We boarded the bus to Mendoza and set out on our twelve-hour journey back across the country of Argentina, where only a week ago we had been so close to crossing the Chilean border to Santiago. Our bus was scheduled to arrive around 7:30 am so we planned on getting the 9 am bus from Mendoza to Santiago without coming up for air because we had been trapped in Argentina for far too long. Get me ze f*** out. Naturally, our bus was very delayed... At around 8:30 am Negar and I had resigned ourselves to the apparent fact that we were going to miss the 9 am bus and would then have to wait for the one at 1 pm. Things can't ever be easy or go to plan. I keep saying it but everytime things don't go according to plan I'm still shocked lolz. As luck would have it, we arrived at about 8:50 am so while I waited for our bags to be unloaded from the bus, Negar ran to get the bus tickets to Santiago. Negar later told me that your one at the ticket counter was very concerned as to where I, her friend who she was buying this second ticket for, was and asked Negar whether she understood fully that the bus to Santiago was leaving in ten minutes. "Yeah, yeah don't worry, she's coming." And I did, naturally, and we boarded the bus and set out for Chile! Hasta la vista, Argentina! It's been too real and I'll need some time to get over you because you shattered my heart and soul into a million pieces.

We arrived at the Chilean border a few hours later and man are those Chileans strict with what you can bring over the border. Basically no food products ever and a variety of other things because the country has such a unique ecosystem that any little thing could be a threat to its well being. Our passports were stamped and then we had to go through customs where everyone's bags from the bus get put through a scanner. I'm not entirely sure what the customs team was looking for but man did they bust some people on our bus! These two little old ladies were each trying to smuggle in about twenty packs of cigarettes each, all of which were confiscated and I'm not entirely sure they'll be returned? Another man was trying to smuggle in about fifteen spray cans of Raid - you know that spray that kills roaches and other insects? He also had an ample amount of cigarettes that were taken along with some other unidentifiable spray cans. It was the strangest thing I've ever seem someone try to smuggle into a country and I'm not entirely sure why he wasn't allowed to take all of his weird cleaning products but I did think it was suspicious he had so much of the stuff he had. So, because of smugglers #1, 2 & 3, our bus was naturally delayed getting going and we arrived in Santiago about two hours late. Nothing can ever be easy...

We took the metro to the hostel and were pleased to discover it was just a few streets from the metro stop. We arrived and checked in where we met the lovely hostel manager that told us all the things one must do in Santiago. What Negar and I were most excited about that evening, though, was reuniting with Noelle and Fabio for a night of boozing and clubbing - something that was looooong overdue.

Off we went to buy some wine at the corner market but to our pleasure we discovered a liter of vodka and naturally decided that would be the better option - osly. Negar and I were just coming from Argentina where we had developed an obsession of this soda called 'pomelo' which is basically just a grapefruit soda. Sounds not so good, right? But it's the s*** and Negar and I had both consumed our body weight in vodka and pomelo in Uruguay and the nostalgia was real. Back to the hostel we go and the drinking commences! It had really only been a few days since we had seen them but damn did we miss them during that time! So, so lovely catching up again and with money and passports in hand Negar and I finally had nothing to worry about and very much deserved a night of getting s***faced and scoring anyone and everyone we wanted.

We ended up going out this club not far from the hostel where we were promised raggaeton music and a general fiesta. We were already pretty drunk from the vodka at the hostel (Fabio made us all take a few shots to finish the bottle) so there was no need to buy any more drinks. The music was pretty good and we were dancing away, so relieved to be having a good time again finally after all our hard times in Argentina. Negar ended up scoring some guy, I was offered a job to work at the Bank of Chile if I so desire and we got the best drunk food I've had in a long time. On arriving back at the hostel I have one last cigarette outside before bed but before too long I get started chatting with the hostel worker about all things Santiago, the country of Chile and life. He rolls me a few cigarettes and I tell him about some of our travels and I somehow felt the need to fill him in on the whole story of Punta del Diablo - Lucas in particular (the one that had difficulties kissing me). I asked him if I were crazy to think that Lucas was flirting with me and wanted to kiss me, and he proceeds to ask if I'm talking about him or Lucas? Like did I want him to kiss me? I said I was talking about my story, so Lucas, and it happened one more time that night that he asked if I were asking him or hypothetically about being kissed and I responded hypothetically. But what a sweetheart for asking! We had just come from Argentina where made just took what they wanted, but not here. I has heard Chilean men were a lot more respectful and it truly was a nice change of scenery from our time in Argentina. Fun times all around and the next day I couldn't hack getting out of bed the next morning for breakfast.

