Santiago. Home of the Terremoto.

Thursday the 5th of June is a beautiful day in Santiago, Chile. I have been here since Monday, and had the luck to have been shown around the city by a local, Isidora de la Cruz – a girl I met traveling Colombia some five years ago. It really got me thinking about how good social media is when you travel. Prior to leaving Australia I had every intention to check Facebook less than once a week, and use it very little for photos and the like. However it would have been foolish to do this. Obviously there are some pitfalls to using Facebook such time-wasting, travel envy etc, but to be able to instantly reconnect with someone after five years is absolutely brilliant. Further to this, the ‘collecting of friends,’ as derogatory as it sounds, is absolutely sensational for future ventures. You never know when you might need to call on a favour from a recently made friend who lives in rural Mexico. There is absolutely no harm in accumulating these people for the purpose of using them down the track! Obviously this has a huge element of reciprocity to it; I have offered my couch (that I do not own yet) to countless people from all over the world. Even if only one percent of people take me up on that offer, it will be beneficial to both parties. Anyway. That’s my little spiel on the beauty of social media when used in moderation. In a way it is kind of similar to alcohol I guess; a little can really help your social life, but too much of it and you become as annoying as a fork in the garbage.

Santiago is a really interesting city. It has a very commercial feel to it, and is less cosmopolitan and ‘big city-ish’ than Buenos Aires. That being said; it still has about seven million inhabitants. The backdrop that the Andes provides is sensational, as is the fact that there is not an abundance of skyscrapers (due to the frequency of earthquakes). The two combined mean that it is possible to see the mountains from almost any point in the city, even though there are 50km-60km away. I climbed to the top of San Cristobal in the middle of the city my first day. It is essentially just a mountain in the middle of the city with a large statue of the Virgin Mary at the peak. The views over the city are sensational, bu they also show how much smog and pollution are hanging over the city. I also took a selfy with the Virgin. It feels very much like a poor man’s Christ the Redeemer.

Perhaps the best thing I have done here was check out the Museum of Human Rights. It is a place dedicated to the estimated 40,000 people who were abducted, tortured and or killed during the military dictatorship of 1973-1990. It is amazingly recent history, and the museum does not hold back on the victims accounts of torture methods, and the general fear and uncertainty that was present during the 17 year period. It is amazing how well Chile has recovered socially from this phase in their history. The is a very large military police presence in the city, which is somewhat surprising given that you would perhaps expect there to be a sense of unease and mistrust towards the military given past events. However the populace are incredibly friendly towards officers, and the officers are more than happy to offer assistance with directions and the such. I have a habit of needing directions quite often.

The hostel I have been staying at is easily the best hostel I have stayed in during this trip. Don Santiago Hostel is very small and intimate with only fifteen beds in the entire place, however it has a beautiful family feel to it which makes socialising with other travellers as easy as going to your everyday family breakfast. In my travel experiences I have always found the smaller hostels to be much better. The big 100+ bed hostels can start to feel a bit industrial after a while. Check them in. Get the cash. Check them out. Especially during the low-season they can be extremely isolating and lonely places.

Last night I got a taste of Chilean Football, as Izzy and her Australian polluelo (Chilean word for boyfriend) took me to a local bar to watch Chile’s warm up games versus the mighty Northern Irish football team. It ended in a 2-0 win for Chile and I can see that Chile’s phenomenal pace in attack is going to shred holes in Australia’s defence when they meet on the 13th of June. Subsequently, at a market this morning, I purchased a Chilean football jersey to complement my West Coast Eagles footy jumper. Just in case I decide to jump on the Chilean bandwagon if we lose that first match. At another bar that we ventured to, Izzy was kind enough to introduce me to a Terremoto, the local’s drink of choice in Santiago. It is an abomination. Think cheap cheap white wine (goon) mixed with grenadine with a large scoop of ice cream on top. I only partook in one, but it was enough to give me a solid headache the next morning. It’s brilliant that Terremoto translates as ‘Earthquake’. Santiago is one of the most earthquake prone cities in the world with trembles happening every day supposedly. Touch wood I have not felt one yet, but I am careful to always be standing as close to a door frame as I possible can when I am inside. That was a joke.

Tomorrow I plan on spending the day in Valparaiso, a coastal town about an hour and a half bus from Santiago. Then tomorrow night I will be heading out on the town with Izzy, Sam and perhaps a couple of Izzy’s friends who I also met in Colombia. It has been really nice to get back to a big city and be able to wander the streets after my two weeks in the much quieter South. Saturday afternoon I begin my flight to Brazil, which, although only a 6 hour direct flight, will take around 15 hours, all stops considered. Then it will be about getting some Portuguese into my head! I plan on speaking Spanish and just seeing what happens, vamos a ver. We will see.

It’s going to be great seeing the mates and having less of hassle meeting people. Not that I do not enjoy waking up everyday and doing that, but it can be tiresome sometimes. Especially on a hangover.

Anyway, that’s about all from my end. Not so many entertaining stories this time around. The only mildly amusing one is that the street I am staying on is called ‘Ricardo Cumming’. Also I walked past a shop today that was called ‘Dong Bang’. I laughed at those two high-brow comedic moments.

Until Brazil!

Ciao.

‘No farlo Portugese’ (I don’t speak Portugese, in Portugese) – Hugh