After a perfect landing in Santiago Chile we find ourselves lined up to pay the reciprocity tax that Aussies are required to pay in reply to our own government's visa requirements for Chileans. This is all OK until we realise that there are about 300 people queued (2 other planes have landed before us) and only 2 people on the processing counter. After standing in a line for nearly three hours we have our visas, are stamped into the country and have collected our bags. It's not what you need after a long flight and wasn't the best welcome to Chile you could get.We make our way to the Transvip bus counter, secure our tickets and are whisked away by a wanna be Alonso who treats the streets of Santiago as his own personal F1 circuit, while listening to the strains of Lionel Ritchie. We arrive at the delightful Hostal Rio Amazonas # a pale shade of green and totally exhausted, it has been a long 24 hours without sleep.

Hostal Rio Amazonas

Alanna relaxing in style

We ignore the anti jetlag rules, have a shower and sleep for six hours before going out to a little cafe across the road for dinner at 10.30 pm. The original feelings of self doubt have gone, if anything it feels more like a relief to be in a foreign country, playing the charade game, not knowing what you are going to get to eat because there is not one word on the menu you recognise, having huge bottles of beer to drink. The sounds of happy and exuberant chatter everywhere. Life is as it should be.

Next day we begin our usual exploration of a foreign city, that is to wander the streets aimlessly only to happen upon a great eating drinking precinct and plonk ourselves down for the day, for some reason this always seems to happen to us and we are happy to go with the path fate has chosen for us.

Skill enjoying a drink in Barrio Bellavista

Lan enjoying a drink in Barrio Bellavista,

We fill our six days in Santiago visiting the sights, including Pablo Neruda's home "La Chascona" and the Museo de la Memoria (a new museum depicting the years of the Pinochet Dictatorship)

Parque Forestal Santiago

Our first view of the Andes is less than impressive through the smog haze, but it's exciting none the less.

Smog views of Santiago from atop Cerro San Critsobal

A huge statue of the Virgen de la Immaculada Concepcion

Skill at the Museo de la Memoria (The Pinochet Years Museum)

Mounted Guards at Moneda Palace

We also master the underground system and find our way to the head office of Andes Logistics de Chile where we pay them $CH140 000. (About $AUD 275.00) According to their documents, payment is for Cargo Manifest, "Unstuffing" and Handling Fees. We also get an update on arrival dates and a new Bill of Lading. The ship appears to be on time and we will probably get to UNSTUFF the bike around about the 18th or 19th. We will have to wait and see.

Brimming with confidence at our successful negotiations at Andes Logisitics we head to Magellas Insurance Office to try and negotiate 3rd Party Insurance for the bike. Needless to say this is a complete and utter failure so we give up, walk back to Barrio Brasil and settle ourselves in at the glorious Golindas Restaurant for a big lunch and my first Pisco Sour.

I have taken my first three mouthfuls when I say to Skill “Can you feel the earth shaking, the underground Metro must run underneath us”, he gives me a puzzled look and says "There is no Metro here", as the shaking becomes more intense and the bottles on the shelf begin to rattle. Hmmmm, maybe it's not the pisco sour, but a little bit of an earthquake tremor. Half the restaurant stands up ready to bolt, me included, but the shaking stops after about 5 seconds and we all resume our eating/drinking positions. They told me that the Pisco Sours delivered a wallop and they were dead right.

Newspaper Article about the little shake

We enjoy Santiago but make the move to Valparaiso by bus after 6 days. The bus system is highly efficient and we leave right on time and arrive in Valparaiso exactly 1 hour 45 minutes later as stated on the schedule. We cannot get into our accommodation until 5.00 pm, and it is now 1.00pm. What to do? We grab a taxi, giving him a random restaurant address which he has no idea of how to get to, and everything is shut as it is Sunday. Finally after driving around aimlessly, I recognise the name of a bar/restaurant (Cinzano) which I have read about in the guide book. We part company with the taxi driver and after much handshaking, we tumble in through the doors of Cinzano lugging our suitcases and backpacks.

What a find, this place transports us back to the 1950s instantly, we leave our bags in the corner atop some beer crates and sit ourselves down for the afternoon securing drinks, lunch and more drinks. The stoic bar man eventually warms to us cracking a slight smile and mixes us up some mean pisco sours, followed by free alcoholic digestive drinks which are bloody awful. I am sure they were chuckling behind their serious demeanors, let's get rid of this rubbish on the gringos.

Mr Happy mixing up Pisco Sours

We also start up conversations with the locals …....................what I should say is we draw, mime and use our ten words of Spanish over and over again. Generally the Chileans are hospitable, happy people willing to go the extra mile to communicate with us. I wonder how many Australians would go to these lengths?????????????

After a somewhat bizarre, dare I say it, alcoholic afternoon, we arrive at Villa Kunterbunt, our accommodation, also the home of our Chilean Customs Brokers, Enso and Martine. After a long chat and a few more beers we learn that our ship is on time and we will probably have the bike on the following Friday. Still a bit of a wait but there are worse places to be stranded without a bike.

The following 6 days in Valparaiso are spent, literally wandering the streets taking in the amazing sites of this World Heritage listed city. It is such a juxtaposition of grime and grace, wealth and poverty, colour and decay. It would have been something to behold in it's heyday, before the 1906 Earthquake & Tsunami and the completion of the Panama Canal, which signalled its demise.

Valparaiso's colourful Buildings

Street Art and Graffiti is Everywhere

Every day we looked for the ship with our bike - didn't see it

There used to be 33 finiculars (ascensores) to transport people up and down the steep hills, now only 4 are working. Ascensore Artilleria is the oldest still working, completed in 1893.

If the Ascensors are not working, this is your only option.

More street art during our walking tour of Valparaiso

Villa Kunterbunt sees many visitors and we get to spend two evenings with fellow Swiss Motorcyclists who have shipped their bikes in for a 6 week world wind tour of South America. It is fun and inspiring to be with like minded souls.

Swiss BMWs

They leave on Tuesday, and we kill two more days, tomorrow is D Day. Hooray we get to "Unstuff" the bike.

Cheers & Beers,
John & Lan

# For fellow motorcyclists: when we asked Hostal Rio Amazonas in Santiago, they said that they could provide secure locked outdoor parking for a couple of bikes free of charge. This was a lovely hostel/hotel, very central to everything. $AUD75.00 including breakfast (High season price)