The hangover wasn't too bad but we didn't want to get too ambitious and do the free walking tour so we wandered over the market to have a look around. Negar decided to get an empanada while I chose some street ceviche which was very delicious but I proceeded to spill all the sauce down the front of my shirt. Everywhere. It looked like I had thrown up on myself or something and I had to hang my sunglasses on my shirt for the rest of the day to cover the affected area. Afterwards we headed over to this really cute area in Santiago called Bellavista where there are adorable streets of restaurants and cafés. I was shocked by how beautiful it was (and Santiago in general). I swear it could have been a European city for how modern it was and Negar and I were loving every minute of it as the past few weeks (after everything had transpired in Argentina) we had been feeling a bit homesick. Santiago cheered us up so much and that day we basically just sat around eating cool food and drinking all the drinks. Didn't wander too far except to meet Noelle and Fabio in front of the Fine Arts Museum for a nice little nap. That night we had planned to go out again but we ended up growing really tired throughout the evening so we eventually decided to just stay at the hostel with Noelle and Fabio and get to bed slightly early in order to conquer the free walking tour the next day.

The tour was one of the best I've ever been on and took us to all the major sights around Santiago and even got us a Sopapilla at the market (some fried dough thing that you eat with salsa). They took us to the cemetery and we got to see the graves many former Chilean presidents' while hearing about the political history of the country. The tour was rounded out at a restaurant (where Negar and I saw the most attractive man ever working) and we were given a glass of a terremoto (earthquake in English), a typical drink in Santiago made with cheap white wine, pineapple ice cream and grenadine. Sounds strange alright but man does it f*** you up! After two glasses Negar and I were so hammered that we made eyes at cute waiter on our way out of the restaurant. Such bold ladies we are...

We then got back on the metro and headed for our favorite area, Bellavista, again. Negar had been craving sushi for a while now and I finally gave in to her wishes as long as we could have some wine as well. We spent the afternoon lazing about and eventually went back to the hostel for the rest of the evening.

The next day we had planned to get some shopping done as we were soon heading up north through Chile and into Bolivia where the temperatures would be much lower. Coming from endless heat we only had shorts and tanktops along with a single pair of leggings and jumper each. We wouldn't be getting too far with any of that so off we went to this magnificent mega-shopping center with about 6-7 floors of various shops. I had never seen anything like it - not even in America and we love that kind of s***. It even had wifi!! Anyway, we popped around the different stores and bought a few new jumpers and jeans and things for layering. Afterwards we went downstairs to the grocery store and it was the most magical thing I've ever seen. Anything you could ever want to eat or drink could be found there, even German bread. Yes, you read that correctly... Negar was on cloud 9 when she saw the wide variety of freshly baked German breads and naturally we bought a massive loaf to have with dinner. Because we had badly planned getting back to the hostel, we hit rush hour traffic on the metro and were then forced to walk all the way home because there were rows and rows of people waiting to board already full trains. Back we walked and then chilled for the rest of the evening while she wrote in her journal and I updated this blog.

The next day was our last full day in Santiago and I got up a bit earlier to go for a run through town only to realize there was a marathon on. So there I am running through the park alongside these marathon runners that are in way better shape than me because I'm a waster that drinks and smokes too much - nothing like that kind of motivation, amirite?!

Back at the hostel I ate breakfast and showered before Negar and I set off for this massive market that happens every Sunday. One can literally find anything at all and there are endless streets to wander down and peruse. Because Negar and I are major fat kids at heart, we decided to eat everything we came across. I started with a fruit cup while Negar got some fresh-pressed juice. Then we moved on to some empanadas that were as big as my face and finished with some choclo (corn on the cob) covered in many different kinds of sauces. To eat the choclo we sat down on a bench on a sidewalk where I then proceeded to get the sauces all over my face. People stared quite intently on walking by and I couldn't understand why. You've never seen a gringa trying to eat a saucy corn on the cob? Shocking. On our way back to the hostel we bought some wine and chilled for the rest of the evening while we packed things up and prepared for our departure to Valparaiso the next day.

