Santiago

We had two great days in Santiago. We start with a picture of Chilean president Salvadore Allende. Forgive my incomplete rememberance of history, but he became president in the late 60s. He was assassinated in the military coup that put General Pinochet in power on the original and far more tragic September 11th - 1973. Social progress in Chile halted, the "Chicago Boys" brought in Friedman's (horrendous) economic policies including "shocking" the economy and privitization of the country's greatest assets and resources. Chile lost a generation of progress. And suffered under a really repressive dictatorship.

We moved on to Santa Lucia park in the midst of downtown. It's a large hill offering great views of the city. You can see the Andes in the background through the ever-present smog.

Next we headed to Cerro San Cristobal, a 600m hill overlooking the entire city. We did not climb this; we took the cable tram (built in the 30s) to the top for a few bucks each. Here's a look up the hill; the wall on the left has a level top (that gives you an idea how steep this is).

The park features a statue of the Virgin Mary overlooking the city.

Here's a view back over the city. Santa Lucia park is in the middle of the frame.

The classic self portrait.

All those hills gave us a healthy appetite, so we took a lunch break at a restaurant favored by locals. Great vibe in the restaurant, but everything was in Spanish. We did our best figuring out the menu, then went for Pisco Sours, and two specials of the day: ceviche de local and causeo de patitas. We know ceviche -- it's basically Latin sushi, though we didn't know what fish it would be. We had no idea what causeo de patitas was. The verdict? Pisco sours: sour, delicious and refreshing. Civiche: fresh, and a bit meatier than most we've had. We asked and learned it was trout. Causeo: mysterious cubed meat squares with cheese and olives. Is this blood sausage? Sweet breads? Not bad. We looked it up later: pig leg.

Finally, in a groundbreaking moment for the blog, we present our first video. Enjoy!

Bank error NOT in my favor

The alarm went off at 4:30a to catch our 7a flight this morning from Santiago to Buenos Aires. Ugh. Check in was a bit nervy as we were told there was "a problem with the ticket" but they somehow squared it away. For Chile, you have to go through immigration (emigration?) both ways. They asked for a form we filled out on the way in. Uh, do we have those? They magically appear for us and we sail through.

Right by our boarding area was a bar called "The Last Pisco Sour." True, but 6a is a bit early.

We cleared immigration and customs in Buenos Aires with no problem. I then go to the bank to change money. I change Chilean pesos, then a large sum of US dollars. I get back a huge stack, and must admit, I didn't want to count it with a large line behind me and in such a public space.

We find a cafe with wireless and settle in for a 6-hour layover. I discreetly count the money. It's 50 pesos (~$12.50) short. I check carefully. It's short. It's not a huge deal, but I decide to head back over to the bank. I tell Leena I have zero chance of getting the 50 pesos, but I'll feel better at least letting them know. What's to stop me from just taking the 50 out of the pile and giving it to Leena?

I hand over my receipt and the bills and tell them it's short 50. It's counted. It's short. The teller who helped me is called over. She counts. She then hands me a 50 with no questions asked. It takes all of 90 seconds.

Sweet, right? I have this nagging doubt about the whole thing. Like it's intentional, but if you catch them, they have to make it right lest the transaction get audited somehow. Anyway, I have my 50.

Knights of Prosperity

Shout out to... Niraj (and Ami)! We have cash. They wired it. Thanks.

Shout out to... Shannon! First comment on the trip. Nice.

observations

I am not into the day-to-day update as Drew is. So, instead, here are my observations about what goes on in sud america:

Fashion
You all know that I have nothing to say about fashion, considering what I wear. But the women are ridiculous here - bright, tight clothes that are about 2 sizes too small. Shredded tanks and T-shirts with leggings and gladiators are the norm. I know, right?

Dogs
They are all small.

Priorities
Love a country where you can get on wireless anywhere in the city to post meaningless FB updates but can't flush toilet paper due to the poor infrastructure. I think they have their priorities right.

Cars
They are also all small.

Drinks
Everyone drinks all day. They carry liters of beer on the streets. It is awesome.

Cleanliness
Pretty much everyone smokes in Chile, yet they all know how to dispose of their cig butts appropriately. Also, there are many street dogs, but no poop to be seen. BUT...in Argentina, it is disgusting - trash everywhere on the streets and poop everywhere.

Hostels
French people skype all day.

Language
I find it much more difficult to communicate in Chile. They drop their S's, have different words for things than I am used to and speak much, much faster than the Argentinians. It took us a half hour to buy sunscreen! It's also an adventure every time we go to a restaurant...mmm pig leg.

Personal space
Forget about it.

Transportation
Buses are way more comfy than planes. Bus seats recline all the way back, are plush and there is even on-board entertainment!

Cashed Out!

Today was supposed to be an easy day. Catch a noon flight to Santiago, find the hostel, orient ourselves and make some plans for the next couple of days here.

We planned to leave at 10a for the airport. At 9:15a, we were packed, had eaten breakfast, and were just winding down the stay over coffee. I had one errand to run: cash up to pay the hostel bill (there's a 10% surcharge for using a credit card). I headed out a few blocks to a cash machine we'd used a couple of times, and it promptly ate my card. Nothing. It just sucked it in, just out of reach, but kept blinking away its happy greeting to insert a card. Nothing would make it come back. And it's a Saturday, so banks are closed until Monday.

