Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
The longest bus trip of my life took us to Santiago. It was meant to be a 23 hour trip that turned into a 25 hour trip due to a number of delays for a number of reasons. What made it truly wonderful was the fact that our seats were directly above the downstairs toilet. This meant that at regular intervals with every bump, swerve or turn in the road, we had the aromatic equivalent of a cat's litter tray wafting past and clinging to our nostrils. Also had no Wi-Fi on the bus so keeping in touch with Amber was a challenge that depended on our thieving the unsecured Wi-Fi servers at every stop along the way. The last stretch was the worst and eventually we asked the young men in front of us to help us out and they very kindly turned their phone into a hotspot so that we could contact her. I had to swallow all the bad feelings I had been feeling towards them throughout the trip since they were loud and uncouth, belching without reserve, sniffing and snorting, banging on the bus when they were dissatisfied with the speed.....and yet they turned out to be really kind to the strangers in need.
I got off the bus with a bursting bladder and ankles the size of elephants' thighs. We somehow managed to purchase the necessary BIP cards for easy access to the Metro and rushed ourselves to meet Amber who had been waiting for more than an hour for us after doing a morning walk of a section of the city. We made our way by Metro and taxi to our couch surfer hostess. The shower was once again a very welcome commodity. After some important arrangements and advice from our hostess we hit the metro again and made our way into town to walk up the Victoria hill to watch the sun set over the city. We arrived to find the gates locked and so walked through what could only be described as lovers lane towards the restaurant area to find a place to eat that met with our cheflings expectations. She had researched the restaurants and planned to take us to one of the top fine dining spots the following evening. She also tried to persuade her dad to book us on a wine route tour since it would be sacrilege to come to Santiago and not do a wine tasting trip of the world famous vineyards. Supper was really good and we had such a good time catching up with our girly. After supper in the centre of the city vibe, we made our way back to the metro to go home to a very welcome bed. Yep, as Murphy would have it, the metro closed 5 minutes before we reached it. So, we took a taxi who decided to take these tourists for a ride, a scenic one, of the city before actually taking us home. Boiling blood sprouted forth when time came to settle the metered account.
Next morning it was decided that the wine route would have to wait till we were much wealthier than we are now. We opted instead for a very long and steep climb up the hill to the virgin statue in the blazing midday sun of the Chilean sky. This is of course what makes my abnormal husband tick, and what makes me wonder why I go on holiday with him. However, my daughter encouraged me all the way to the top where we enjoyed an ice-cream and an hour or so of lovely views and peace and quiet. When time came for descending the hill, Graeme was outvoted and we made our way down in a cable car thingy which was really far more pleasant than the walk up. Stopped in at a little Mexican cafe for a bite of lunch and then did a bit of a walkabout of the city. Amber's plans were once again snagged when our hosts invited us for a Chilean BBQ in the evening. It was a lovely evening of sharing Pisco sours, meat....a lot of meat, and wine. Truly lovely people to have stayed with and we are so grateful to have met them.
- comments