We are now on the other side of time and sitting at 2000ft among towering snow clad Andean mountains. Having been ahead of UK time since we set out on our journey 2 years ago, and as far ahead as any country can be, we are now 5 hours behind UK time. It is extremely strange, on our first flight over the International Dateline, to have made such a change and even a few hours into Santiago we are having great difficulty adapting to the mystery of chronology.Santiago sits on a plain surrounded by mountains but particularly backed by Andean peaks, one of which is Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas. We're not sure what the season is - late winter or early spring - but with the snow and cool nights it seems as if winter is still with us. Blossom is appearing on the trees, the day sun is warm but as late afternoon gives way to early evening, it is time for warmer clothing. However despite daytime temperatures in the mid twenties weather forecast shows we're expecting a drop to 3°C later in the week - brrrr.

Our flight from Auckland took off on time and, after fitful sleep we were thrown into a totally new continent and the 18th country on our travels. Soon we were not missing New Zealand nearly as much. Dropped off at our hotel (Residencia Londres) in the lovely old area of Paris-Londres we soon found out it wasn't - Londres didn't have our internet booking but after a look at an available room, we decided to move on. The Recidencia is set in a great position with characterful common areas, but the rooms are - perhaps not dirty - but grubby with peeling paint and a fungus clad ensuite - not very appealing at all even at the low price. With other hotels nearby, we decided we could do better elsewhere. Now booked into the more expensive but comfortable Hotel Vegas just round the corner, we were ready to tackle South America.

However, for the last six months we've not had to lug around our heavy rucksacks or sit for hours on public transport and we now realise the extent of the deterioration in E's hip means that maybe our plans are a bit ambitious. We've therefore decided to take some time in Santiago to look over our itinerary and perhaps make some 'comfortable' changes. Heading out into a world that speaks for the most part only Spanish, we managed to quickly find a cup of coffee - not a flat white like in Australia and New Zealand - but a cortado, the Spanish and more stylish equivalent. Although suffering from a lack of sleep we set out to explore the main centre of Santiago.

Only a few blocks away is the interesting and attractive main square of Plaza de Armas with its bandstand, palm trees, street entertainment and some grand buildings, including the Cathedral. The interior of the Cathedral was a very pleasant surprise, much more grand and opulent than it appears from the outside. Having found our bearings we returned to the hotel to freshen up before heading out to find something to eat and basically to ensure that we didn't fall into bed too early. It was altogether a bit of a strange experience but we stumbled across a cafe/bar place from which a local guy emerged to (in Spanish) extol the virtues of the food and wine - not really sure what he was saying but we headed in anyway.

Las Tejas was a bit of a barn of a place with a few tables occupied with people drinking strange white frothy large drinks, that they continually stirred with their straws. Football was obviously coming on the TV and an old guy playing the accordion was giving the place a cheery air. The food options were somewhat limited so we opted for the 'roast beef' which in fact turned out to be a huge steak, two eggs, fried onions and chips (we've since seen this dish on many menus so obviously is a staple here in Santiago). Ordering drinks too was a bit of a problem because they didn't seem to have normal wine. What they did have were big flagons on the counter which contained what seemed to be home made wine. However, a few tumblerfuls didn't do us any harm - hic! On the way back to bed we popped into another recommended hostelry where we did manage to find a nice half bottle of Chilean cabsav.

Day two was lovely, warm and sunny, so we set off to explore in a different direction. We'd only booked two nights at Hotel Vegas (because it was above our budget) and were on the lookout for something cheaper so popped into Hotel Paris, just around the corner, and arranged to move in the following day. Only a short walk from us and slap bang in the middle of the city is Cerro Santa Lucia, a rocky outcrop with the remains of a fortress at the top. It's a really pleasant parkland oasis in the city and there are wonderful views from the summit of the vast flat plain on which Santiago is built and the surrounding high snowclad Andes. The city centre is great for wandering because it has so many pedestrianised areas and parks with shady trees and loads of benches everywhere.

