Santiago the city of stray dogs and pashing couple (They really are not shy about showing affection here!!) for us was not really about lots of sight seeing but more to do with soaking up the local café culture, people watching, trying to learn Spanish very quickly and taking it all in!!

We had been warned before we left for South America that if we didn´t speak Spanish we would struggle but we just thought they were bluffing and that most people would speak a bit of English- - - - How wrong were we??? Hardly anyone speaks English so a challenging but fun 5 weeks ahead of us.

Thursday 4th March 2010 (The longest day ever!!!)

We arrived in Auckland at around 11.30am very unsure of whether we would be flying to Santiago or not!!! Once through passport control we waited at the baggage carousel and waited and neither of our bags came through so we were a bit worried they were still in Fiji but we spoke to one of the airport staff who said she had just seen them and they were being transferred through to our Santiago flight. Once we had cleared customs we went straight to the Qantas to ask about our flight to Santiago we were told that we would have to wait till 13.30pm to check in and see if we could fly because there was a back log of people who's flights had been cancelled due to the earthquake on the 1st. 2nd and 3rd.

So we went to get a coffee and read our books for a bit before joining the queue at about 13.20pm and we waited and waited in this queue being told very little for nearly 3 hours and hardly moved anywhere we were not happy bunnies!!! There was a lady working for the airline running around but only really spoke to the people who spoke Spanish so anyone who didn't speak Spanish didn't have a clue what was going on!!!

After 3 hours they finally decided there was no more room on the flight so we were informed we would have to fly on Saturday instead along with around 50 other people who were in the queue also as you can imagine all hell broke loose once this announcement was made. We decided that if we had to do that ladies job today we would have definitely rung in sick first thing this morning!!!

So we were all prepared to go into Auckland and stay at the backpackers where we had stayed before for a couple of nights but first we went to put are names down for Saturday's flight and to ask for our bags back. At this point she did a search for our bags and then said that we had been on the flight all along so why were we here!!! We explained we had been told twice once in Fiji and once at the Qantas desk that we would have to recheck in once we got to Auckland. We were then escorted through the airport to customs, after we had cleared customs we begged the man who was escorting us to let us go for a very quick cigarette, once we explained we had been in the queue for 3 hours and now had to be on a flight for 11 hours I think he felt sorry for us and let us go for one if we promised to smoked it very quickly!! Once we got to the gate they hadn't even started boarding yet so all that stress for nothing!! They made it sound like the flight was waiting for us!!

Once on the plane we got settled in and it was an uneventful 11 hour flight with good service and lots of film choices. We landed in Santiago just after 12pm going back in time by 16 hours and arriving in Santiago before we had left Santiago hence the longest day ever!!! The airport at Santiago had been badly affected by the earthquake so we arrived to the strangest airport scene we had ever experienced!! We picked our bags up from the runway and then had to go through customs which was just in tents. Once we had cleared customs we were met by hundreds of taxi drivers we hadn't booked any accommodation as we didn't know we were coming but luckily Kate who we had met in New Zealand had recommended at hostel where she had stayed so we got a taxi there unfortunately we got ripped of by the taxi driver but we were too tired to argue and just payed it. Luckily the hostel - HOSTEL ANDRES had some dorm rooms available so we got checked in and went straight to bed at about 2.30pm for what we wanted to be just for a couple of hours but we didn't wake up until 7.10pm Whoops!!!!

After we had showered we had dinner at a local café, the menu in itself was a challenge all in Spanish and of course neither of us speaks Spanish so we managed to pick out a ham, cheese and mushroom pizza which was fairly gross but we weren't very hungry anyway so it didn't really matter. After we had eaten we went back to the hostel and had a few beers which turned into a few too many (What a surprise!!) and we ended up going to a club with some of the people from the hostel so by the time we went to bed we had been up around 40 hours!!!

Friday 5th March 2010

As you can imagine the morning was well and truly cancelled as well as half of the afternoon!! When we eventually surfaced and got sorted we had a walk around Downtown Santiago for about 4 hours stopping for lunch along the way. We discovered a nice square along are travels with some impressive buildings there were also a few entertainment acts going on as well. The ones that have stuck in our minds are a older man who thought he was Rolando but really not very good and two young lads sello taping people together - we couldn´t really work out what that was all about???

