Santiago, Chile, Cuzco & Machu Picchu, Peru: July 2019

Wednesday July 17

Finally off to the LEGO Fun Fest in Santiago, plus a few extras. Thanks to my gorgeous wife for letting me go, Claudia Claude & Matt Ibanez for tips, mightn’t be able to do them all as this trip is going to be quick.

Thursday July 18

Santiago, Chile After a long day yesterday flying from Sydney, Australia to Santiago, Chile (via Houston, Texas) I was glad to get to the hotel after 34 hours in aluminium tubing. The Hotel Capital San Paulo is located in the old town part of Santiago. It is sufficient for me, small room with ensuite with just enough room for my bags and for me to do some work on the laptop. It has a large dining room, which I know I'd be using & some of the staff spoke English, to help me out. I was pretty exhausted so just did a bit of a walk around to get my bearings, find the nearest supermarket and buy some provisions for the room. I arise to a lovely day, though there's a chill in the air, and decide to take a walk around town, but this time across the river. I weave my way through markets, side streets and eventually end up at a shopping centre. From there I grab a taxi to the Lego Fun Fest, a huge exhibition and collection of activities for the kids. Working in exhibitions of Lego I thought it prudent to see how these Fun Fests operate and maybe pick up some tips for future events.

We pull into a vast carp park for the Espacio Riesco, an enormous exhibition centre with adjacent conference facilities. It was a massive show, thousands of visitors, so many activities for the kids. Caterers were doing a roaring trade. Nice to see everyone having fun!

After a couple of hours I decide that I've seen enough. I trek across the car park to the front gate and wave down a taxi; this time we avoid the freeway and slowly meander through the streets back to the market that I started the day at.

A stroll through some more areas to take in more of the old town then back to the hotel for dinner & bed.

Friday 19 July I don't know if I've mentioned that I'm not a big 'snow' person. Only ever been once, with Brian Archibald back in the mid-80's, wasn't a fan. So I therefore decide to book a Small-Group Tour to Valle Nevado and Farellones from Santiago thinking it would be nice to get up into the Andes and check out the scenery. I booked a Small (8 person maximum)Group English speaking tour, collected at 6:25am, first on board and by the time we collect everyone else it's 8am and we're at the ski hire shop. Small group is 21!? Only then do I find out that I'm the only English speaking person on board, including the driver. So I listen to an hour commentary, in Spanish, while driving up the zig-zag, U-turn road getting higher and higher. We stop at a look out, with roadside stalls, then continue to Farellones, which is a small, but obviously popular, I'd say, learners ski field, very small, tobogganing etc. I pay the $60 (Australian) entrance fee so I can use the toilets and get a cup of tea, most expensive cup of tea I'll ever have. I return to the bus parking area but the bus isn't there, I look everywhere for 30 minutes and end up back at the Group Ticket Office where a lovely Argentinean girl spoke English and tell her about my plight.

After about 30 minutes she confirms that the bus is going to come back, no idea how long, to get me. So I go outside to look at the beautiful vista of snow-dappled Andes. It's a poor year for snow apparently. I then feel a bit dizzy and start to sweat so I go back inside and ask for a chair, upon which I sit. Next thing I remember I'm being carried by 2 big paramedics to their triage and I'm put on oxygen. 30 minutes later, after telling them I'm fine, one of them, Patricio, drives me to the next ski resort, El Colorado, where I'm hooked up to every piece of medical apparatus in the room. The nurse tries to find a vein, good luck I say, and she butchers the inside of my right elbow. No luck and blood lost everywhere, then she tries the back of my left hand, OUCH! Then it's onto a stretcher & strapped down and dragged across the resort by a snowmobile to the Helicopter, all while feeling perfectly fine.

