Lima - Santiago

Without the remains of the salad, my stomach is better again this morning. Continental breakfast is rather uninteresting if you don’t like jam or marmalade, so I always bring my Marmite. A typical Englishman abroad. I am glad of it this morning. With some free time before the flight we seek out the Internet Café we spotted last night. At 30p an hour, we spend nearly two hours chatting to friends back home. David’s throat is still very sore, so we visit the local pharmacy. With a combination of phrase-book Spanish, English and sign language, we manage to buy some strong throat pastilles.

Marcello takes a different route to the airport this morning, through the wealthy Jewish back streets. There are some wonderful houses and it is interesting to see a different aspect of this city. We are first to check in and go straight through to the departure lounge. There are no cafés here, only a posh restaurant. It’s a modern airport but the prices aren’t too bad. We stock up on Bacardi in the Duty Free at US$11.50 each for the Reserva. The plane is half empty, the seats are wide and there is plenty of leg room. It’s our first experience of Lan Chile, and it is good. At Santiago airport we have to have our suitcases X-rayed on the way in to the country. It is unusual, but not a bad idea. Ervand the guide is a little too full of himself, but otherwise a nice guy. The driver, Marcos, doesn’t say much.

The hotel is a large, modern four-star complex. I say complex, because it is over two blocks with a bridge between the two. To get to our room we have to take the lift to the fourth floor, walk across the bridge, then enter another lift (only accessible by our room card) to get to the sixth floor. What a palaver. We are given vouchers for a free Pisco Sour in the small and boring bar on the ground floor, but it is certainly not worth the effort of reaching it. I have never been keen on Pisco Sours anyway, and much prefer the Bacardi & Coke in the room afterwards.