Santiago, Chile

Oct 19-21

Whenever you ask someone what they think of Santiago, they're guaranteed to say it's "just another big city." And to be honest... I agree.

One of our days in Santiago we did a walking tour and the other we walked up San Cristobal hill (which turned out to be more of an intense hike than a walk)

Though the 'sights' weren't anything impressive, some of the info on the walking tour was interesting. We learnt that there are millions of stray dogs in Chile, but they're all generally very healthy (some even a bit fat!) because they're so loved and well looked-after by the Chileans. Restaurants leave out left over food for the dogs, so much food that the dogs have become picky about what they eat! 

Another interesting discovery was the tradition of 'coffee with legs' - a style of coffee shop unique to Santiago. Tea is the most popular drink in Chile, and when the first coffee shop opened it wasn't very successful. So to entice customers, the coffee shop had all their waitresses dress provocatively, which back in the day meant a short, tight skirt. All of a sudden the coffee shop was a hit and very quickly more 'coffee with legs' shops started opening. Nowadays you can tell just how provocatively the waitresses dress, depending on how dark the windows are: the darker the windows, the less clothes the ladies are wearing! But these coffee shops only serve coffee and are only open in business hours.

One of the highlights in terms of actual 'sights' on the walking tour was a pair of murals painted by an artist who, of course, was from Valpairiso. The murals represent many aspects of Chile's history and culture.

The walk up San Cristobal was not at all what we were expected. I had imagined a casual stroll along a marked path. Instead, we were walking along questionable paths through the hills, sometimes so steep that we were practically rock climbing.

Needless to say it was a good workout. And luckily we picked a really clear day, so the views were worth it!

Once we were at the top, with Virgin Mary, you could see the whole city with the snow-capped mountains in the background.

On my last night in Santiago, which was infact my last night in all of Latin America we ate traditional Chilean food. I had Pastel de Choclo - a dish traditionally layered with meat & onions, chicken and corn puree...however I opted for the veggie version to avoid the onion. Tasty! Afterwards, we sat around at the hostel drinking Flor de Caña... What better way to end my Latin American journey than with my favourite drink of the trip, and with four friends I'd met at various stages of the trip - one from back in Guatemala, another from Nicaragua, one from Argentina and the last one a friend just made recently in Chile!

So... It's all over... Twelve incredible countries in five and a half months. No more rice & beans and no more struggles with Spanglish! For now, at least...

Hasta luego, Latin America. I'll be back :)

The journey through South: Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay & Chile.