I'm strapped in and off we go, HelEvaced to the Clinica Las Condes in Santiago. Incredible view on the way but my phone was in my backpack so no photos, I doubt that few people would ever get the opportunity to view the Andes from the sky, absolutely breathtaking. We land on the roof of the hospital & I feel like I'm in a TV episode looking at the ceiling while being wheeled down to the Emergency Ward. More dip feeds, blood tests, MRI's, electronic probes attached, blood tests, amazing doctors and they still can't find anything wrong with me. Phone calls to my travel insurance company, Allianz, who were fantastic, & 5 hours later I'm released, finding nothing wrong with me. Awesome Doctor Carolina Romero and the staff were fantastic looking after me, I think they were a bit stumped, truth be told. Abridged Version: I book a small, English speaking trip with no English speakers, get left behind half way, HelEvaced to Hospital with nothing they can find wrong with me and pay out thousands, no I'm not saying how much but it was the most expensive helicopter ride I'll ever have, with no photos taken. All the while placating my gorgeous wife.

Saturday 20th July Well after yesterdays touring debacle, this correspondent decided to sleep in, until 8:30am, tablets are now working a treat. A lazy breakfast was followed by idling around the room & finally decided to head out around 12:30pm for a 3 hour walk around Santiago. Headed through the edge of the old town and made my way up to one of the main roads, via the Plaza de la Constitucion, some beautiful old building along the way. Santiago is much like any city, graffiti everywhere defacing some classic architecture & gorgeous facades. Everyone trying to eke out a living with footpath stalls lining the streets & homeless shelters erected out of natures way.

Ended up at the Cerro Santa Lucia, which is basically a big hill adorned with fountains, gardens, statues and a long walk to the top up polished bluestone steps, slippery to the soles of boots in places, especially on the way down.

The views are impeded by the smog, which hangs in the natural valley created by the Andes. In fact looking back to the city yesterday you could only see the tips of mountains jutting through the smog. It really is quite bad. But I managed to get some glimpses of the Andes at certain times.

I continued on to the river, though be it small, and walked through the adjacent promenade of trees, that must look spectacular in summer & full of bloom. The Museo Nacional de Bellias Artes is quite a striking building in the middle of the riverside park, with ample people making the most of the bench seating.

Meandered through the market area & found a fish market complete with restaurant, there was easily 500 people seated for lunch, musicians serenading them at each section. I continued lazily through slower streets, did some shopping and retired to my room for lunch.

Went downstairs and order a taxi for Sunday midnight to take me to the airport, and onto Peru, but of now relaxing with the Kindle on the bed, anticipating the a la carte menu where I know there is a fine steak to be had for dinner.

Santiago Chile Sunday 21 July Awoke in the middle of the night due to the howling of the wind across the outside of the building; it must be cold out there. Finally arose at 8:15am and drew the blinds; no Andes to see, only grey low cloud welcoming me to Sunday. Breakfast took 3 attempts to get a table, finally found one at 9:55am. It's not the best breakfast buffet but had to eat. Went outside and it was FRIGGIN" FREEZING!!!!!!! and is currently 7 degrees, the wind making it seem colder (Cuzco is 4 at the moment, where I'll be tomorrow morning after a 4am flight).

My Paramedic mate from yesterday, Patricio, said it was meant to snow around a metre overnight, feels like he was right. It can only help the average skiing conditions that exists. Thought about getting the gondola to the top of the nearby Cerro San Cristobal but I thought that if I couldn't see it, from there I couldn't see anything. Tried to go up there the other day but by the time I got to the funicular train-way, the queue was about 100 metres long and very slow moving. So it's been a morning of CAD Drawings and instructions for whoever is going to look after the bump-out of the Brickman Cities Melbourne exhibition, as I'll be in Koh Samui enjoying some warmth with my gorgeous wife then. Might try to venture out later but that will mean full thermals from beanie to socks. The 26 degrees in my room is far more comforting at this point, but I will go out, later.

Late Sunday/Monday 22nd: Peru Bound It’s 2:30am & the airport is alive, having a cuppa before the first of 2 flights, only 2 hours sleep then up & packing. Looking forward to the next 4 days but think I’m going to be pretty useless today when I arrive. Handicrafts are big in Santiago with arcades dedicated to the crafts. At least it’s not as cold as yesterday but I know it’s about to get a lot colder. See you in 5 days Santiago!

