Category Archives: Uncategorized

Tales of travel often sound romantic and dreamlike. My first big trip after university was literally a life changing odyssey of discovery of the world and its people. More importantly, it was a post-grad twelve-month PhD in endurance. The trip was a physical and psychological sea voyage – more like a plague ship than aContinue reading “The Unexpected Delights of Putre”

We arrived in Arica, in the far North of Chile, at around 7pm. The flight from Santiago lasted only 3 hours or so, but it felt longer due to the absence of electronic entertainment of any kind. The plane was a an ancient Airbus model circa. 1990, with a linoleum aisle down the centre of theContinue reading “Under the volcano”

Truus and I are having a planes, trains, and automobiles day. We left our Airbnb at around 10:30am and took the Metro to the end of the line. There’s a big bus station there that’s less dodgy than the Central Station – a local recommended we had a lesser chance of being robbed there. We had aContinue reading “Going north”

Our first tour of Santiago is drawing to a close. Tomorrow is our last day of school. Just about everyone in my class is heading out for other destinations in Chile and parts unknown in South America.  I’ve probably had encounters with 20-30 or so different people at the Escuala Bella Vista over the lastContinue reading “The yin and the yang”

Darren heeft gisteren uitgebreid geschreven over de algemene begraafplaats van Santiago. Het heeft op ons beiden enorme indruk gemaakt. Allereerst de historische muur met in het midden de naam Salvador Allende. Aan één kant staan alle namen van personen die tijdens Pinochet zijn ‘verdwenen’ met de laatste datum dat men ze heeft gezien. Aan deContinue reading “Laatste weekend Santiago”

Today we ventured out into Santiago to see some of the most important places before we leave for parts unknown a week or so from now. Truus had a few places on our list. In the morning, we wanted to see the “Cemantarios General”, also known as the General Cemetery.  For me, nothing says Saturday morningvacationContinue reading “Rich cristo, poor cristo”

The day’s homework done, Truus & I are just kicking back and enjoying some awesome, vintage $3 supermercado Chilean wine. The sun is down, and with it the heat of the day has lifted. We’re hangin’ in our flat in Santiago, or “The Big Empenada”, as it’s never likely to be known.  The truth is that theContinue reading “Santiago origin story”

The D-Day invasion in June 1944 started at 6:30am. By 06:30 on Saturday morning, Truus and I had been up for an hour, showered, and prepped for our own assault on the La Morado Glacier. The school that we’re at offers extra-curicular activities through the week – cooking classes, salsa dancing lessons, city tours, and more. On theContinue reading “The longest day”

“Create results, not excuses”. That was what was on the t-shirt of the Chilano I passed, while I was walking back to the Metro post my afternoon workout at one of the Everyday Fitness locations in Santiago. That pretty much sums up the Chilean mindset. It’s all about the results for them. That’s very evidentContinue reading “Our new normal”

Santiago is an active place. There are people moving everywhere, and in every manner of motion – cars, bicycles, motorcycles, e-bikes, scooters, runners, pedestrians, jugglers and guys on stilts walking through traffic. There are unofficial impromptu market stands on most walkways and bridges, people selling fruit, nuts, sweets, cigarettes, lottery tickets, sunglasses, rolling paper, coldContinue reading “Barrio lastarria”