Today we are leaving Santiago, but first we decide to do a free city tour. As we walk to the meeting point we pass through a park with trees from around the world. There must be at least 40 different species. Of course I'm fascinated and trying take pictures of all the trees and their associated plank. The tour comes through this location, I bet Darren $5 that the tour guide will know how many species are in the park.

We stop in for a quick bit to eat and some cafe. Many sandwiches have avocado in them; I love this place!

At the meeting point, we find our guide. With the guide are two other Canadians from (guess where) Edmonton, AB! They were a well travelled couple with some excellent tips on traveling and a special wine club to import wine and try new wines from around the world. I'll share the secret club if you care to know ;-).

The meeting point is located in the Plaza de Armes. Three distinct and beautiful buildings are located here, a church (which began construction in the late 1700s), a former prison and a former Supreme Court. The Plaza is the location of where weapons were stored during the war between the indigenous people (Mapuches) and the Spanish. When the Spanish first arrived, the Mapuches believed that the Spanish were gods because they rode on horses and Mapuches had never seen horses before and believed that the horse and Spanish were one. When the Mapuches saw the Spanish bleed, they knew they weren't human so they declared war. Around the rest of the Plaza were houses and according to a person's wealth, determined the how far they lived from the Plaza.

We then saw many other sites including opera houses, cathedrals, libraries, museums and much more. We passed by a huge Chilean flag; the red means blood and remembers those that fought in war, the white means snow, the blue means Pacific Ocean and the star means progress and honour.

We stop for people to try local roasted nuts and the local drink mote con huesillo (whole wheats with a peach and syrup-like fluid). We tried it the other day and it was pretty gross. When we watched everyone else in the tour, their facial expressions showed a polite dislike.

We stopped for a bite to eat at a small castle restaurant with the Canadian couple and an American couple (the gentleman was exceptionally tall and everyone wanted to take pictures with him - quite entertaining).

Near the end of the tour we walk through the park with all of the trees. I wait to hear the number of species; not even a comment about the different trees. I ask our guide, "Do you know how many species of trees are in the park?" He looks puzzled, "Uh, how many different kinds of trees?" Still has a puzzled look. "Darn it, I lost that bet!"

We leave the tour a little early because we need to catch our bus. We say goodbye and book it back to the hostel to pick up our packs.

The metro to the bus station was packed and like a sauna. With all of this sweating we should be 20 lbs lighter when we return to Canada. I wouldn't mind buying a new wardrobe anyways!

The bus station reminds me of the videos you watch of people being pushed into subways in Tokyo. There are so many people here and they don't pack lite. I see people dragging packages, people with two backpacks and a large package in each hand, people helping each other drag packages across the floor. It's chaotic.

We find our bus terminal and our bus. We chose the high class, semi-coma bus. It is a double decker with extra-large seats that almost lean back far enough that you are laying down. Darren calls it pimping! It is the perfect bus for a nice long snooze on a 13 hour bus ride to Puerta Montt.