Got little sleep on the 3 hour trip to Lima, Peru, but the rush was on to get to the next flight on time. A friendly customer service guy tried to take me to another Terminal to buy another ticket as he said I wouldn't make it, bugger that I espoused and hassled a LATAM Airlines girl, who thankfully raced our bags through (our, as there 4 others with me trying to do the same). Got there as they were boarding.

Saw a note on a website to get a seat on the left side of the plane and it didn't disappoint, the view of the Andes was spectacular to say the least, so raw and harsh stretching on as far as the eye could see (well obviously, they go down the whole of South America).

Made it to the Xima Cusco Hotel, I really like it, nothing over the top & on one of the main streets, super handy to nearly everything, and well priced through Booking.com. at just over $100 AUD per night. Went for a walk, in fact a couple, up to the main square, among others, and got the feel for Cuzco. Really like this town, and surprisingly, a lot of people speak some form of English, something that's been foreign to me in Chile. Though every second girl hassled me for a massage.

Picked up a few items and headed back to the hotel to try and have a siesta, complete fail as the room has no airflow (one fault), & I have to have air. The temperature is dropping really quickly after a glorious day, no need for thermals, down to -2 tonight. About to head out for dinner so I can try to get some sleep later, absolutely shattered.

Tuesday 23 July: Cuzco, Peru What a fantastic day I've had so far. Early rise at 6:20am, breakfast, a bit of work then out and about for another walk to keep getting accustomed to the altitude with a walk up to and around the main square. Not too many out at 8:30am but walked past a blind man playing a 16 string, obviously local, guitar; he was awesome & the sound was beautiful, so I left him a donation.

Then back to the hotel to be collected by Wily, my taxi driver, at 12:pm to take me for a city tour. We drove up to Saqsaywaman (pronounced sexy woman) and a walk around the park and ruins about 2kms out of town on a hill overlooking Cuzco. Designed like a fort, it dates back to 1438 with it's largest stone weighing in at 125 tons.

Then just a short distance up the road is Qénqo, a location for sacrifice and burial. After a walk around we headed to Puka Pukara, a fortress about 8km out of town. Great views across Cuzco and the Andes beyond.

Onto Tambomachy, where aqueducts & canals are carefully carved out of the rock. The stall holders obviously have a roster system going as they leave there wares under a tarpaulin overnight, weighed down by rocks.

Headed back into town and got out just before the town square where I found an Italian Restaurant, Carpe Diem, for a lunch of grilled Alpaca tenderloin with Modena balsamic vinegar sauce, served with grilled pumpkin (still waiting for them) & mashed peas. Absolutely awesome, except the Alpaca was overcooked, which I explained to the waiter, who was a really lovely guy. His eyes went 'what the' when I told him about kangaroo meat, I think Alpaca is similar in that it really doesn't need to be cooked much, but it was delicious nonetheless. I'm certainly going to have it again tomorrow and/or Thursday. A bit of a lie on the bed and read, hopefully I'll get a kip in, and then out to try some more Alpaca.

Off to Machu Picchu tomorrow by train, something I've been waiting for most of my life, hope I'm okay with the altitude.

Tried to send this last night but the Wi-Fi was missing. Just went and had a nice dinner at the place next door to my hotel, Valentina, Peruvian food, apparently. Anyway, thought I'd give Alpaca another chance, nice flavoured steak, this time, but again overcooked slightly. In fact I'm now wondering how you could cook it properly. So I'm eating away reading my Kindle and there is background music, similar to what you'd hear in a massage spa or the like, very pleasant, then applause!! I look up and there is a local guy playing all sorts of woodwind instruments, traditional Incan instruments. I turn my chair slightly and off he goes again, instrument in each hand, alternating between each, with a pre-recorded beat barely audible; he was mesmerising, simply amazing. One of those multi-length reed instruments and a larger recorder/clarinet type instrument. Stunning!!