After checking out of the hostel we made our way to the bus station and bought tickets to Valparaiso. Within a half an hour the bus was there and we were on our way! We really couldn't believe how easy everything had been so far in Chile. Buying bus tickets, taking the metro, doing some shopping, dealing with men... It was such a welcoming change from all that happened in Argentina and I was already growing sad at the idea of leaving Chile in only a few days. Santiago is one of the most impressive cities I've seen to date and I'm so grateful we got to spend some time there and recharge our batteries. Great place - go there!

We arrived in Valparaiso not too much later - maybe 2 hours - and I realized that I hadn't looked up how to get to the hostel. Not again, Allison, not again... So I proceeded to steal some wifi from a parked bus and was able to screen shot the directions from the hostel website. We started in the general direction until we got completely lost. We turned somewhere too early and then hiked up these massive hills (as Valparaiso is very hilly) only to walk back down them to eventually find our hostel. An hour it took us to freaking find the place and we were in bits upon arrival.

We couldn't check into our rooms because the washing machine had broken that day and there were no clean sheets. Awesome. The hostel was one of the grungier ones we've stayed in, so we got our fairly quickly and attempted to take a walk around town. We had heard the city was meant to be breathtaking but I couldn't see it. Negar surmised that maybe it's one of those city's that needs sunlight to help it out? Because on the day we arrived it looked very gloomy and rundown in the overcast light. We walked to the main plaza and then down one of the main streets, got some food and then returned to the hostel.

We met some of the people staying at the hostel and we learned that it was a pretty big party hostel. Within too long I went down to the shop just below the hostel to buy some wine and the drinking began. We met two Israelis, Dan and Tomer, who we would proceed to travel with to San Pedro and Uyuni with. There was also a big group of lads traveling together, consisting of some Swedes and Frenchies and others, who were quite fun and before too long I was out the door with two lads to go buy some more wine. Except we didn't make it to the shop because we stopped in this alley to talk to some Chileans drinking and playing music. We had the chats and drinks and then we went to a bar together. Mind you, I had told Negar that I was going to buy wine and the only reason she didn't worry about where I was is because some people from the hostel stopped in the alley to chat and she then assumed I was with cute German guy that worked at our hostel. Woops, no I was not.

Eventually the bar closed and we stood outside it trying to figure out what we should do. I met an American girl who seemed like good craic and we headed for the main square to get another drink, although I probably didn't need it. The rest of the night is a bit fuzzy but I ended up meeting this personal trainer who was from Valparaiso and he invited me to eat sushi with him. Cool guy and I ended up spending the night at his only to be woken up in the morning saying he had a personal training session but I could stay in his as long as I wanted and if I stayed till he got back we could go to lunch. I looked at my phone at it was already 10 am. f***. Negar is going to murder me. As soon as he left I got dressed as fast as possible and legged it out the door. I was certain Negar was going to ring my neck but to my surprise (as she thought I was with German guy) she just asked me how my night was. When I told her the story she wasn't so pleased. Wooooops.

Anyway, that afternoon we did the free walking tour through the city with the same company as in Santiago because we were so impressed by them. We decided to do the Spanish tour instead of the English one because there were far less people doing it and Negar and I need as much attention as we can get. The tour was great once again and took us around the port and up until the hills to have a look at the graffiti that dominates the city as well as the beautiful scenery from some lookout points. They gave us another alcoholic drink upon conclusion of the tour (couldn't tell you what it was) and then Negar and I went to eat a traditional dish from Valparaiso (couldn't tell you what this was either) consisting of French fries and sausage and egg and onions and some other things. Pretty cool and then we were full. Very full. So we went back to the hostel and slept from 7 pm till the next morning.

The next day we had a little while to kill before our departure so went and visited Pablo Neruda's house up in the hills of Valparaiso. He's one of Negar's favorite poets and I was only too happy to tag along until I saw the massive hill we had to walk up to get there. Huffing and puffing we finally arrived to the amazing views his house has to offer. I found his home to be a bit gaudy to be honest and a bit narrow, but one cannot deny the fantastic views he had of both the sea and hills of Valparaiso. It was quite impressive and I was happy to learn about his life - somewhat dramatic I must say.

A few hours later it was time to leave and we had to book a bus back to Santiago in order to get up to San Pedro de Atacama, the driest place on the planet. Dan and Tomer had booked a bus from Santiago to San Pedro at 7 pm so we decided to do the same and arrived in Santiago at around 5 pm from Valparaiso (just in case of delays). We got a bottle of wine at the bus station to kill our time and then found the guys before we boarded the bus. We didn't know it yet but we were about to embark on a 25 hour journey from hell...