The bus journey to Santiago was pretty interesting, because you have to cross over the Andes to get into Chile.This afforded us some spectacular views of snowcapped mountains and rolling hills, and despite the fact that we have now seen the Andes in almost its entire length, it never ceases to amaze us.There were, thankfully, no hiccups in this journey, and the although the border crossing took a long time, we didn't have to go through the agonising task of opening and emptying our bags, as we had on the way in to Argentina!We checked into a small hostel, and although we weren't in the main building, we had a six bed dormitory all to ourselves!!We had a quick walk around the area we were in, but we were both still recovering from BA, and were simply thankful for a change of scenery!Santiago is also a big sprawling city, but somehow seems a little less hectic, and is without the crazy nightlife, which suited us just fine!One of the interesting paradoxes about Santiago is that it is situated on a wide plane amongst the dazzling backdrop of the Andes, but these same mountains prevent winds from shifting the air trapped over the valley, and Santiago is permanently covered in a layer of thick smog, making views of its beautiful surroundings almost impossible.We could feel the pollution in the air from the moment we stepped in, and it gave Santiago a somewhat grisly, grey appearance, however we still found enough to entertain us for almost a week!On that first night, we went out to dinner with Pauline and Maelis, two of the French girls who Rakhee had continued trekking with in Torres del Paine, after Marisha hurt her knee.The three of them (Pascal was ill and couldn't join us) were studying in Santiago for the year.We went to a lovely Italian restaurant and it was great to have a catch up about our trekking days, and have someone to point us in the direction of the good places to visit in Santiago!!The next few days were then spent following our trusty walking tour in the guide book.This took us past the usual sights of the main square (well-landscaped), the Cathedral (you've seen one, you've seen them all!), and millions of other churches.We were also lucky to be in Santiago on a week where all the museums were free!!So we stopped by first at the Chilean Museum of Precolombian Art, where we traipsed around with our audio guides in a massive colonial mansion.We also went to the Museum of Contemporary Art, which wasn't really all that impressive, save a few things.The building was beautiful, with its white hall filled with marble statues that shone in the light that was pouring in from the high glass and iron ceiling.The main entrance had a random exhibit of Japanese inventions and art, which was pretty interesting and gadget filled.And finally, there was a hilarious exhibit of stones, ranging from pebbles to large boulders all laid out in a long line, accompanied by a weird soundtrack of the sea, which kept us amused for all of ten minutes!We took two trips to viewpoints over the city, the first by cable car up to the top of Cerro San Cristobal, where the view was obscured by the smog, but where we were surprised to find that what looked like a statue of Christ from the city below, was actually a statue of the Virgin Mary, accompanied by a large outdoor church!We walked up the second hill, Cerro Santa Lucia, which was home to really beautifully landscaped gardens and walkways, and although the view was again obscured from the top, we were rewarded for our efforts by a small castle-like building, complete with turrets and little enclaves.Another of our walks wasn't quite so rewarding, when we decided to walk North out of the city to the Central Market, only to find that it was in a pretty desolate, run down area, and consisted of nothing but fish stalls and restaurants below a horrible looking iron construction!It was supposed to be famous because the metalwork was done in Leeds and then shipped over to Chile and assembled, but if you ask us it was just ugly and not worth the bother!!!Somehow we got chatting to one of the restaurant owners though, who was very sweet and told us all about the times he had travelled in both England and India, before helping us to pick out fresh fruit and vegetables, which we later used to make a gourmet salad for dinner!!We ended up cooking quite a lot in Santiago, and it made a nice break from eating out, since we could cook exactly what we felt like eating!!We also spent most of our evenings in the hostel, just chatting to the few people that were there, and also relaxing in front of the tv.We met some interesting people, including a couple, in which the husband had just returned from hospital having had serious salmonella poisoning; Carolyn, a woman who had gone to our Portuguese language school just after we left Salvador, and had already heard all about us and knew all of our friends from there; and Julian, an Aussie who came to sleep in our room on our last night, and was literally having a very loud full blown conversation with himself in his sleep!!We also watched a lot of movies including Shrek 3 (it wasn't out at the time, but was absolutely hilarious), Match Point (which Rakhee hated), and Syriana, which we never got to the end of and never figured out what was going on anyway!!To break up our time in Santiago, we decided to go to the nearby coastal resort of Valparaiso.We only spent a few hours there because it was out of season, and therefore cold and smoggy, but it was a nice few hours nonetheless.We walked around the main plazas and streets, and down by the harbour there was an American Naval ship moored, so we were treated to the sight of lots of sailors in their suits running around the city all day!Valparaiso is famous for its many hills and funicular lifts, which rise up the mountainside to all of the picturesque, multicoloured buildings and houses that overlook the sea below.After lunch we headed up one of the lifts and walked amongst the houses along a winding road, until we reached La Sebastiana, one of the houses of famous Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda.It was a really interesting place, having been turned into a sort of museum.The house has huge bay windows and therefore gives you a great panoramic view of the city and sea below.The most interesting thing about Neruda's house, is that it is filled with trinkets that he has collected on his travels, or gifts that he received while working abroad as an ambassador for many years.Every object in the house tells a different story, and the guide you are given really gives you an insight into the eccentricities of a very unique man.Back in Santiago, we decided to check out another of Neruda's houses, La Chascona.This was much more formal as you were forced to take a guided tour, however our guide was excellent and the tales of the parties Neruda had held at the house, and how all the objects that lined its walls and shelves came to be there, were just as interesting as they had been in Valparaiso.We saw a little more of the Frenchies too, but since they had essays to complete and were working hard, we tried not to disturb them too much.One evening we popped into their house for a drink and another catch-up, and suffice to say that their house was not at all studenty!!In fact, all of the houses along the street looked like something you might expect to find in a Hansel and Gretal book, appearing to be made of sweeties and gingerbread!!We also went out for dinner one last time, and this time Pascal was well enough to join us, which made our little trekking group complete once more!!After a fairly leisurely week, we decided that we had recovered enough to move on, and caught an early evening flight on to our next destination, Lima in Peru?