Hello Santiago

17th March

Hey everyone. John here. Well, who else right? I'm quite tired as I type this, but not too tired. Just that sleepy kind of tired where I will keep on talking and talking and talking. So I arrived in Santiago by 0630. The bus ride was very nice though, they gave us a pillow and a blanket. Also sandwiches, and it was only like a 7 or 8 hour trip!

The border control was easy to do. Get off the bus, get stamped in the Argentinian line, then the Chilean line. Then I go declare my goods. Thankfully they didn't take my more boyish goods. I think they just looked for food, because they had a sniffer dog.

So I managed to catch around 3 or 4 hours of sleep at most. Getting to the terminal, I had to locate an ATM. Fast enough, got some cash and went to the underground. Now it is only then did I realize how huge Santiago is. The map is bloody huge! I'm sure its bigger than Buenos Aires! So I got the underground to Bal something station, then got a taxi. Cheeky bastard, the hostel was only just round the corner! He could have just told me the directions! But oh well, I was quite tired.

Entering the hostel, footstep backpackers, I was greeted without a bed, as check in time is like 1300 here. So I crashed on the couch, just after I met a new person, Erika, an American teacher. So waking up around 9 30 ish, I was given a bed, breakfast, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and now I'm at the computer. Todays plan is to relax, don't go outside until 1700 to buy dinner and go to sleep.

EDIT

I forgot to mention. When I arrived at the terminal initially in Mendoza to catch my bus, I realized i forgot my trainers! So I had to look for another taxi, go back to the hostel, run inside, get my shoes, run out and rush back to the bus terminal. I still made it though, and I am thankful for withdrawing more money than I needewd previously.