Santiago, Chile (Thursday 13 October)

As per the flight schedule I arrive in Santiago at around 3.30am. I get a shuttle service to my hostel in town but it is way too early to checkin so I leave my backpack (reeking of alcohol from a bottle of Arequepa liquore broken in transit) at the hostel and go for a walk. It’s chilly in Chile, freezing in fact! What mugger would be out in this at this stupid time of the day? Fortunately my hunch was right and I share the cold streets only with people on the way to work. A young couple asked me for directions! I laughed. A full moon provides plenty of light. I have a map of sorts so I manage to find my way into Santiago’s empty Plaza der Armas. The cold is over-bearing and I find refuse in the busy train station for a while before making my way back to the hostel to wait it out for check-in time.

After checkin I go back to visit the Plaza der Armas, in the daylight! And a walk around the endless alleys of shops. I don’t see many tourists around. Perhaps Santiago has little appeal for tourists, or perhaps they are in a different part of town.

The electrical plugs in Chile are different to Peru and I desperately need an adapter so I can recharge my phone. After walking miles with no chance of finding one I go back to the hostel to have the attendant explain that I can get one from the supermarket across the road! She was right.

I’m buggered. I’ve had little sleep over the last 24 hours so I siesta for most of the afternoon.