The trip to Santiago ... well it’s already been an experience!!!

Started with the shuttle picking me up in Sydney about 30 minutes early which insisted me luckily having my back pack ready and running to the door with hash brown in hand to leave.

Then it wasn’t relaxing time for me at the airport ... I had misplaced all my underwear and realised I needed a travel hair dryer and some new perfume.

So to the duty free department it was. Perfume and travel hair dryer tick, but still no underwear 😬 Lets hope South American underwear is nice!!

The flight direct with Qantas was fantastic and the food was great too ... chipotle chicken with rice, pepperoni pizza (even though I picked the pepperoni off), ice cream and then Greek yoghurt and muesli with a coconut slice for breaky 😋 delish!!! Oh and a nice glass of Shiraz!! After all it is holiday time ✈️

Not only was the food great but so was the company!! I was lucky enough to sit next to a young 18 year old Brazilian girl who was travelling back to São Paulo. She told me about her city and how she had just come from studying graphic design in Brisbane. Her goal was to save for 3 years so her and her boyfriend could move to Australia to make a better life for themselves as the minimum wage in her country is $400 per month!!!! It was lovely to find out all about her life and made my 14 hour flight that little bit better 😊

Make sure you try to get a seat near a window too!! That view of the snow capped Andes through the clouds as you are getting ready to land is just Devine!!

Then it was time to get off the plane in Santiago!!! Winning ... Victoria secret is there!!! No travelling without underwear anymore!! And lucky for the Spanish guy who also spoke English buying underwear for his girlfriend for helping me translate what I wanted to the workers. That was a success!! And who doesn’t like some new Victoria secret underwear anyway 😍

Then it was on to get to my Hostel Providencia!! I pre booked Trasvip which was fantastic!! They leave on the hour and are fairly cheap to get from the airport to where you are staying. I paid $35.04 for a return trip with door to door service. #bargain

Once at Hostal Providencia around 215pm, \240I got my room straight away and unpacked except there was no wifi working! Dam! So I decided to run to the free walking tour, tour for tips, that was starting at 3pm. I made it. If your looking for them - they leave from Museo Bellas Artes. You won’t miss them as they are wearing where’s Wally outfits!!!

The walking tour was nice, great to get out for a stroll after a long flight and see the artwork and history behind Chile. It was not hugely entertaining for me as I’m not really into politics, but if you are the info that Max the tour guide was giving was in depth. Made for a good tour if that is what interest you. This tour is free and you tip however much you feel necessary. I did the average which was 10usd.

Then it \240was to go find some wifi. I found a lovely cafe that was up the road from the hostel. Thought what a great time to try to book an air b n b for when I’m in Buenos Aires in a few days. This all sounded easy until I had no reception and they were texting me a code to my phone. Thank goodness for awesome friends like Shelley who happen to be online at the time and let me borrow their phone number and send me the code that was text to them to send a booking request. Not to self .. remember to register prior to the trip to avoid this happening. Lucky Shell is a legend!!!

Then it was back to the hostel for the dinner and drinks night they put on. Cost is 7000 Chilean peso. Around $14.50aud. \240I had reminded the Hostel several times that I only eat vegetarian as it was a bbq with sausages. They said no problem but however when the time came forgot to buy vegetarian food. By this time it was 830pm and i had been up for around 26 hours from when I left Sydney. I decided it was best I take my hungry self for a nice hot shower and just get some sleep. Food can wait until the morning cause right now sleep is way more important 💤

Good night all!!! Bring on a fun day tomorrow exploring \240Valparaiso, Vina del mar and the Casablanca valley for some organic Chilean wine 🍷 I’m excited to see the ocean cause I’m definitely already missing the beach!!

P.s. currently writing this at 330 in the morning cause jet lag is real haha

P.p.s. Download offline translator ... English to Spanish ... it’s already saved me so many times as my Spanish is beyond basic!!! Such a good app!! You write what you want in English and it translates it to Spanish so you can show people without needing wifi 👌