Next morning I crossed the Argentina-Chile border for the final time and headed for Santiago, my final destination in South America. The bus journey was one of the most scenic I've experienced and also a “short” one at only 7 hours but I was still pretty exhausted by the time I arrived, late afternoon, and didn't do anything else that day other than going for a nice meal in the evening.
I only had one full day in the city, so decided to do the Free Walking Tour in order to see the main sights and understand some of the history of Santiago. It was an interesting tour and we covered the Plaza de Armas, Opera House, La Moneda Palace (the presidential palace, famously bombed during the coup when Pinochet assumed power), the main park and the residential neighbourhoods of Lastarria and Bellavista. It was a good way to get a bit of a feel for the city, and I decided I quite liked it... although obviously it could never compare to Buenos Aires!
After the tour, I headed to the nearby fish market, and had a delicious ceviché lunch, from one of the little stalls. Then I wandered over to the other side of town to visit the Museum de la Memoria - dedicated to human rights in Chile. I wanted to understand more about the dictatorship and it was a very interesting and moving place to visit.
Before I knew it the day had slipped by and it was time to head back to the hostel, pack my bag and go out for my final meal and final pisco sour in South America!
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| The road from Mendoza to Santiago |
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| Plaza de Armas |
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| Palacio de La Moneda |
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| Mote con Huesillos: typical Chilean drink of wheat and peach juice |
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| Lunch at the Fish Market |
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