We both slept ridiculously well and had breakfast in the restaurant downstairs. Joan has never seen pickled gherkins, onions and capers served for breakfast - but being Lancastrian ate some none the less.
Today was a rest day to help us recuperate before setting off North tomorrow. Neither of us are very good at cities so we decided to go up Cerro San Cristobal, a spur of the Andes that lies at the very heart of Santiago, topped by a statue of the Immaculate Conception that you can see for miles around. The best way to get up there is via teleferico (cable car) as we had done in 2007.
Checking on that fountain of truth, Wikipedia, we read that the cable car was closed in 2009 due to safety concerns but it had recently been renovated and reopened a few weeks ago.
However, on asking directions at the hotel reception, we learned that the lift had closed again for further maintenance.
So instead we walked along the Mapocho River towards Bellavista where there is a funicular up the mountain. On the way there were lots of gardeners organising sprinklers and some particularly quarrellous parrots in the trees. It was sad to see some rough sleepers on the benches, given the relatively affluent surroundings.
The funicular has two carriages that counterbalance each other. They pass at a bifurcation half way up the mount. The guard has a very technological pole that he touches on a cable outside the carriage to let the operator at the top know it is safe to pass.
At the top of Cerro Cristobal there are panoramic views of the city, spreading out forever with a few snow capped mountains in the background.
There is a sanctuary to the Immaculate Conception, an open air church and the statue at the top. Lots of stray dogs were lying in the shade.
Given its height, it was remarkably hot. Having had a look around, we descended to a bar in the Bellavista quarter, where cold lager seemed to evaporate in the glass. The bar we sat in had four walls but no roof.
We decided to head back to the River in the hope of cooling down. The sun was directly overhead and so much hotter than we had ever remembered. We tried to stay on the shaded sides of the streets or under the trees, but it was sweltering. The white concrete seemed to absorb the heat and then push it back out. With quite a long way to walk we hailed a cab back to our hotel and hid in our air conditioned room. The temperature was 34 degrees Celcius in the shade! After trying to cool off we went out to the same restaurant as last night, partly because it has a veggie menu that doesn't include pasta or risotto and partly because it is very near. It was still warm and Joan was still a bit grumpy from the heat and wasn't very appreciative when buskers turned up with their guitars and Andean flutes and played right next to us. Exhaused we flopped in to our bed.