So off we set, Anna, Alex, Rob and myself we got as far as breakfast before we hit a drama. I overheard the lady from reception talking about a bus strike. When I asked if she knew which companies, she said what all travellers hate to hear "all of them". That set the cat amoung the pigeons. We packed up a little earlier than planned and made our way tot he bus terminal, it turned out it was all Argentinian bus companies. Seemingly they woke up that morning and decided they should be paid more and no one went to work that day! The Irish have a lot to learn! The A-team were on the case though we managed to navigate a refund for almost the full amount and booked on a really good Chilean bus company that we had used before and knew to be good. All in the whole experience only cost us an extra 20 /30 quid and we arrived in Santiago a few hours later than planned - no hardship all things considered. The hostel we had booked ended up double booking us (both couples) into the same room, the room had two double beds in it, so the hostel offered that we could take the room and they would charge us the price of a dorm or they had booked one couple into a hotel just over the road for the same cost. We decided to share the room as it saved us all a little money. Our first full day in Santiago we took the morning to make our way to San Cristobelle; a beautiful little lookout post on the top of a hill from which you can get a great view of the city (well if you get a good clear day). We found a little treasure at the top of the hill, there was a little vendor selling a traditional Chilean drink which looked not so good but tasted amazing. Its the most refreshing drink he boils a big vat of peaches to extract the syrup then cooles it fully. Meanwhile he is also cooked quantities of barley. When the liquid has cooled you get a large cup of the juice with a peach in the bottom of the cup covered with a big spoonfull of barley. It was so so refreshing and as me mother would say there was eating and drinking on it. That afternoon we took a "tour for tips" walking tour. Your not charged for the tour but the guides dont get paid so if you like the tour you give a tip by way of payment. The tour was great, Phillipe our guide took us all over the city, giving us loads of info about Chile's merky past, the horrors of the Pinochet government and everthing before and after. It was chilling to be reminded that such harrendous crimes happened in our lifetime. Phillipe told us of how his daughters grandfather was taken and soon he will be asked to explain what happened to him. Phillipe was full of information, tips and guides of where to go for good food, cheap beer. One of the spots sounded so good we decided to head back the following day for a little taste of what they had to offer. We thought we should do something before we ate so we headed up another big hill in the city called Santa Lucia. This was a little throw back to the days of our trek although much shorter thank god. At the top of the hill there is a huge monument to the Virgin Mary its oldly quite even though so many people. They have created a lovely garden area where you can sit and relax or pray as you feel fit. They also had this lovely area where people brought candles and could offer prayers up it was lovely. By the time we made our way down to the bottom again we were all ready for a feed so we made our way through the beautiful Bella Vista area and meandered through its lovely markets and shops to make our way to a traditional eatery called Grinaldos. We each tried some of the specialities and were stuffed to the brim by the time we had finished. Money well spent :) That night again while planning for the next stage of our travels we decided to stick together for the next leg of the trip as we had both been planning to head the same way. We were all happy to stick together for another week as we had been having such a good laugh together we thought..why not? Anna and Alex were to stay in Santiago one extra night then follow us on to Valparasio; from there we would all head to Vina del Mar ( a little seaside town an hour from Valpo). So myself and Rob set off and said goodbye to the lads (for a few hours at least :) )