Hello again.
If you saw my last photo album from Buenos Aires, you will have seen the spectacular entrance into Chile I experienced. Crossing the Andes by bus was undoubtedly the best way to arrive in the country. The views were spectacular and the border crossing straight-forward and quick, if a little strange: after having passports checked we all had to queue up to then stand in a little room with a baggage x-ray machine, where our suitcases were put through and they randomly picked a few to look through. We then all got stared at for a while before a few more people got selected to have their hand luggage searched and the rest of us put them through the machine. Thankfully I didn't get picked for either. They had a lucky escape, too, as it would not have been pleasant looking through my backpack stuffed with dirty laundry! When I arrived into Santiago on Saturday I made my way to Rebecca and Alberto's apartment. Rebecca used to live next door to me in Vanuatu and despite not having seen each other for about 15 years, we had found each other on facebook. When I said I was coming to Chile, Rebecca kindly offered to put me up, even agreeing to Olly staying too! Rebecca and Alberto have been such generous hosts and we are really grateful to them for looking after us so well. They live in a beautiful apartment looking out over the greenest part of the city, with skyscrapers in the background and a stunning mountain backdrop. They also have the most beautiful little girl, Emilia, who is 18 months old. Sunday, the best day, saw the arrival of Olly! Unfortunately we had a bit of a balls-up trying to meet at the airport (Sunday public transport mis-timings, no mobiles working and all sorts!) but Olly made it to the apartment in the end. Yay! We were both exhausted (me from partying in Buenos Aires, Olly from working AND partying in London) so the first couple of days we just chilled out in the apartment. When our strength returned, we explored the centre of Santiago, visiting the Plaza de Armas and climbing one of the hills within the city, Santa Lucia. It gave us beautiful views over the city to the mountains behind. We were also lucky enough to be taken up into the skiing villages by Alberto on Wednesday. Olly took his guitar and he bravely perched on an outcrop and serenaded us atop the mountain with condors circling overhead. Incredible. Unfortunately the ski season is over despite there being plenty of snow: people head to the beach at weekends now it's getting warmer. The views were amazing, though, and we had the amazing experience of driving from the boiling hot city up to the snow in an hour. Olly and I also spent 2 days by the coast in Valparaiso. The coast is only an hour and a half away by bus from Santiago (and cost a mere 12 quid return for the 2 of us) and in the summer the whole city flocks down to the beaches every weekend. It wasn't quite warm enough for sunbathing when we were there, but we had a lovely time walking around the city and traveling up the hills for impressive views over the port and the city. The houses are all different colours and at night the hills look like a carpet of fairy lights. We were planning on visiting the house of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda but unfortunately both our bank accounts got frozen the day we arrived and we ran out of money! HSBC has suddenly decided after a month of traveling through South America that my card might be being used fraudulently...! All sorted now, but not the best timing. But anyway, we visited the next city along the coast, Vina del Mar, and walked around a beautiful park (for free!). When we arrived back in Santiago on Friday night, we went out with a friend of mine, David, who I met 2 years ago on holiday in Ecuador. His English and my Spanish are both terrible but we can understand each other speaking in our native tongues. He picked Olly and I up and we went to his house where we met his dad. They live in another beautiful apartment, as does David's friend Jose whose flat we visited next. From there we went to a club in Bellavista with some more of David's friends. After the club closed we headed to another friend's apartment (they were Mexican and had tequila!) and Olly and I eventually called it a night around half 6 as it started getting light. An awesome night! :) Tomorrow, our Patagonian adventures begin. No more lying on the beach for me! Fleeces and hiking boots all the way...