From the other down under

I arrived in Santiago at 6.00 am this morning after an uneventful flight. I watched an Ecuadorian movie called Qué tan lejos [How much farther] - it wasn't that good but how often do you get to see an Ecuadorian movie, especially if you spurn the Toronto film festival?

At the airport I dutifully paid the $132 "reciprocity fee" that Canadians have to cough up because we make Chilean travellers to Canada pay an equal amount [countries that this fee, in varying amounts, applies to are Canada, US, Mexico, Australia, and Albania. Albania? What's up with them? They pay only $30 though.

Upon exiting I ignored the blandishments of various taxi drivers and made my way to a local bus as advised by my hotel, for about a tenth the cost [around $3]. I got off at my stop and wandered around a bit and asked passersby for directions and eventually found my hotel [www.casaroja.cl]. It seems generally satisfactory but a bit cold [no central heating and it is still chilly at night]. Friendly staff, and all kinds of services for travellers. Somewhat oriented to the younger backpacking set--there was a beer chugging event going on out back, but not in sufficient quantities to be mistaken for a Canadian beer chugging event.

My room wasn't ready when I got there so I dumped my luggage and went for a walk downtown. This was at about 8.30 am on a Saturday so things were a bit quiescent. My major shopping task was finding an adaptor that would let me plug my computer into Chilean outlets. I'm still looking for a similar device that will convert Chilean Spanish into the Spanish that I'm used to.

After returning to the hotel, checking in, and showering, I made another excursion in the same direction and by this time things were livelier. I had lunch at the first restaurant I came across and ordered 1/4 chicken "a lo pobre"--I asked the waiter what this meant but since he spoke Chilean I didn't quite get it. Turns out to be "with french fries topped with two fried eggs". Ok, but I probably won't order it again without an angioplasty in between.

Later on I found what might be the sort of cafe where you can hang out for hours on the strength of a cup of coffee, but by this time I was falling asleep into my Kindle and had to leave and walk around [I didn't get much chance to manufacture Zs on the plane]. I did have the strength to walk up to one of the lookout points over the city, and those who know my methods will remember that once I've done that and taken the pictures, the trip is half done already. Afterward I was too tired and bored with the idea of walking the same route for the fourth time today so I took the subway back to my hotel.

My initial impression of Santiago is that it is no prettier than advertised but a little shabbier and not quite as modern as I expected--and I don't mean this in a bad way: I'm no fan of shiny steel and glass and all right angles everywhere. Things are a bit expensive, some things comparable to Canadian prices even though the GDP per capita is about a third of that back home. I wonder how people live. The subway is a lot cheaper than TO's--about $1.10 per ride vs $3.00 on the TTC.

I'm not sure what I'll make of the evening. Depends on whether my body crashes from lack of sleep.

Chau babies.