I get back to my room to start typing this and get an email from IncaRail: Important Notice. And apparently there is a strike tomorrow and Thursday of the train between Cuzco (where I am) and Ollantayambo Stations, as well as offering a 100% refund. Well I've booked my taxi driver from today, Wily, to take me to the station tomorrow morning anyway, so I reckon I might offer him 1/2 of what my refund will be and see if he'll take me to Ollantayambo & wait 6 hours, here's hoping!! I just got a taxi up to their office at the main square and the girl informed me that they are going to put buses on instead, so why didn't they mention that in the email?????

Wednesday 24 July 2019

Machu Picchu bound (this is going to be a long read folks so get yourself a cuppa)

Had a wonderful day yesterday, early rise and breakfast before grabbing a taxi to San Pedro Station where IncaRail had arranged for buses to take us to Ollantaytambo because of the rail strike.

Shuffled into a 15 seater buses and my 'Princess Detector''spiked; here we go I thought. She walked onto the bus and plonked herself down with 2 seats, her boyfriend across the aisle and her backpack beside her, and no-one was going to be sitting there. So off we head through the outskirt of Cuzco and over the surrounding hill, across outlying suburbs until we finally start getting into serious mountain country. I raked my neck just trying to look out the window and wonder why there aren't more landslides, thinking that a wet day, like today, would be perfect fuel to set one off. The road basically follows the rail line winding and winding, rising and falling, through valley after valley, hemmed by beautiful yet threatening mountains. We cross a river where rafters appear to be having a great time, even in the drizzling rain. We arrive at Ollantaytambo, what appears to be a gorgeous village of narrow one-way roads that leads us to the IncaRail office, a beautiful thatched roof structure that's saying, yes, we spent some money on this. Next door is the slightly less glamorous PeruRail structure which is basically a 40-çontainer developed into a Ticket Office and a corrugated plastic roof over a courtyard. I wander around, with plenty of time to spare before boarding the train, however my 'getting left behind' phobia starts to kick in so I make my way to the station, a long narrow strip of concrete with narrow gauge tracks in the middle. The train prior to mine is just pulling out of the station so I grab a cuppa and wait, people watching. So many nationalities, so many languages flying about.

I finally board and find I have a window seat, though facing backwards. A lovely Peruvean man from Lima and his two young daughters share the table with me. We chat, as they speak English, it's the mans third trip to Machu Picchu & his daughters first. His son, seated with his mother, loves Lego so I show him some photos of the Brickman Exhibitions. The Princess is seated apart from her boyfriend and starts. The rail staff put her in her place after much whinging, comeuppance, as I have a private chuckle. We head off and the 'scenery meter' starts to go higher, incredible, cloud shrouded mountain stand imposingly, letting you know who is the boss. Brutal yet magnificent, cloud wafting around and over them with farmers lots at the base, corn among the crops. Cacti is growing from any cranny available, it's everywhere. We wind along and a river emerges, white water crashing against the rocks.

The rail staff serve a nice tray of food, chicken wrap, cocoa bar, mandarine & muesli bar along with Inca Tea, which I get a taste for. The mountains change as we follow the river, before I even notice, into incredibly steep slopes covered in tropical vegetation, truly beautiful. Clouds continue to close in as we arrive at Aguas Calientes.

I queued for a bus ticket and finally boarded after the 200 metres of people before me had embarked. The 25-minute bus ride wound beside the river, across a bridge and then started going up, a zig-zag road with 13 hairpin bends, the drop-offs frightening for people who don't like heights, like me, sheer with no railing, the rain making the dirt road muddy, with tyres spinning after each cobblestoned hairpin turn. Buses had to stop to let each other pass. We made it to the top safely, disembarked and I found a guide, which you must have to enter, first one I came to spoke good English, so off we went. The initial 200 metres was bluestone steps, with intermittent pauses to catch my breath, but once we came out I was fine and had my first sight of Machu Picchu.

