Hopes and dreams of a private room and a tranquil series of days watching tv, passed out on my all white linen bed DESTROYED, I looked around at my chaotic and bustling backpackers hostal. The English guy was keen on putting down a drink to celebrate the new arrival, and the ritual seemed all too familiar to pass up. So there I sat, a caipirina in one hand and a pair of chopsticks in the other, eating sushi and getting to know my new friend. The night stayed pretty relaxed all things considered, and around 1 I got to bed.
The next day was true urban adventure - armed with a map and an open schedule we headed out into Santiago. We attended a protest in a local square, then passed through Plaza de Armas (as it turns out, every city in South America is required to have at least one plaza with this name), then went to a fish market, walked through the Bohemian neighborhood of Barrio BellaVista, ambled to the base of a mountain and caught a bus to the top where we were accosted by a group of high school girls who treated us like a regular boy band, caught a cable car ride across and down the mountain, spent some time in a park, and finally ended up on the outskirts of town at one of the poshiest malls I had ever seen. Finally, after being out and about for 12 straight hours, we headed home.
The following day, we decided to make the most of it and charged to city center again. We strolled around, flirted with the idea of seeing a movie and popped into the Museum of Pre-Colombian History before catching a bus to Valpariaso with an Israeli guy and a girl from Korea that Mike had met that morning (he's the English guy). The 2 hour bus ride dropped us off where we caught a colectivo (picture streets full of VW buses, painted up and slapped with #'s that then drive all over the streets, throw open the doors, scoop people up, and drop them back off all over the city - its public transportation except anyone can participate, all you need is a vehicle, a liscence, and an active imagination). We got dropped off somewhat near the hostal we were told to go to, and after a short walk arrived at a huge multi-colored building. We knock and get let in where, in the center courtyard is a strobe light pulsing to techno music while a girl twirls in the center holding a bride's vail! As we walk in she says, welcome, we are having a party! And so we meet the owner of the hostal... apparently we are its only tenants, an unexpected arrival to say the least. After a quick stroll through town, my travel companions start to drop off - a wonderful idea for me considering my sickness seems to be winning the battle against my immune system - yet somehow after all the non spanish speakers have pushed off, i find myself seated at a table with: 3 chileans, 1 argentinian, a pile of coca leaves, a box of uppers, a bowl of noodles and 3 litres of beer. No mind the fact that all 4 of these suspects ushered everyone else to bed complaining of class and work at 8 am the next morning and loudly declaring their unfortunate need to retire early. Needless to say my attempts to go to bed that night were thwarted and at 3 am I finally had to part from the group.
woke up the next morning to a house strewn with people, passed out on the couch, the chair, beds in empty rooms... you name it. No work, no school, no one was getting up. Once again in a move of sheer logical genius, I decided that if anyone was going to get up and have an active day it should be the guy slowly dying of a case of what had surely at this point degenerated into Black Lung. I set out on a walk, and walked up and down the city, catching its infamous mountain elevators that slide up and down the mountainsides on tracks (most of them built in 1909 and not renovated since!). I trekked all over Valparaiso, and when I was done, I went back to grab Mike and hopped a Colectivo to Vina del Mar. If Valpariaso is the El Segundo of the coast (urban, over populated and cheap), Vina del Mar is the Malibu. As soon as we crossed the bridge, it felt like the 20 minute journey had taken us into paradise. The prices of all things from sun screen to margaritas trippled, but the beaches were abundant and awash with people that just exuded money. It was a truly beautiful town along the beach, with an inlet that shot from the beach straight through the middle of town, leaving bridges all across the interior. We caught a beautiful sunset over the ocean before I raced back to Valparaiso to catch a bus back to Santiago. Arriving at 10 pm, I checked my email to find that my purchase of my 7:30 am flight to Argentina the next day, which I randomly found at an internet cafe for $200 instead of the typical $350-$400, didn't seem to go through - and I was ticketless for my travels. Luckily, there was a 5 am taxi headed to the airport - so at this point in almost zombie-like state, I grabbed my well deserved 4 hours of sleep and headed to the airport to catch a plane for which I did not have a ticket...
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