As we wandered through Parque Forestal towards Providencia we noticed two things: one - the number of couples making use of the grass and benches for their passionate courting; two - the number of dogs without collars around, looking well and well fed but without any obvious owners. Number two is a mystery we have yet to solve, unless of course there is a direct connection with number one!?After a helpful visit to the tourist office we strolled back through the parks to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts) which is housed in a wonderful example of neoclassical architecture. The well laid out exhibits were a good combination of various forms of art and the thing we enjoyed most was a display of modern sculpture in the form of huge, colourful indigenous heads made of clay and with eyes made of shells - difficult to describe and we couldn't take any photos.

On our wanderings we'd intended to go up another even higher hill, but had to leave this to the following day. Cerro San Cristobel, which is the city's largest green area and forms the Parque Metropolitano, is topped by a huge white marble statue of San Cristobel, has a couple of swimming pools, a botanic garden and a zoo. We spent a very enjoyable couple of hours up top taking in the sights (and more marvellous views of the Andes) thanks to our ride up by funicular and a treetop level cable car ride across the length of the park.

We'd read about other interesting areas of the city, one such area being Brasil, and to get there we took our first ride on a packed solid rush hour train on the very modern Metro. It was an interesting, and thankfully short journey. A group of young Chilean girls took the opportunity to practice their limited English on us and it was evident that they'd learned it from American rap music as they were using wholly inappropriate and absolutely foul language. Others in the carriage were looking on in great amusement as M ticked them off. Anyway, we couldn't find the restaurant we were looking but eventually found one that looked good, and indeed the food was good. More to come. Hope the christening went well.

In the dark of the evening Brasil looked a very interesting area with lots of narrow streets and old characterful buildings. So we decided to return the following day to have a closer look. On the way we discovered the Palacio Moneda, the Governmental palace and in the square opposite a lively protest was taking place in support of justice. Apparently many protests take place all year round but there are many more around the 13 September anniversary of the Pinochet dictatorship. On reaching Plaza Brasil we were grateful to find a shady bench where we sat for a while to people watch and go over our plans for South America. The police are always very evident and patrol everywhere all the time - on foot, by car and on horseback. In many ways this is reassuring because Chile has got a reputation for petty crime by the poorer people. So we suppose we weren't surprised when the police drove through the square, stopped at the bench to us and started questioning two young lads. Soon a police van arrived and they were arrested, although one managed to escape by running through the young children and their parents spending a leisurely Saturday afternoon in the playpark. This reminded us of another incident a couple of days before when a couple of lads were arrested by private security guards for shoplifting in a supermarket where we were buying water. In both incidents the lads seemed to be treated quite roughly. We later heard from a Chilean tour guide that the police, particularly women police officers, are extremely strict and scary. On our way back we enjoyed wandering through the lively daytime Brasil area and were pleased to find the restaurant that we'd originally planned to eat at the previous evening. Confiteria Torres was open so we popped for a cervesa. This restaurant specialised in Chilean food and, having introduced himself, the owner explained that some of the dishes on the menu were his mother's own recipes. Well we couldn't resist so booked a table for later that evening. It was a very good meal accompanied by a couple of old guys singing and playing Chilean/Spanish music. This went down very well with the clientele who clapped and joined in the singing with great gusto. The couple next to us even got up to dance - a very sedate and smoochy dance it was too.Having been deliberating and vacillating about our plans for South America we eventually agreed that a soft start would be to take the bus for an overnight stay in Valparaiso. We also realised that we were carrying too much unnecessary stuff for this stage of the journey so decided to jettison some of our things (quite how was still to be decided). In all honesty we were having some doubts about whether we could manage our planned route in this vast continent and this was bogging us down a bit. But, having made some decisions our spirits lifted immensely and we set off cheerily to the excellent Santiago Museum which is set in an old colonial house. The exhibits were really well set out but our understanding would have been greatly enhanced by translations in English. However, being a Sunday it was free admission and there was also a concert in the courtyard of traditional Chilean singing and dancing - a real bonus.What wasn't a bonus, however, was that M had chewed one too many minty Mentos and pulled out a crown. So walking around the town we'd been on the lookout for a decent looking dentist and eventually came across one close to where we were staying - and yes, they could glue it back in and could fit M in a couple of hours later. M hot footed it back to the hotel while E went to an internet cafe to do some down and uploading etc (we have to have The Archers you know!). But big disappointment when M, having searched high and low, couldn't find the crown - blast!

E & M xxxx