Auckland to Santiago

3rd August 2006

An uneventful flight to Santiago although it was delayed for an hour. I only slept a couple of the eleven hour flight so had to try and keep myself awake once I arrived at Santiago at 1pm the same day as NZ was nearly waking up for the next day.

I was very unadventurous and did not leave my hotel, Plaza San Francisco. The next day I was picked up by Carla the ski guide for Chilean Ski and we drove to the ski resort of Farrelones near to the three resorts, El Colorado, La Pava and Valle Nevada. Excuse the spellings but I am writing this without my diary with me so relying on memory which is not a good thing in my case!

The hostal I stayed in was Refugio Aleman (see listing in the latest Lonely Planet). Very comfortable and laid back. Run by Bill who owns a hostal in Patagonia - Erratic Rock which I am definitely going to put on my list to visit. (Also in Lonely Planet). Lots of English speakers staying so I did not have to rely on the very little Spanish I have. The skiing was great. Carla took pity on me being the only skier in the hostel apart from the American and Canadian ski teams there. The rest were snowboarders. Carla and I went out skiing for a couple of days being joined by Jennifer from Melbourne for one day. Jennifer was also a snowboarder but did not mind slumming it with skiers. I skipped my last day skiing and chilled out at the hostal by the fire watching Lord of the Rings Part one for the fourth time. Sad I know.

Now back in Santiago and found an internet but by Spanish is not enough to sort out my photos. I went exploring today through the smog. Climbed up a very steep hill at Cerro San Cristobal and found a large statue of the Virgin Mary and some beautiful views of Santiago and the Andes - and was above the smog. I came down by the funicular. Lots of photos providing the camera has managed to penetrate the smog. Have I mentioned the smog enough? That is all for now.