As you can imagine we eventually got lost as we had left the hostel without a map not the best idea. We eventually plucked up the courage to ask a police officer for directions which we got in Spanish but with some hand gestures we eventually figured out what she was trying to tell us and we got back on track and made it back to the hostel.

Tonight we found a lovely Italian restaurant that had a menu in English so we both had a really nice pasta dish each. Tonight we both had an early night as we were both really tired but then as our sleep patterns were so messed up we couldn´t sleep and we were still awake at 6am I think we would have both dropped off but then the lads we were sharing the dorm with came in really p**sed turn on the light and starting packing then one of them was being sick really loudly next door (delightful!!!). So at 6.30am we were having a cigarette on the roof top terrace before going back to bed and we eventually fell asleep.

Saturday 6th March 2010

Due to our disturbed night we didn´t wake up until 12pm and once we had got showered we set out to get our chores for the day sorted which we were expecting to be really difficult but they actually turn out to be really easy.

First off we went to the laundry across the road and managed to communicate that we wanted to pick it up today before they closed which they agreed was fine. Secondly we went to get an adaptor for my camera as it was brought in New Zealand we didn´t have an adaptor to convert it into a European plug which is what they use here. We then popped back to the hostel and then went to a café next door for lunch with another girl we had met Becky who was flying to New Zealand today so we persuaded her to leave us her Spanish phrase book we did offer to pay her for it but she didn´t want any money for it (Can´t believe we came to a spanish speaking country with no phrase book what a bright idea).

After lunch we sussed out the metro and managed to get to the bus station to book our tickets for Monday to Le Serena. Before we went to book our tickets we got the phrase book out and wrote down what we wanted and just hoped it was right. When we got to the counter the man looked quite amused by our piece of paper but he spoke a little bit of English anyway so it turned out getting our tickets was really easy, we had been dreading it!!!

We then got the metro back to the hostel and sat and sorted out the route we were going to take from Chile to Bolivia before picking our laundry up at 17.30pm. After this we went for a coffee in one of the many nice coffee shops near our hostel before going for dinner at another cafe. This was very amusing as we couldn´t read the menu at all and two ladies sat opposite us found this very amusing but bless them they came to try and help us but they only spoke spanish so it didn´t really help so they went next door to a different cafe where there was a man who spoke some english so he came and translated the menu for us. Unfortunately it was not what we expected at all Suzie ordered pancake verde which turned out to be veal or pork we couldn´t really decide, but we did decide we definately wouldn´t be returning to that cafe it was fairly vile!!!

After dinner we returned to the hostel for Pisco Sour night which were lovely but very leval as we later found out after 4 and a few beers it got a bit messy to say the least!!! But a great night.

Sunday 7th March 2010

I found out this morning how much Pisco Sours didn´t like me I felt dreadful!!! Suzie didn´t feel so bad so she went down stairs to read her book while I tried to muster up the energy to get showered and dressed it took some effort I´ll tell you but with a few lie downs in between I eventually managed it!!

We left the hostel around 1ish and went for some lunch unfortunately mine only stayed down for a short while - not pleasant I will not tell you anymore about that!! After we had eaten we walked along the river into the Bella Vista area and caught the Funicular up a big hill which was very steep Suzie tells me it was scary I wouldn´t know I felt so bad I had to sit on the floor all the way up. We went up to see the statue of the imactulact conception and some good views of Santiago. From here we got the Funicular back down and went into the BelloVista complex which is a lovely area and we agreed it would have been great for Sunday Session if we´d felt better instead we opted for coffee at La Casa En El Aire. From here we walked back to the hostel through a lovely park which was full of activity. Back at the hostel we packed, read and had more coffee before going to a Chinese for dinner which was ok but not quite Taipan. We then went back to the hostel and had a very sociable evening with two very nice Australians playing pool and cards before going to bed just after midnight.

Monday 8th March 2010

This morning got up just before 07.30pm had breakfast before checking out and getting the Metro to the bus station ready to catch our bus to La Serena at 09.30am.