Hola Santiago
We got on the plane 28th September 1pm and got down in Santiago 28th September 1.15pm, how cool is that :), a 15minute flight? well no way, it was over 14h! We were hoping to see a glimpse of Antarctica on our way to Santiago, but by the time we were going closer to the icy continent, it was pitch black dark outside.
As we came out of the airport, our driver, Marie was waiting to take us to the hotel. On our way Marie gave us a few survival tips on South America, don't take your wallet out in public unless it is really necessary, take only the money enough to survive the day with you, dont take your phone in hand, keep it in the pocket always, carry your back pack not on the back but chest. Phew where did we land into? Just last week, when she was driving, someone grabbed her mobile and flew away!
The 'hotel' was not what we expected! Initially they gave us a shared bathroom! No way, we prefer to keep our shit private :) Our tour is extensive and we booked over 15 hotels and we were pretty sure we didn't book any shared bathrooms. After a bit of aruging using Google translater, we manged to get the best room in the hotel for the same price according to Marie. The best room had a 'pool view' with a cracked window and an attached bathroom with no vent so all the moist was hanging in the room :( Anyway it was too late and expensive to change the hotels and we decided to rough out for the next 2 nights. How the hell we booked this garbage?
We obviously didn'tn want to hang around in that room much and unpacked our stuff and took off to explore Santiago. We walked to a nearby mall and again with the Google translator managed to get something to eat. It is so crazy how they dont speak any English!
Santiago has an excellent subway system, very clean stations with timely trains and a reasonably priced ticketing system. There is a transport card called the 'Bip' card, there is an initial cost to it. Day is divided into 3 time zones depending on how crowded the trains could be and priced accordingly, price raning from 600 to 1000 pesos which is about 1-2 Australian dollars.
Our first stop was the San Cristobal hill. We took the subway to the cable car station which takes you to the top of this hill. It was a Saturday and the place was full of people.
After waiting about 30 min in the que, we finally managed to get on the Cable car.
As you ascend to the top, Santiago unfolds in front of you with a setting sun on the background.
There is an intermediate stop before you reach the top, which we skipped and went all the way to the top of the hill where the statue of immaculate conception of Virgin Mary is located with a small church. At 14 meters the statue looked taller than I expected and it looked very peaceful and was gleaming in white against the blue sky.
After spending sometime at the top of the hill, we decided to go down and walk to our next stop, the Sky Costanera tower which is the tallest tower in Latin America. There is a funicular which you can take from the top of the Cristobal mountain which takes you to the other end of the San Cristobal park, we instead took the cable car back to the starting station as walking to the Sky Costanera tower was easier from there.
We were up at the top in less than a ear clogging minute traversing over 300m of 61 floors. The night had fell upon us already and the views from the top were amazing. It reminded me Los Angeles from the Griffith observatory. In the middle of the sea of millioin glittering stars of lights was a dark patch, the San Cristobal hill and the winding roads were lit all the way to the horizon.
By the time we finished it was time for dinner, we went down and had a quick bite and did a bit of shopping for snacks, I have to tell you Chile has so many different types of cookies even a yard of cookies!
Tips:
As we came out of the airport, our driver, Marie was waiting to take us to the hotel. On our way Marie gave us a few survival tips on South America, don't take your wallet out in public unless it is really necessary, take only the money enough to survive the day with you, dont take your phone in hand, keep it in the pocket always, carry your back pack not on the back but chest. Phew where did we land into? Just last week, when she was driving, someone grabbed her mobile and flew away!
The 'hotel' was not what we expected! Initially they gave us a shared bathroom! No way, we prefer to keep our shit private :) Our tour is extensive and we booked over 15 hotels and we were pretty sure we didn't book any shared bathrooms. After a bit of aruging using Google translater, we manged to get the best room in the hotel for the same price according to Marie. The best room had a 'pool view' with a cracked window and an attached bathroom with no vent so all the moist was hanging in the room :( Anyway it was too late and expensive to change the hotels and we decided to rough out for the next 2 nights. How the hell we booked this garbage?
We obviously didn'tn want to hang around in that room much and unpacked our stuff and took off to explore Santiago. We walked to a nearby mall and again with the Google translator managed to get something to eat. It is so crazy how they dont speak any English!
Santiago has an excellent subway system, very clean stations with timely trains and a reasonably priced ticketing system. There is a transport card called the 'Bip' card, there is an initial cost to it. Day is divided into 3 time zones depending on how crowded the trains could be and priced accordingly, price raning from 600 to 1000 pesos which is about 1-2 Australian dollars.
After waiting about 30 min in the que, we finally managed to get on the Cable car.
As you ascend to the top, Santiago unfolds in front of you with a setting sun on the background.
There is an intermediate stop before you reach the top, which we skipped and went all the way to the top of the hill where the statue of immaculate conception of Virgin Mary is located with a small church. At 14 meters the statue looked taller than I expected and it looked very peaceful and was gleaming in white against the blue sky.
There is a small church at the bottom of the statue but it was closed.
After spending sometime at the top of the hill, we decided to go down and walk to our next stop, the Sky Costanera tower which is the tallest tower in Latin America. There is a funicular which you can take from the top of the Cristobal mountain which takes you to the other end of the San Cristobal park, we instead took the cable car back to the starting station as walking to the Sky Costanera tower was easier from there.
By the time we finished it was time for dinner, we went down and had a quick bite and did a bit of shopping for snacks, I have to tell you Chile has so many different types of cookies even a yard of cookies!
Tips:
- Watch your stuff - wallet, mobile, backpacks.
- Santiago subway is amazing, dont waste money on Uber / Taxis, subway is the cheapest and the fastest way to traverse the city avoiding the traffic.
- Make sure you have the offline spanish file downloaded for google translator. This is for wherever you go in South America!
- Booking the cable car to San Cristobal online is cheaper and faster at the gate as there's a separate entrance for online tickets - We got to know this later :(
- When walking back from cable car station to the Sky Costanera tower just follow your instincts and take the road, what google maps shows is about 3 times longer!
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