I raced back to the hostel and asked if there was anyone they could call to get the card out. Or, could you give me a screwdriver (or even better, a crowbar)? Then I called the number on the back of my credit card (the card is a Visa from Bank of America; my checking account is also with B of A). I explained the situation and asked how I could get a cash advance with the credit card. (I assumed I could do this at an ATM, but I don't know the PIN for the card.)

The woman took the time to scold me for not alerting them that I was travelling in a foreign country, and asked how long I would be gone. Really? Then, she advised me that they can only mail PINs. Can you email one? No. Is there any way I can get cash with this card? No. REALLY? I tried to stay calm, but definitely stressed the urgency of the situation and asked to speak to a supervisor. Five minutes on hold. The supervisor was only helpful enough to tell me to call 1-800-VISA-911.

I called. The first prompt told me to call the international number, or I would be charged a bunch for the call. I guess it might have been nice to either be told the international number by the supervisor, or, to include the international number to call IN YOUR MESSAGE TO USE IT!

We paid the hostel by credit card and bolted for the airport. The hostel was really no help either -- they didn't call anyone about the lost card (they couldn't even track down a phone number for the bank two blocks away!). And they have the lousiest pillows ever, but that's another story...

We checked in for our flight, cleared security (though not without losing our new sacacorcho!), and got to the boarding area about 45 minutes ahead of the flight. I called B of A again realizing that I should cancel the debit card. I got someone much more helpful who took care of that, and suggested that my best bet if I could make it to Monday was to go to a bank in Santiago, get wire number information, then log in to my checking account and wire myself funds. She also gave me the international Visa 911 number. She was even nice enough to tell me that they were very difficult to work with! The honesty was refreshing.

I called Visa 911 and explained the situation. There was much confusion. They just couldn't understand that I had lost a debit card, and was requesting emergency cash through the credit card. They kept saying "Please confirm that you have lost your card and we will deactivate it and send you a new one." NO! PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS! I've already lost one card, please don't cancel this one. (We have a Visa for Leena as well, but really, I don't want to be down to just one option.) After about four tries explaining this (where it still was not clear how I would get this "emergency cash") I gave up.

OK, now the better news. Chile seems much more credit card friendly. And we have a little over 200 bucks to get through until Monday, so we should be fine. But we will need the wire transfer to work in a day - we fly out really early Tuesday so we wouldn't be here long enough to wait until then.

And the good news: the empanadas are huge here, and the beers are cold and tasty. More soon!

Black Friday

We splurged on the high-end wine tour today, and I have to say it was well worth it. We caught a small bus with our guide Jose and 3 other couples for a 30-minute trip to Lujan de Cuyo, the oldest wine region in Argentina with over 1000 wineries. We toured and tasted at the first two wineries -- both fantastic -- then had a 5-course lunch at the third winery with wines paired to each course. The meal was outstanding, and we had a lot of fun getting to know the other couples on the tour. One couple from Honolulu, another from Atlanta, and another from Europe. We wrapped up at a final winery and promptly fell asleep for the ride home. Just another siesta.

Barrel room at Alta Vista, first winery of the day

Pulenta, winery #2

Second course served on a plank from a wine barrel

We're off to Santiago de Chile tomorrow. It'll be country #16 for me (Drew), and something like #28 for Leena. I can't beat her at anything... except golf, maybe.

Happy Thanksgiving from Aconcagua

Thanksgiving started with a 5:15 alarm to make the trip to Mt Aconcagua for some trekking. It's the highest peak in the world outside of the Himalayas at close to 7000m. We met our guide for the day, Mario, and caught a quick cab to the bus station.

The bus was surprisingly nice. We were on the top floor of a double decker. The seats were plush and reclined way further than any coach airline seat. There were bathrooms on the bus (though we didn't make use of them), and even a kitchen. We slept for most of the 4-hour ride.

We checked in with the park rangers and set off for Confluence Station. We started around 2900m and climbed for ~3 hours to 3400m. The altitude kicked our butts! Leena had some nausea and I had a killer headache, both early (and mild) signs of altitude sickness. We later learned that you should stay 2 days in the base town to acclimate before you start climbing. No time for that! We had a 4:30 bus to catch home, so we started down about 2p after lunch. We got back to the ranger station at 4:20 and learned that the return bus no longer stopped there, but stopped in town. We started down the highway on foot. It was all downhill, but after 20 minutes we weren't even half way.

Mules cross a river by the trail

What if we miss the bus? Is there another today? Do we have to try and find a place in town? Mario started looking back every time a vehicle came down the highway. We all did. I didn't know if we were looking for the bus (to try and convince it to stop?) or trying to hitch a ride. A police car comes into view, and Mario puts out a thumb. He stops. So here we are, hitching a ride on a main highway with the local police. Of course! He was super nice and dropped us at the bus stop. Even though we were 10 minutes late, the bus hadn't arrived. It rolled in half an hour late - Argentina time!

As we get off the bus, Mario continues chatting with the girl he sat next to. They start exchanging info -- I say to Leena, I think he got her number! Sure enough, he comes over with a big smile. He says her parents are Nepalese, but raised her in France. He has her number.