Greetings from Santiago (de Chile)!

Hello readers,

I am currently at my hostel in Santiago taking advantage of the free internet offered here (and the fact that apparnalty im the ONLY Person in the hostel.)

Just to update you since my last entry.

I left Easter Island on Saturday. THe flight was somewhat unpleasant since they arbitrarily decided only to give some passengers headphones and not others. Clearly, I was not among the privileged.

Arrived at Santiago, but only briefly. Spent the night there, but I didnt really get to see anything becuase it was already dark (by 7 pm), and I had left the next morning to Valparaiso.

Valparaiso is a smallish (about 250 k) city 90 minutes outside of Santiago. IT was a pretty cheap bus ride.... and Chilean buses happen to be exceptional. Valpo (as it is commonly called) is a UNESCO port city, well known for its steep hills, its colourful houses, and its quirky funiculars. These things were of course all there, and were in fact the highlight of my time in Valpo. Basically, Valpo can be divided into the downtown area (El Plan) and the many hills surrounding it. El Plan is nothing special.... reasonably modern, pretty EUropean looking, a little bit dirty..... but nothing worthy of note for the visitor, excepting a few museums and some pretty buildings. THe hills are mostly residential..... a few of them are touristy, but most of them are just residential (read: low income.... and kinda sketch). THe touristy hills (such as Cerro Allegre) are REALLY touristy.... to be fair, they almost succeed in their mediterranean feel. But as interesting an atmosphere as it is, I found it rather boring..... certainly didnt justify the 3 days I spent there. Perhaps it was made worse by being the ONLY Person in the hostel on the 3rd day (on the first two days there werre these two american guys I could talk to). Oh and on the first day, I met this American guy in a cafe. HE used to work with Lehman Brothers in New York... and ever since, hes been living in Buenos Aires. Kinda cliche, eh?

ON my 2nd day in Valpo, I did a day trip to Vina del Mar. Vina, is about the same size as Valpo, and is literally 10 minuts away. It is a upmarket touristy beachside place.... with a ritzy casino and stuff like that. Interestingly, it caters more to Chilean tourists than to Westerners.

Today I returned to Santiago (otherwise known as Santiago de Chile.... in order to differentiate it from other Santiagos out there). THe people I have talked to all told me to avoid spending much time in Santiago.... that it was boring and not meant for tourists. I have found it to be a pleasant change of pace from Valpo. True, its still pretty depressing being alone. And there arent that many tourists around here. There were more in Valpo, even though its low season (half the touristy restaurants were closed there!). But so far I have quite enjoyed my time here.... Santiago is a very nice city. I have only seen the main downtown neighbourhood (called El Centro), so maybe I shouldnt generalise. After all, the city has its not so good areas, some shantytowns, and more than its fair share of stray dogs. But at least the centro is quite nice.... I certainly dont feel like Im in the third world (if I am at all). Its full of shopping arcades, malls, haute shopping, and, best of all, is mostly confined to pedestrians! Its full of people watching opportunities.

I really have to pinch myself to remind myself that Im in SOuth America, and not Europe. That is, of course, until I see the prices for everything!

I have tomorrow and Friday to see some of the sites and the other neighbourhoods. Saturday (very early) I start back up to MOntreal, with a dreadfuly long itinerary (stops in Lima, San JOse, and New York).