Message from Chile

Dan and I have embarked on a new leg of our trip, traveling to Chile, Argentina & Uruguay!  And of course, it wouldn't be fitting unless our travel plans were long and complicated (South American style :)  We took a 6-hour bus from Arequipa to the border town in Peru called Tacna.

I can't say much about this small town as we didn't leave the bus station, except for the fact that the a guy who helped us find a taxi tried to rip us off for $40!  However this is pretty standard here so no surprises.  But he was so brazen that after trying to take our money he then asks for a tip...I got a tip for you buddy...STOP STEALING MONEY FROM TOURISTS!  Needless to say he did not get his tip.

From there we caught a Collective Taxi across the border of Chile and into the border town of Arica.  We stayed in Arica for 2 days...

Arica has a a California beach town vibe as it's a big spot for surfers and has a famous wave spot they call the gringo.  Here we went surfing for day and had fresh fish ceviche on the beach.  

 Downtown Arica

 Getting ready to surf

 The crew

 Picnic lunch on the beach.  Our Guide's name was YoYo (second from the left)

Here we go! 

 ...Before you can stand, you must lay :)

Dan wiping out

After which we flew to Santiago which is where we are now.  Dan's brother Jason met us here and we will be traveling together for the next couple weeks.

Santiago is a bustling city with all the modern conveniences we'd been missing in Peru (hot water, good internet, good service...)  Chileans look very European and have much lighter complexions than in Peru, however, their Spanish is a bit harder to understand because the talk very fast, often drop the last syllable of the word, and don't pronounce "s".  They also use lots of local slang, and we were told that they curse a lot in normal conversation here.  So of course we feel at home ;)

 Main church in the Plaza de Armas

A warrier statue  

 Presidential Palace

 Early founder of Santiago

This statue of Lincoln is at the end of United States street where the Embassy is.  This statue is frequently graffiti-ed -- due to the history that the US government has Chile -- In the early 1970's the the US government encouraged the military to overthrown  the Chilean President because he was a Socialist.  This lead to 20 years of a horribly oppressive and violent regime for the Chilean people.  It's a very sad part of their history and the effects of which are still prevalent today.  

 This statue of the Virgin Mary stands atop the highest point in the city, Cristobal Hill.  It's said that she watches over the people in the city.

 Panoramic view from Cristobal Hill

Santiago is a big city! 

Me and the Brothers Ramsey 

Best ceviche I've ever had 

Another overlook for the city 

"Coffee with Legs"

 Appearently the coffee in Chile is not good, and so in an effort to increase the sale of coffee, these coffee shops "with legs" were opened all over the city.  They cater o businessmen and host a collection of beautiful and scantily clad woman serving coffee.  Needless to sale, coffee sales went through the roof!

Another Coffee with Legs 

A new trend for "coffee with legs" cafes overtook the city - in the new ones there are still beautiful women and they wear even less clothing (usually bikinis) and about once a day they have what they call the "happy minute".  This is where they lock the doors for 1-minute and all the ladies take their clothes off and dance on the table-tops.  Afterwards, the doors are unlocked and life goes back to normal.  The catch is they will never tell you when this minute will occur, so its common that men will hold up in the coffee shop all day and wait for it--buying coffee all the while.  Of course this also gave Dan an idea for a business in the US...

Another "new" coffee with legs - notice that the windows are blacked out and there is a lady at the door checking IDs.  They do not serve alcohol in these places by the way ;) 

The Chile Trifecta!  I'm in Chile, eating Chilli, and it's Chilly outside.  I may have also been listening to the Red hot Chilli Peppers at the same time!  Dan figured out a way to get 7 'chilli's" at once but it's very complicated and involves a a Chilean soccer player, a winery and an alpaca (I don't ask questions ;)

Tomorrow we leave by bus to cross the border and go to Mendoza, Argentina, which is referred to as the "Napa Valley" of South American as they are known for their fine wines and scrumptious steaks.  We spend a couple days there and then travel by overnight bus 13 hours to Buenos Aries.  This is our last day here and we are about to go  visit a museum.  Will report from Mendoza soon, over and out.