Children of the sun, See your time has just begun, Searching for your ways, To adventures every day I think children's 1980's TV series 'The mysterious cities of gold' (Les Mystérieuses Cités d'Or) painted my overwhelming impression of South America. I was very much hoping for flying golden condors, marauding Spanish in baggy pants and a grand finale where the city of Eldorado crumbled to the ground. Before that though I had to endure the longest day of my life, 2nd April 2005 - it just kept going and going.... and going..... It started innocioulsy enough, packing, a meal at a Hare Krishna restaurant (I am a 'traveller'you know! - plus they do some great nosebag for 2 quid) and then off to the airport. I can't sleep on planes so I took the executive decision to get drunk. In fact I went and propped up the back of the plane and talked to anyone and everyone, irrelevant of whether they could pablo Ingles or not. I chatted to an East End women who was related to the Kray twins, her policeman husband who didn't get on with the in-laws too well, a Bolivian lady with gold teeth and a Chilean woman who argued with the cabin crew for not giving me a drink (not realising I had already been there for 3 hours). Luckily help was at hand for the staff of LAN Chile, as some English guy gave me a valium that made me pass out for the remaining 5 hours of the flight. I woke up with a mouth drier than Ghandi's flip flop and a hangover before I had taken my first drink due to crossing the international date line, I challenge you to beat that! After a quick sleep I then sampled the nightlife of Santiago with a trip to a Salsa bar, and then carried on until 5 am until a guy from the hostel was mugged by 3 locals at an ATM. Aye karumba. And so ended the 2nd April, although technically there were bits of the 1st and 3rd involved as well - I still felt like Bill Murray in Groundhog day. Another day and night out in Santiago saw me running for my plane down to Patagonia, leaving Santiago as I arrived, hungover. How fitting. Hopefully wholesomeness awaits down at the end of the world. Along with golden condors etc. Gypsy King Messner