Chillin' out in Chile

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Andy and I can feel that the end of our trip is near. We are starting to slow down, take fewer pictures and sleep in late. I guess we are enjoying our last few weeks of traveling before the reality of coming home sets in. We are also somewhat glued to the television watching war coverage.

We did manage to see a few things in Santiago. Before we left Easter Island we met a retired man from Australia named Jose'. He is a native Peruvian and he was full of advice about our travels through Peru. This man has been traveling alone for a year and he was happy to hang around with us in Santiago. He is the MOST talkative man we've ever met. While walking down the streets of Santigo, he just kept talking about everything! From the correct conjugation of Spanish verbs to the delicious roasted guinea pigs in Peru. On and on and on... The worst part is that if we made some slight comment or a rhetorical question, he would take us seriously. For example, when I commented 'I wonder what sort of tree this is?', Jose'would walk up to the first person on the street and ask them. At a restaurant, Andy commented to us that the meat on his pizza had too much fat on it, so Jose'called over the waiter to tell him. After the waited glared at Andy, we realized we needed to keep our comments to a minimum.

We visited a few good museums in Santiago. Most of the museums were divided between pre and post Spanish influenced eras. Jose' followed us around the museums with full commentary, but actually his insight was very welcome. We also went up a funicular ride to the top of a big hill with a good viewpoint of the city. If we didn't know Santiago was nestled in the foothills of the Andes mountains, we wouldn't have believed it. The city has so much smog and thick polution, that it was nearly impossible to see the distant mountains. It is quite a shame.

We decided to take a 'tour' into Argentina to see the tallest mountain in all of the Americas (Mt. Aconcagua). We felt like a little pampering and we didn't want to try to rent a car or ride a bus, so we just booked a tour. Besides, it sounded great. A full day with an English speaking guide, a hike around the Nationl Park, lunch, the whole works! We got picked up by a taxi driver who didn't speak any english and we were on our way. As we started to drive out of the city, I began to get curious. We were expecting to be taken to an office where we would hook up with our 'tour' and our 'guide.' Well, as we got onto the highway and left the city behind us I tried to ask in spanish where our guide was. Our taxi driver pointed at himself. I think the color drained from our faces, we were paying this guy $200 to take us to see a tall mountain with NO information, no english speaking guide and no tour. We felt like two big suckers. After another 15 minutes or so we decided that we weren't going to allow ourselves to be taken for a ride (so to speak). I informed our 'tour guide' that we weren't happy, and we wanted to go back to Santiago. He understood that, so he reluctantly turned his taxi around. He drove like an angry madman all the way back to Santiago. But we didn't mind, we were saved! We are disappointed that we didn't see the tallest mountain in all the Americas, but we are happy that we stood our ground and didn't give in to a scam. We didn't pay the driver a cent. We are very proud of ourselves.

Now we are in the coastal town of Valapariso. All the guidebooks say that this town is quaint and picturesque. We haven't been too impressed. It is really crowded and the houses that cover the hills like like they are shacks about to fall apart. The town has built many funiculars to transport people up and down the steep cliffs of the city, so we rode on a few to get a better view of the city. We also took a train to the neighoring upscale town of Vi\241a del Mar. It is the weekend beach destination for all the rich folks from Santiago. There was a small museum with Easter Island artifacts which gave us a few hours of fond deja vu'.

Now we are headed to the last cuntry on our travel list. We plan to be in Peru for just a week. We have only one goal in mind: to see Maccu Piccu.

Thanks for checking in with us!

Love to all, Jennifer and Andy