Sunny Santiago

I’ve been in Sunny Santiago, Chile now for 5 days after only intending to stay for two. It’s just sooo good here! Before I left Bolivia on 12th I booked a hostel through Hostelbookers called Ventana Sur. When I arrived after a long plane journey from La Paz, via a desert airport called Iquique, there was an eery silence on every street. I put it down to the standard south American Sunday – where generally nothing is open bar a handful of internet cafes. However today not even the internet cafes were open. When I arrived at the hostel it turned out that everything was closed because it was election day, and Chileans were busy voting in their first conservative president for 50 years. The guys in the hostel had bought in supplies of food and beer in preparation and were happy to share some of their pasta and wine with me.

I was totally shattered though after La Paz. I’d stayed in the Wild Rover Backpackers, an enormous Irish party hostel. The night before I travelled to Santiago we’d had a fancy dress party which had gone on until about 4am (my flight was the following morning at 8am!) The Wild Rover really had been a mixed experience. The beds were really comfy and the staff really friendly, however my iphone was stolen from under my pillow while I was in the toilet. I guess blame can’t fall on the hostel (and in many cases must fall on me for stupidly leaving it unattended) however it is a warning on the type of people staying at the Wild Rover. Stay with caution if you go!

After a great sleep in the Ventana’s comfy beds I headed out to see what Santiago had to offer. There is the excellent statue of the Virgin Mary up on a hill over looking the city, plus plenty of great shops and markets, as well as parks and museums. Ventana has a lovely pool to relax by in the Santiago summer sun, which is around 30 degrees everyday, but not too sticky-hot. I hear from the news that England is currently under about a ft of snow. Perfect time to be in the southern hemisphere methinks!

One of the best things about the Ventana Sur (as with almost all the top hostels i’d recommend) are the people. Everyone is just so friendly. Ivan, one of the owners of the hostel, has gone out of his way to make me feel really welcome – putting on a bbq for us all and taking us out for drinks in the evening. The hostel was full one night so he let me stay out in the double suite they have in an outhouse – which is beautiful. Something I’m really learning about travelling – its always the people, rather than the places, that make or break your experience – and Santiago will always be up there as a great experience for me.