had Starbucks in South America (there was one in Lima but I was sick at the time).

It was Dave's last night with the group so we went for cocktails in the Bellavista area. He had to leave for his flight at 5am and a group of us ended up staying up chatting with him until 4:30am!

The next day I tried to go visit the Presidential Palace but it was closed for a function so instead I went to Cerro Santa Lucía - a hill in the middle of the city. At the bottom of the hill is a gorgeous structure of statues, fountains and staircases and at the top is a building and statue dedicated to a former Archbishop of the city. From the top there was a great view over the whole city.

We met Carla and a couple of her friends for lunch, they took us to a great sushi restaurant. Then we went back to the hostel to meet seven new people that were joining the group for the next stage of the trip to Rio. Afterwards a few of us took the funicular train up the Cerro San Cristóbal hill in Bellavista and then climbed further up to the white statue of the Virgin Mary at the top to watch the sunset. We met up with the rest of the group back in Bellavista and went for a nice dinner together.

On my final day in Santiago I went for lunch at Bar Nacional in the city centre - I asked for lasagne and the waiter asked if I wanted it with meat, I said yes thinking he meant 'as opposed to vegetarian lasagne' but it arrived with a huge slab of meat on the side - quite amusing.

I went to the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombiano which housed artefacts from all over Central and Southern America going back thousands of years - it was pretty interesting. They also had a special exhibition about the history of the fishing communities in Northern Chile that included some 'black mummies', it showed how the people used to make these mummies, quite strange.

I wandered around town some more, had a coffee while enjoying the sunshine in the park in front of the Presidential Palace, saw the Santiago stock exchange building and then went shopping for clothes and shoes. Later I met up with Denise and Helena for dinner and drinks before we caught an 11:45pm bus to Pucón.