I suppose if you want to see it in all it's glory bathed in sun then you can always look it up on the internet or buy a book, but this was to be a day unlike that, but just as spectacular. Cloud was everywhere, slowly covering and uncovering glimpses of the mountain and it's unfathomable architecture, the clouds creating an incredible mystique and heightening the beauty. We, my guide Kenny and I walked to the end of the Inca Trail where he bestowed an enormous amount of history and information upon me. We continued up onto a higher terrace, llamas doing llama things and people everywhere, which I've tried to avoid in my photos, waiting until the right moment.

It is truly magnificent, clouds wafting in, uncovering amazing structures & terraces, then hiding them just as quickly. We walked, Kenny talked our way around the site, stopping when Kenny thought it prudent to inform me of the relevance and importance of an area; he was brilliant!! I think it's a misconception that the whole of Machu Picchu is wall with masonry that you can't get a rolly paper into, it isn't nor should it be thought of as such. Those are for the palaces and temple buildings, and they are remarkable, you couldn't get a rolly paper in the joins. We made our way around the majority of the site but I'll let you take in the photos to save me describing things, I'd go on forever, if I haven't already. Suffice to say, it is totally gobsmacking how they made the place. There are enormous pieces of rock everywhere and all you can think is HOW??

Kenny & I kept walk, me in a semi stupor, him chipping in every now and then with his thoughts. 3 hours had passed and it was time for me to get the bus back to town to get my train. I thanked him profusely also telling him that he had the best job in the World; he was chuffed.

The queue that greeted me was around 200 metres, my 'don't get left behind meter' kicking in however it took me 40 minutes to finally get onto a bus, leaving plenty of time for the train, or so I thought. I waited on the platform wondering why there weren't many people around, especially with 15 minutes to go.

A man then told me I was at the wrong station, a sprint up some stairs, through a market and around a few turns and there was the station, who would of know, obviously not me. Seat shuffling was rampant so friends could sit with friends, and I ended up with a Chilean mother with son (19) & daughter (16). Well if the mother, Gisy, didn't look like Linda Rondstant, I'll be buggered. She said, in very little English, that she got it all her life. The son, Jose, spoke English well and the daughter, Amanda was okay. But the the English lessons started, she pestered me, nicely, all the way back to Ollantaytambo. It was there we parted ways. Back onto the bus, 32-seater this time, and the bus race commenced, our driver overtaking the one in front, then 2 behind overtaking us, and it was dark. Screaming around bends I tried to have a nap, like everyone else, but thought better of the idea, wanting to live through my death rather than be unconscious. Well, we got back safe and the driver stopped around 150 metres from my hotel, so off I got and walk back, rang Mandy & went to bed, it was past midnight.

Thursday 25 July: a lazy day in Cuzco Had a great day today, after trying to sleep in after the late arrival back from Machu Picchu, but unfortunately body clock said no. Went outside for a quick dart to find the Emergencia Police complete with shields hanging out in front of the fountain, then more arrived on motorcycles, some by foot, heavily armed, then the protest march descended down the street, and stopped right at the crazy intersection out the front of the Hotel. Apparently it was about a project that shouldn't be stopped but given more budget or the new International airport. But then the staff at the Hotel told me it was the Cozco people not liking the miners. Either way, it made for an interesting spectacle, as they stopped and chanted. Updated my post then had a late breakfast & headed out wandering around Cozco. Backstreets and places I hadn't seen before until I eventually got to the main square. Checked the Compania de Jesus which is quite a beautiful building, the first of the Andean Baroque route. I must admit that Baroque isn't one of my favourite architectural styles but the inside of the building was amazing, first constructed in 1571 then reconstructed after an earthquake in 1650, it has 18 & 24 carat gold leaf finishes on most things. I made my way up to the choir loft were a fantastic view of the main square was to be had.

