After landing, finding a hostel and a short kip, it was time to scope the streets. My hostel is on a side street off the main road, opposite the main malls. I stopped to watch some salsa dancing in the streets. For anyone lucky enough to have seen me on the dancefloor at 3am, you will know I´m not much of a groover but appreciated the skills all the same.
I had forgotten how difficult the language barrier can be at times. Even simple things like ordering a taxi and hostel were a task. I´d love to know a little Spanish right now but all I know is the basics like ´hello´, ´thanks´ and a can piece together some written words. Generally speaking, most major cities in the world will know a little English at various points but I´ve found Santiago to be on the lower end. Likewise, I haven´t seen many backpackers in my hostel or in the city. During my first few hours, I began thinking to myself that Santiago didn´t appeal much to me. I´m really into being active with sports and the beach - the beach is about an hour and a half drive. They have tours at my hostel but need at least 2 people to make it worth their while. None have signed up in the last 3 days. Where are all the normally abundant Australian backpackers?
My next experience might go some way to explaining it... While walking down the main street, I came across a bus spilling out the doors with soccer fans, seeming to be celebrating a victory. As I mentioned before, soccer would certainly be an aspect that genuinely attracts me to Santiago and South America. So, I got out my camera to take a photo of the passionate supporters. A few teenagers approached me for what I thought would make a great photo. As I turned to take a photo, one of the pricks grabbed my camera and ran back to the bus. I chased him onto the bus but copped a kick from his friend waiting. I was hopelessly outnumbered: I didn´t know how many of the 20-30 supporters were his friends protecting him - besides I also had my wallet with credit cards, US$100 cash and a passport I didn´t want them getting aswell - not to mention that I was trying to protect my health. With everything to lose, I was forced to back away to wait for help. The bus didn´t move and the doors stayed open, so the mob ran out the door with the thief being sheilded in the mob. No help arrived and I couldn´t explain my problem to anyone - even the police weren´t of any help until I found one that spoke broken English. They wanted me to get in their patrol car to make a report at the station but I wasn´t trusting anyone by this stage. Again, I was forced to wait until the morning to make a report for insurance purposes. Of course, I won´t get back my precious photos of my farewells (I think most are backed up at home before I arrived in Sydney). Now I´m feeling a little deflated especially after all the time and effort I went to replace the camera in Sydney. Seems like I was never meant to have a Pentax (right Lach?). I´ll probably get a disposible camera which won´t be targetted in the next third world countries and that means I can´t post pictures until I find a decent digital camera, most likely in the States.
It´s now Sunday night with little possibility for a beach day tour and I can´t find any live soccer. I´m ready for the next leg of my trip, the Macchu Pichu tour... hoping it will be much more interesting in the ancient ruins and loads more fellow travellers on my level.
In closing, I won´t be returning to Santiago for a very long time, unless it´s to transit through to another South American city. But in some ways, I guess that´s what my trip is all about - discovering what I like and don´t like (as well as having some fun along the way).
Well, I should try to make the most of it. A few days left to find some action in Santiago...
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