My first experience of South America was flying in to Santiago over the snowy mountain range of the Andes. I wasn`t exactly sure what to expect in the sense of how well developed, how safe and how much I would enjoy the city. As ever, I went with an open mind and thought I would take it as it came.

As I was collecting my bags at the airport, a voice from behind me said "nice shoes" - I had the red Salomons on which do tend to stand out in a crowd! An English girl, who was also wearing a pair, said she was just arriving too and started asking what my plan was etc. We agreed to tour the city together, which was great for me, as she spoke Spanish and had visited Santiago previously.

The city was a hive of activity when we arrived - the vast majority of people seemed to be students. I`ve never seen so many students in one city (and so many university buildings) since I last went to Oxford. Many of the students appeared to be helping to fund their education or social activities by doubling up as street performers. As we sat and had a beer and something to eat, there were jugglers, stilt walkers and guys dressed up with painted faces, all entertaining the crowds sitting along the street by stopping traffic and performing their routines on car drivers, bus drivers and lorry drivers. I really thought that they were going to get knocked down or punched by irate motorists, but most seemed to take it in remarkably good spirit. I kept thinking "this would never happen back home!".

After being entertained on the streets for a while, we headed up to the cable car that took us to the top of the mountain overlooking Santiago. It was perfect timing for the sun setting over the city, surrounded by mountains. Although the city was in a haze (pollution I think) there were some great panoramic views across the city and its suburbs. At the top of the mountain was a statue of the Virgin Mary which overlooked the city and served as a reminder that Catholicism is the main religion in Chile.

The following day, I`d worked out roughly where everything was in the city, so I went off and explored the many historic buildings and parks in the city centre. I found that many of them had been badly damaged by the recent earthquake and there were huge cracks and fallen brickwork/debris still lying in front of them. Many were still open, however, so I had a look around a few.

As I was due to leave early the following morning, I headed back to sort my stuff as it would be a 4.45am start. Later on, I met with Tamsin for tapas at a lovely local restaurant - pretty cheap and the Chilean wine that washed it down was too! I was told I should try the local speciality - Pisco Sours - whilst I was in Chile, so we headed out and had a few in the local bars.

By this time, any thoughts of a decent night`s kip had gone out of the window. I would just have to grin and bear it in the morning. I got up, as planned, at 4.45am and jumped in a taxi to the airport. I finally arrived at my hostel in Lima, Peru at 6pm...which is where I`m writing the blog from now. Definetely an early night for me tonight.

I really enjoyed Santiago - the people were generally very friendly and good fun. There was a vibrance about the city, probably because there were so many young people everywhere. When I saw the trips to Easter Island, Patagonia and the rest of Chile, it made me think this would be a good place to come back to some day. Maybe.