I then ambled up cobblestoned lanes, stairs and anything else that made my feet hurt with every pace, should've worn my Blundestones on their cobblestones. Went to a free outdoor museum to see some more Inca remnants. Picked up a Churros (chocolate of course) & slice of pineapple for lunch (Note to self: diabetes tablet when I get back to the Hotel) before having an amazing massage complete with hot stones, think I nodded off for a little while. Back to the hotel & the Emergencia Police were still there, I think the march was coming back, they'd stood there all day pretty much doing nothing, hard times. I asked the woman police officer if she spoke English to which she said, a little, so I asked what the protest was about. Then she said, in very broken English, and tersely, why do you want to know? It was then I decide to walk across the road and seek the sanctuary & anonymity of the hotel.

Bit of work then across the road to the Centro Artesanal Cozco for some last minute shopping to get rid of the Pesos I had, collect the washing for the princely sum of $4.50 AUD, owners gorgeous daughter behind the counter.

It's been an amazing time in Cuzco, you could easily stay here for 2 weeks and do some incredible trips, Nazca Lines & rainbow mountain would be the first on my list. But the mountain is a 13 hour day and they take oxygen as you are at 5,000 metres, twice Cuzco, but it looks amazing. The city itself in incredibly clean, people are friendly, most speak English or at least enough to get through and there's plenty to do & see. But time and money don't permit. I was going to go to the main square for a nice dinner, but to be honest, I've walked myself out and will get something at the hotel, then an early night. Only have until noon tomorrow to amble around then on a flight, via Lima, back to Santiago, though don't get in until after midnight.

Saturday 27 July: Santiago de Chile After a lazy morning on Friday, I checked out of the hotel in Cozco and read in the park across the road, a most glorious day!! Made my way to the airport and upon dropping my bags, the girl at the counter said, 'Í can get you on an earlier flight if you'd like'. I thought, great as I had to talk to the peole at LATAM airlines regarding my Qantas flight home. When buying on WebJet I got a LATAM booking number but Qantas new nothing about it. LATAM and WebJet couldn't fix it, so I had to see the people in Lima. I took the flight on the condition that I had the same seat, 1A. Upon boarding I realised I had 1L, so I got the same Andes view that I had on the way to Cuzco. Oh well.

Got to the departure lounge only to find out that the flight was delayed, long story short, I ended up getting to Lima and hour and a half after the flight I was meant to be on. No time to go to the LATAM office as I raced to get my flight back to Santiago, Chile. Sat beside a similarly aged lady from Melbourne, who was doing the whole flight back to Melbourne, I pitied her. Made it into Santiago around 11:45pm & found my taxi driver waiting for me with a sign (something went right) & he drove me to the Plaza El Bosque, San Sebastian, the new part of town. Rang the wife then off to bed at 2:15am. Arose around 8:30am only to find that there was no tea in the room so ended up at breakfast instead, and a fine breakfast it was. Put the required shirt on & decided to head out in my unyielding, but somewhat latent at times, quest to find a mariachi band to join; but first a hat to suit. I hunted & hunted to no avail for the hat only to be told by a local that, ''ýou need to be in Mexico gringo!". I sought solace in the fact that I'd heard that we might be there for work either later this year or next. But I knew I needed to change my shirt, back to the hotel. Attire corrected I ventured onwards thinking that I may be able to challenge some of my demons today. So off to the Sky Costanera, a 300 metre tower around the corner & the highest building in Chile.

I found the ticket office and acquired the necessary pass. As we ascended I felt something growing in my mouth, so I stuck my fingers down my throat and relocated my heart to it's normal position, or thereabouts, and we were only at the 32nd floor. I had the feeling that my black jeans were changing colour by the time we got to the 43rd floor & upon arrival at the 61st floor the forehead was starting to drip. People passed me by egressing the elevator and I felt a shove in the lower part of my back. An 8yo and his sister were trying to get me out, then I realised my arms were clinging to the elevator door-jam. I relented for the sake of personal dignity and slowly made my way along the internal walls, 300 metres above the ground. I chorus of laughing and finger pointing from the juniors made me clutch for courage, I let go of the wall promising the elevator girl that I'd reimburse them for the tracks left behind by my finger nails in the gyprock (plaster). Shaking legs took me further to the outside glass curtain, well it was more of than inching slide of my feet. Looking straight ahead, I thought that I could never be a rigger!!

