After barely a wink of sleep, a 6.00am start on the bus and a sketchy boarding crossing, we left Argentina for Chile and arrived to a dull, rainy Pucón.

Now Pucón is a popular destination for travellers due to its hot springs, rafting, kayaking, canyoning, rock climbing, sky diving etc, but the main reason being that it's home to the most active volcano in South America, Villarrica. And as part of a day tour it's possible to trek up the side of the volcano to the craters edge and see the lava bubbling.. which was the main reason I came here.

These activities are all available.. great! BUT.. only when the weather is good, and for the volcano tour, when the weather is clear. The forecast for the next few days Theo and I were there, and foreseeable future.. cloudy with rain! It was a total write off, so much so that we cancelled our following nights stay at the French Andes Hostel. The only option we had in poor weather was the hot springs, as good as they may be, the quoted cost of £40 immediately put us off.. might as well run a hot bath and sit in that for a fraction of the cost! Thank god for sushi, beer and the midweek Premier League fixtures, otherwise we'd have gone insane!

The volcano is apparently visible from every corner of the town. I saw nothing, nada, not a thing, only clouds. So in my experience, there is no volcano in Pucón, it doesn't exist.. a complete myth!! Moving on...

Move on we did. The following evening we got the hell out of there on the overnight bus, after having the best nights sleep I've had since I left the UK.. a comfortable, cosy, private Japanese style pod at the hostel was a right touch.

We decided to chase the sun and grab some city action in the form of Chile's capital, Santiago, where we arrived on Thursday morning at 7.30am.

I had no preconceptions of Santiago, I'd done no research, I didn't have a clue what it had to offer or what to expect but I was sure glad to be there.

It was still dark, but the roads already heaving as we took a cab to the Castillo Surfista Hostel in the Providencia area where we'd spend the next three nights.

Arriving at the hostel we were greeted by a cool girl called Amanda from America who was working her last shift before flying back to Sydney the following day. She checked us in, gave us the cities hotspots and provided breakfast before we headed out into the sun of Santiago.

First on the list was a 20 minute walk to Santa Lucía Hill which is situated in the heart of the city. It's raised platform above the skyline allows for fantastic panoramic views as far as the eye can see into the huge mountains that surround most of the capital.

We grabbed a quick bite before joining a walking tour of the city from the main square, Plaza de Armas. We'd heard good reports off a few people that it was worth while and a good way to get your bearings so we decided to give it a go. Santiago's history, presidential/government/financial buildings, museums etc, were all on the agenda. Super interesting to some, maybe even most, but I was losing the will to live.. bailing half way through, making it back to the hostel for tea time.

Drinks on the patio after dinner while getting to know some of the guests was fun, namely Jonas from Germany, and another sound girl called Harriet from the UK. With it being Amanda's last night in Santiago she was heading out for farewell drinks with some friends and invited us to join them.. so we met at a nearby rooftop bar for a few scoops.

Friday was a cool, dull day, a stark contrast to the day before, so we decided to take a trip to the Costanera Center which is home to South America's tallest skyscraper and the continents largest shopping mall. So today, it was a trip to the mall to source out some gear and maybe a few bargains.. there was plenty of choice with 6 big floors of shops to go at.

Entertainment for the waiting traffic on red lights in exchange for a few pesos seems to be quite a popular occurrence here in Santiago.. dancers and ball jugglers were popular, appearing out of nowhere as soon as the lights turn red. But there was no stranger 'entertainment', if you can call it that, than seeing a small pick-up truck parked by the side of the road with a large glass box attached to the rear and a woman sat on a stool inside it.. knitting! Wtf?! Weird.

Following a recommendation from the owner and his friends the previous evening, Harriet, Theo and I went for dinner at New Horizon, Santiago's best Indian Restaurant. We were warned we'd have to queue outside as the place was so popular but also tiny with only around 10 tables inside.

They weren't wrong.. it really was tiny, and it looked pretty grotty, (but they're often the best places) with a small queue outside which we joined. Indian being my favourite cuisine and not having a proper curry since I left the UK, I literally couldn't wait and neither could Harriet and Theo. It was torturous waiting outside looking in at the people eating! However, after a 20 minute wait we were seated and it was definitely worth it.. sooooo good!

