I arrived at roughly 7 pm and easily got a taxi to my hostel. It was a very nice hostel. Everything was luxuary style. The bunkbeds were very spacious with plenty of room to sit up without banging your head on the bed above. There was a very large storage locker under the bed that my whole back pack would fit in and an individual reading light. The kitchen was very new and modern and so was the bathroom.

After I had put my bag away I went for a walk around the corner to get something to eat. I found a small cafe called Garlic and ordered lasagne. It was very nice.

The next morning I went for a walk around looking for the Bicicleta Verde office as that is where my city bike tour left from. I found it quite easily as it was very near my hostel. I went to the supermarket next to the hostel but it didnt have much choice. I bought some bread and the best I could do was buy frozen chips and chicken nuggets! It would have to do. I took them back to the hostel and made some toast as a snack. It was then time to go for my city bike tour.

I went to the office and the man there was very nice. He said I was the first Green Toad Bus customer. He asked where I had been in South America and how I had travelled. I told him about Dragoman and he seemed very interested, even looked them up on the internet to see what the truck looked like. There were 2 other people there but as they spoke Spanish they had a different guide to me. So I was the only one in my group. I got given a bottle of water, a helmet and a very nice green bike. The theme of the tour was parks and politics.

We started off in the park just over the bridge. He explained how the bridge and the river acted as a divide in the city. We then went to the Plaza Italia. There were two statues there that were given to the city to celebrate 100 years of independence. There was also a building in the shape of a mobile phone. We then went to another park and the library was pointed out to us. There are 3 libraries in Santiago and they are important because books are really expensive in chile. They are expensive as a form of censorship, so the people of Chile dont read about other governments and ideas. So the libraries are a way the locals can read for free. We cycled to a hill, thankfully not up it. The Santa Lucia Hill which has a watchtower built on the top. We stopped for a hot chocolate in a cafe before going to the presidential palace. Here the guide told me the story of how the president of Chile died on the 11th September 1973 and then the military took over and ran a dictatorship for many years. The protests that were happening now were something to do with this. The last stop was at a building in the London / Paris area. The building was where the military kept lots of people locked up and tortured them. From this building 126 people disappeared, presumed to be murdered. On the cobbles outside were the names of the 126 missing people. All that was left now was for me to make it back to the office in one piece. I was nervous about riding on the sidewalk that was the most dangerous. People were everywhere!! I almost ran someone over when she moved to the side to avoid the guide but moved right infront of me! However I made it back in one piece without falling off or crashing into anyone or anything!

Back at the hostel I made my chicken nuggets and chips before going on the internet and then to bed.

The next morning I had my tea and toast before setting off to explore.hing I did was to walk to Providencia where Sarahs hotel was. Her mum and dad had come to visit her and had also brought a small bag for me from my parents. I collected my bag from the reception desk and began my 45 minute walk back to Bellavista. I then walked to the Plaza de Armes. I wanted to find the meeting point for the walking tour so I knew where it was for Monday morning. I found it. The Plaza was very nice and had lots of things happening there. There were painters and musicians and even some students sat in cages protesting! I walked down one of the main shopping streets off the Plaza. I came across a photograph developer so I put my disposible camera from the jungle to be developed. It would be ready in 1 hour so I carried on looking in the shops. When the hour was up I went back and got my photos. I went to an internet cafe to look at my photo CD and upload them. I then started my walk back to the hostel but passed a nice supermarket on the way, so I went inside. This shop had fresh vegetables so I decided what to make. I decided on pasta as its easy and would last more than one day.

When I got back to the hostel, I went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. I was excited about cooking! I made a bolognaise dish. It was delicious even if I say so myself. After dinner I watched a film with other people in the hostel before going to bed. I was quite tired after my 6 hour walk around Santiago.

The next day was Sunday. I put on my jeans that my mum had sent me. First time in 5 months I'd worn jeans! There were no tours on Sunday so I stayed at the hostel and looked on the internet to see what to do in New Zealand. After quite a lot of research I decided to book a Kiwi Experiance bus pass and the bonus was it was half price before the 1st of September. Bargain! I then looked at accommodation and decided on Nomads Fat Camel Hostel. So New Zealand was sorted ... I had a plan! I hadnt managed to change my Australia flight as it was bank holiday but I still felt I had, had a productive day. For dinner I had some more of my bolognaise pasta. I then went upstairs and sewed together my bag for my sleeping bag and my Coca-cola bag as they had rips in. They were now as good as new, so off I went to bed.

The next morning I got my breakfast and walked to the meeting point for the 10am city walking tour. I saw the guide with his bright red coat on from across the plaza. I was one of the first there. The guide introduced himself as Franco. We waited for about 10 minutes, gradually more and more people came. Two more from my hostel turned up so I knew some people. There were about 12 of us altogether.

The tour began with an explanation about the buildings in the Plaza. We learnt the post office used to be the Presidential Palace and the Cathedral had been rebuilt 5 times. Three times because of earthquakes and twice because of fire. We learnt about the man on the horse statue called Pedro. He was the first Spanish settler in Santiago. We then walked to the Pre-Columbian Art museum where we learnt about how the Mopocho tribe actually caught and killed Pedro the founder. We then walked to the Presidential Palace but on the way he explained about the coffee shops in Santiago. He said Chilian coffee is horrible, the wine is good but the coffee is horrible. So years ago the coffee houses invented "coffee with legs." Which is basically girls serving the coffee with very short skirts. This worked at getting more people to buy coffee. These days they import nice coffee but they still have coffee with legs. In the past few years it has gone a step further. There are now coffee shops with the windows blacked out and inside you get served your coffee by a girl in a bikini / underwear!! We passed some of these blacked out coffee bars on the way. We peeped inside one and yes there were girls in just bras and thongs!! We reached the presidential Palace and he told us about September 11th 1973. We also then saw the biggest flag in Chile, it is 1/4 the size of a football pitch. Next we saw the university which had students protesting for a free education outside and the stock exchange building. We walked around Santa Lucia hill and stopped for coffee in a nice cafe. A man served us so we didnt get coffee with legs! After coffee we saw the opera house and the place that sells the best ice cream in Santiago. We then went to the Bellavista neighbourhood. It is very touristic with lots of nice restaurants and things. We ended the tour at the foot of another hill, outside the house of a famous poet. The tour had been very good and informative. We all tipped Franco and said our thank you's and left.

I went back to the hostel and made myself dinner.

The next day I just walked around Santiago again visiting various places. I also went to the post office to send home some things I no longer needed. The box weighed 4kg so that would be a nice load off my backpack. I then packed my bag ready for my flight.

Goodbye South America ....
New Zealand here I come .... !!!