Santiago first impressions were that of a massive city surrounded by hills and mountains - the mighty Andes. Our hotel was situated in the very pretty colonial area of Paris Londres, a quaint cobbled set of streets with quiet cafes dotted about. Our first taste of the city was the food, in all its rich, meaty, fried potato-y goodness. As we strolled around the lively streets watching magic acts, dancing, singing and viewing the many displays of the street artists we got the impression that Chile was more like a European city than a South American one. However, we soon got some different views as we witnessed a political march which ended in some bottle throwing and water cannons from the riot police, which was followed the next night by a gathering around a house nearby our hotel which was supposedly used by Pinochet as a torture house. This did not turn violent although there was a heavy police presence. The morning after this we were not surprised to see an overturned bus and summise that this was the result of more riots. However, we soon discovered that this was part of an elaborate puppet show by a French theatre company which involved a destructive rhinoceros going on the rampage through the city overturning train carriages, cars and bus stops and a giant ´small girl´ who strolled around the city taking naps and sunbathing. This all culminated in the Niña (girl) arriving in the main square where we went to catch a glimpse, along with 100,000 Chileans. Well, this is one way to meet (all) the locals!

Donning our walking boots we shuffled up the Cerro San Cristobal for a fine view of Santiago and the magnificent hills in the distance. The statue of the Virgen (Virgin) gazing over the city rather like the big Jesus in Rio obviously provided inspiration and comfort for locals who placed prayers and candles all round thanking the Virgin for her help with their families, illnesses, or anything bothering them. After the steep climb we treated ourselves to lunch in a little cafe where two locals strummed the guitar and sang to fellow diners and they treated us to the Cueca, the National Dance, as well as many other catchy ditties.

Sampling the very tasty wines along with the various meat (food in Chile appears to be just meat) dining al fresco got us in the mood for some plonk and so we took a trip to the famous Concha y Toro vineyard just outside Santiago. The beautiful grounds were a suitable setting for this marvellous place, full of wine making history. We tasted a few wines and then were led down to the devils basement, where the finest wines were kept away from thieving locals by the devil himself, or so the story goes...

The museum of Pre-Columbian art was a very interesting detour from all the wine drinking, with artefacts from thousands of years ago in pristine condition, all telling a different story of ancient shamanism or some other strange ritual. Simple but striking 10 foot tall burial statues and the story string (that was able to record history, accounts and stories in the form of differnt colour and length of string and knots) were our favourite displays, although it was hard to choose.

In order to get a different taste of the country we set off on the impressively punctual, nay early bus leaving for Valparaiso, a seaside retreat for Santiago dwellers. The grand and colourful architecture was embellished with murals and our tastebuds were tickled with the local seafood chowders and we had a relaxing day wondering about until we witnessed a woman have her bag snatched. The lucky woman got it back and although it was a bit of a reminder that you are never safe it was heartening how all the locals pitched in and surrounded the stupid and remarkably slow thief (his escape route was up a long hill!) and bullied him (with the help of the mechanic and his hefty spanner) into giving back the bag.

Although this would not be the last time we would be in Santiago we packed up our things in preparation for another much awaited link in our journey: the Easter Island.