In no way was I expecting the 20 hour bus journey from Buenos Aries to the Chilean capital of Sandiago to be particularly noteworthy. Sure I knew we were going over the Andes but due to the many distractions Buenos Aries had conspired to provide I had somehow failed to process that this meant I would be seeing first hand some of the most beautiful and breathtaking mountains in the world. I especially hadn't expected to be waking up just in time to witness the sunrise over the crest of the surrounding mountains which was truly lovely to behold. This experience was only slightly tempered by the fact that Chilean customs are IN the mountains and its rather gosh darn chilly at 2000 meters above sea level at 7am! The Chilean adjuanas (customs- the MOST important word I've learned en Español) were by far the strictest I'd seen yet, with individual screening of every bag, plus randomised drug searching (I'm obviously starting to look like a real backpacker! A fact I was semi- pleased about when my heart started beating again post invasive backpack searching). I also got stamped into the country twice as the woman on the desk had a stamp malfunction on the first attempt- we shall see what ramifications this has for trying to leave the country again on Monday. However, the drive down into the city itself was spectacular and the Santiago subway system (navigated with help from a very friendly local- the first of several that would accost me to 'practise English so I can be rich in Australia', apparently the true Chilean dream) was just as easy at that of Buenos Aries.
And so I arrived at my hostel with the minimum of fuss to be greeted by a lovely 'young' man called Elvis...
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