Hola!! Chicas y Chicos

Well here?I am finally in Chile and its another hour behind GMT (that makes 5).

?Well in the hope that I finally get something written down on this blog (I still have tons to type in previous locations I`ve been to) I`m just going to add bits in here and there until it finally makes sense - so keep looking back at previous blogs for further updates

Well here I am in Chile and the first things to say is that the view flying in from Buenos Aires and over the Andes was absoluetly breath taking, Unfortnately I had a Japanese guy sat in the winow seat next to me who obviusly hadn?t been doing his Tai Chi as he was comatosed the whole flight and so?I couldn?t get any pictures of the view but believe me it was amazing!!

The weather here is cool, but bright bright sunshine and blue skies (perfect for me!), you have to wear you shades and in the sun only need a t shirt. Aparently Sanrtiago, rarely ever gets too hot as its surrounded by mountains (the nearest ski resort is just a short hop, skip and?a jump 45 minuts away!!) and the sun has to get very very high to actaully heat the city. Other things to note about Santiago is he smog, OMG,?I have never experienced anything like it not even in LA, the taffic here really isn?t that bad at all but I guess the smog just has no way of escaping the city! still i have no idea how people smoke AND live here! that said the fumes certainly don?t affect the Chillian?s amourousness as they certianly don`t come up for air very often!?everywhere you turn there are people snogging and stroking each other, no matter on sex, size or age they`re everywhere, more so than anywhere else I`ve found in South America.

The people here, well they DO look different from the poeple in Argentina and are starting to look a bit more...well Indian, their faces seem fuller and have a less European look to them. As a redhead?I am certainly back in the minority again! I`ve only seen 1 other. (see previous blogs)

The city as a whole is to be honest not that impressive, in fact its just like any other american city, i never realised how beautiful Buenos Aires was until now, I just took it for granted. Saying that though, Chile certainly has a smaller land mass than Argentina or say Brazil for that matter and certainly less useable land, but unlike the 2 countries above Chile is a fairly weathy country 8teh cost of living is certainly a lot more, almost Euope!) , there are no street kids here (heartbreaking when you come? out of a club at 6am and 4 years olds are trying to sell you finger puppets instead of being in bed!) and I certainly feel a lot safer, that said my lonely planet guide book says that a trip to Chile rarely goes without incident`` and that its the petty crime capital of south america, the street sellers sell padlocks here instead of sweets BUT I certianly feel safe here.

Well Santiago, i`m staying in the Bellavista part of the city right next to the? mini `god on a rock`well its actually the Virgin Mary but hey you can see where i`m going with that one. The area, is full of little market stalls loads of bars and clubs and has a really relaxed atmosphere, a bit like Brighton i guess!

?Right i`ll update more later but for now the place I`m staying is doing a wine tatsing evening for $3,000 pesos`s (3 quid to you and me!) so i best get going.

 Hey it`s meeee again! right I have now ha a good old nose round the city and errr sampled the highligts here and have to say that i take back everthing negative I`ve said about this place, ok the smog is bad at times, but it is a really lovely city. Off to the bus station now to try and get a ticket to Pucon and see if i have tme to go to the thermal springs and climb the volcano - missing EVERYONE!!!!