A belly full of Indian isn't ideal preparation for a night out on the drink but that's the hand we dealt ourselves. Bellavista is the most hip and happening place for a night out in Santiago whatever day of the week it is, so after meeting up with a few from the hostel.. Dominic from Munich, Cameron from the US, Cecilie from Copenhagen and Po-Feng from Taiwan, that's where we headed.

A continental mix of people who barely know one another, having a laugh and a good few drinks together, sharing their experiences and exchanging wild stories is what travelling is all about.

Saturday was the big day Theo and I were looking forward to the most. One good thing did actually come from our time in Pucón. While in a bar watching the midweek Premier League fixtures we got talking to a couple of lads from the UK who made us aware of the massive derby match taking place in the city on Saturday. It was Chile's biggest club football fixture of the season.. the Super Clasíco between Universidad de Chile and city rivals Colo Colo. Tickets bought!

We knew it was a fierce rivalry amongst the locals having spoke to a few in the days previous so we were cautious as we made our way on foot to the Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Prádanos.

The streets seemed pretty quiet for such a big game.. it wasn't until we drew closer to the ground that the blue shirts of Universidad started to appear from various directions but even then there wasn't that 'big-game buzz' in the air.

We arrived at the stadium with plenty of time to spare before the 12 noon kick-off.. it was nothing special to look at from the outside, just a bog standard run down concrete building. However, the first signs of big game atmosphere became apparent when chanting began to spill out through the turnstiles.

The quiet nature of the streets and lack of 'buzz' outside the ground made immediate sense as soon as we made our way from the dull grey concourse up a few short steps into the daylight. BOOM!! We were met with a cauldron of noise and colour that ripped right through the body.. the 'big-game buzz' was already inside and looked like it had been for some time.. the ground was practically full as the teams made their final preparations before the game.

The fierceness and aggressive tone of the chants from the thousands of 'die-hard's' to our right was deafening.. making the hairs stand up on the back of my neck and remained that way throughout the duration of the game.

A small section of Colo Colo fans in white were away to our left but their support left no impression on the wall of noise from the home side.

We became very aware that we stood out like a sore thumb.. there were no other 'gringos' in sight, but we faced no trouble or animosity.

Having found a seat wherever there was a free space, the teams entered the field. The atmosphere suddenly ramped up into overdrive.. BOOOOOOOM!!! A constant barrage of huuuuuuge firecrackers and blue pyrotechnics riffled through the stadium, huge tifo's appeared through the smoke, blue and red flags covered all four corners, streamers and ticker-tape rained down from the stands, the Universidad Ultras bounced away to the right with some brutal chanting.. it was pandemonium! You can have all the lakes, mountains, glaciers and beautiful scenery in the world but it can't give you the same adrenaline-fuelled moments of energy and emotion that pure raw passion can create. I was in my element.. give me this any day of the week!

The game itself lacked quality and was far from being a classic. Littered with pitiful diving, yellow cards and goal-keeping clangers the game ended in a 2-2 draw, the away side coming twice from behind. Colo Colo came close to grabbing all 3 points at the death much to the dissatisfaction of the home support but thankfully they were wasteful or else things could have seriously kicked off!

A funny feature I picked out from the game which I've never seen before was when an opposing player had to take a corner kick. They actually have a couple of stewards wearing crash helmets in each corner carrying parasols above their heads to protect the player from being pelted with missiles while he's taking the kick. Poor fella's!

What an experience though! I loved every minute of it. I've been to some massive games between Liverpool and Manchester United/Everton where it's been electric but I've never experienced an atmosphere quite like this where the supporters sing through every single minute of the game, even when their arch rivals score #passion

Theo and I made our way back happy with what we'd seen and relaxed at the hostel for the remainder of the afternoon. It was to be a clear evening so it gave us the perfect opportunity to head back to the Costanera Center to check out the panoramic views over Santiago at the top of South America's tallest skyscraper, the Sky Costanera.

The elevator took no time in eating up over 60 floors to reach the sky deck. The doors were released and as soon as I took a few steps out onto the top floor I was given the most jaw-dropping view of Santiago City and its stunning mountains that surround it. Watching the sun set over the ranges in the west was pretty damn special too, and an awesome way to close out a fantastic day.

We grabbed some sushi on our way back and had a chilled evening having a couple of beers and catching up with a few of the others back at the hostel.

I've had a wicked 3 days in Santiago so I'm sad to be leaving but we make a short trip over to the west coast tomorrow to the colourful town of Valparaiso.

Adiós xx