The view however was spectacular!! So I swallowed my pride and walked around to the escalators to go further up to the open air viewing floor. I did take a couple of sneaking peeks down and jumped back in fright, dear reader, but the view was some to behold. Gaining further confidence, I made my way around the entire perimeter of the floor taking pictures and some panoramas. After about 10 minutes I thought I'd had enough, so back into the lift, the same brats pointing & sniggering at me the entire descent, I thanked the girl once we'd reached level terra firma and walked back into the immense shopping centre that surrounds the building. Phobia of heights conquered, temporarily.

Heart rate back to normal, I perused the shops and realised I needed water and also some milk for the room. So I headed into a sporting wares outlet and acquired some incredibly cheap on-sale shoes for work. Then passed a supermaketo, so in I went, totally confused as it was VAST. I finally found a girl who I asked if she could tell me where the 'small Leche' could be found; she responded in very broken English/Spanish where I'd find it. There was none there & I berated myself by confusing her with my own question in half English/Spanish, however adjacent was a display of some 4 x 2 timbers, so I grabbed a piece, admiring the grain & looking like I was interested in buying one, and quickly whacked myself across the back of the head with it for being so stupid. I made my way, dizzily, to the check -out where I seemed to do okay at the self check-out section. Stumbled to the main road and zig-zagged my way back to the hotel to drop my wares off and have a cup of tea. Oh, and write this Post. 3:26pm it now is and about to head out again. Maybe to challenge a similar fear and dangle from a 1&1/2 inch steel cable, in an enclosed space, with a serious drop below, that I have no control over, AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

Sunday July 28, 2019 · Headed out after booking at taxi at reception, waited out the front, and waited......and waited after seeing 8 taxi's go past in our narrow one-way street, until one pulled up dropping some hotel guests off. I asked if he was available and in broken Spanglish he said yes. So off we went to the Teleferico Santiago, a cable car which take you to the top of the Parque Metropolitano, a huge park in the middle of Santiago. I sauntered through the park and joined the, already, 200 metre queue for tickets. We moved around 20 metres in 20 minutes and then I faced the conundrum of all conundrums!!! To stay in the queue to purchase my ticket, in around another 45-50 minutes, let's not forget it's 4:45pm by now, and dangle in a confined box with 3 others of unknown origin, criminal history nor mental fitness for about 15 minutes that the ride took to the top, OR walk another 10 metres to collect 4 x golden deep-fried, icing sugar dappled, with chocolate dip, twists of wholesome goodness. Well, it was a hard choice but the Churros was the victor! 😋😋 I parted with 2,500 pesos, strolled to a bench where I tucked in, while watching kids climb on the regular icosahedra (looked it up, I did) provided by the park, all the time under the watchful eye and trepidatious smiles of their parents. And to catch them if they fell, good old school DIRT, that's all.

Got a taxi back to the Costanera Centre, where I went up 300 meters this morning, to get some tea bags at the supermarketo, only to be stopped when I'd put a 10,000 peso note in to pay. The attendant arrive, and fortunately the guy beside me spoke English, as she was prattling on, and apparently 2 of my notes were fake!! These were given to me at 12:29am this morning by the Money Changer INSIDE the Immigration section at the airport!! (BEWARE TRAVELLERS) They showed me the difference, doesn't have a watermark of someone, obviously dear to the hearts of the Chileans. I had some leftovers from last week so I used them to pay. Upon leaving the shopping centre there was a quiet protest with crew in masks holding laptops showing, what, I'm not too sure, Caballeros watching on. No-one spoke English so I started walking home. Across the pedestrian crossing I noticed the sunsets, twice, see pictures.

