"Sunny Santiago" a Santiago Travel Page by stripeykelly

After a rather short bus journey (8hours), being diddled by a taxi driver, 6000 pesos to go a few blocks and we realised that he had taken us a very long way round - bastard! -, finding out that the first hostel we went to was full, finding the underground - hooray - then finding out in the afternoon (after leaving our bags there for several hours) that the 2nd hostel was full, we esconsed ourselves in the YHA and Santiago.

I rather like Santiago, although more westernised than Buenos Aires, it has a laid back feel, with beautiful colonial architecture, not a huge number of the ugly concrete structures you find everywhere in South America, and any modern buildings are sympathetic. The central shopping and commerce area is nearly totally pedestrianised, so no danger of being run over by crazy taxi drivers. There is a fantastic fresh fish market, that sells everything from eel, to lobster, to squid to trout. Just beyond the stalls are several restaurants that sell fabulous seafood meals. Sarah and I shared prawns cooked in chilli and garlic for starters, then eel with mashed tatties and salad, and a very good little chardonnay - VVG! There is also quite alot of greenery, with a good percentage of the streets being tree lined, especially in the centre, and several parks, including Cerro San Cristobal. On the outskirts there is the Altos Los Condes shopping mall, which has every shop under the sun, like a massive cross between the Buchannan Street Centre and Princess Street Garden (for those that know Glasgow), and a cinema to boot. We were very bad too, and had a sneaky Starbucks, but it was gooood!

We visited the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art, which is stunning. The collection ranged from the civilisations of the Meso-Americas (the Mayans and Aztecs), to the tribes of the Amazon Basin, and the civilisations of the Andes. It is amazing, the number and the calibre of the artefacts were beyond anything I had seen so far. There was a whole room dedicated to textiles, which was just fabulous. All the objects were brilliantly presented, the lighting just right, and the information English as well as Spanish. It was definitely the best museum I have been in so far, and anyone who wants to go, set back a good while for it, take your time and take breaks, there is so much to see you could overload. But it is super.

Everything was good until today though (the 16th) when I discovered that I had no cash in my RBS account - not good. But since I got robbed, trying to get access to my various accounts digitally has been bloody difficult. Although my banks know that I am on the otherside of the world, that will not help in trying to let me get access to my funds quicker. I suppose that they are not making any cash out of me are they?! Well the Nationwide have been OK, but the RBS, ever since I have joined them have been , to cut it short, crap. I am not a happy bunny, but luckly I have Sarah with me, otherwise I really would be up *** creek without a paddle! Anyhoo rant overwith - and on to Easter Island!!