30 July 2019

So, dear reader, it's been 24 hours since I first tried to board my Qantas plane home, but for this story we need to rewind a bit, back to Parque Metropolitano and the choice between Gondola or Churros. I headed back to the hotel, via the supermarket to collect some tea bags, as you may well remember. After arriving back at the Hotel yesterday, I looked up ''steakhouses'' on TripAdvisor and found Don Carlos, rated in the top 10 in Santiago, just around the corner from where I was staying. I ambled over to the next street and found a plethora of food options, but headed into Don Carlos nonetheless. Ordered a 250gram Fillet Migon, about my limit. Beautiful steak and was trying to leave room for dessert, which was a complete failure. Headed back to the hotel and read a little before going to sleep. Awoke on Sunday morning and felt like a bus had run into me, and then it started. My body decided to extrude whatever it didn't agree with it through every orifice available for the next 30 minutes, then felt slightly, and I only mean slightly, better. Went down for some breakfast, back to the room and completed my packing chores. Into the TripAdvisor pre-booked cab & off to the airport. Checked in and noticed that immigration and customs were empty so made the most of the opportunity, scarpering through. Start the trek to the boarding lounge, which was a long way away. Then I felt myself starting to sweat, then feel dizzy. Made it to the departure lounge and everything went haywire. I lost control of my senses and was wetter than coming out of a shower, head to toe. Finally grabbed an airport lady, while still seated, who was wonderful; she called the doctor & notified the Qantas staff. She guided me to the nearest rubbish bins where a continuation of the mornings activities ensued. I felt sorry for the cleaners. Doctor and Paramedics arrived, drip hooked up, Chilean Qantas Manager already saying that I'm not boarding the flight even though the doctor said that she couldn't find anything wrong with me. She was a lovely & a surprisingly young doctor, which she told me was the bane of her career as no-one took any notice of her. And she was studying further to be a gynaecologist. We chatted and went through what I'd done and eaten in the prior 24 hours; the beautiful steak, oh, and the Churros at the Parque. BINGO!!!!!! She said, don't eat them from the Parque sellers. She and the Qantas Manager had an argument however he put his foot down and said that I wasn't getting on board. So Qantas gave me 2 vouchers & I took myself, just, across the road to the Holiday Inn, where I am corresponding from now. It's 11pm Sunday by now, I just into bed to awake 9 hours later swimming in my sheets. Rang Mandy & told her the story and not to expect me. Showered & made my way across to the LATAM check-in for the flight Qantas had rescheduled for me, another failure. They had no idea who I was or that anything had been arranged. The lovely staff looked at me and asked if I REALLY felt like flying, to which I had to say no, I still felt like crap. So they booked me on an 0025hrs flight for Tuesday morning & booked me a room back at the Holiday Inn.

Upon my second arrival there, they informed me that the Qantas booking had me in until the 30th, finally a win, so they cancelled my booking and I headed up to the same room, reintroduced myself to it, and went to sleep. I started on the left side but by the time I awoke I was on the right, obviously moving myself out of the sweaty sodden bits of the beds and onto dry sections. Feeling a lot better now, but I still have 12 hours to go at this time of writing. I have to keep checking my phone to check what day it is. Breakfast to get something in me as I'm sure there's nothing there, I haven't eaten for 24 hours, just slept. And hopefully tonight I'll be able to get on board. Actually reminds me of coming back from Petra, Jordon, and how sick I was then. Had to use handrails whenever I had to walk somewhere and ended up at home for 3 weeks recovering. Fingers crossed!

Hindsight

This trip was put together extremely quickly so could have been done a lot better. Time and money were again the hindrance.

Things I should have done: made more of being in Cuzco and see the Rainbow Mountains. Gone to Ollantaytambo the day prior to see the Inca ruins there & ended up at Aguas Calientes that night for a stay so I could have been at Machu Picchu first thing in the morning to spend more time there. It's a hard day doing the return trip from Cuzco in the day.

I should have planned to see the Nazca Lines but it would have made the trip longer than I could have afforded.