Day 03: 147 Days Left.
Before I start, I would like to mention that you may experience a few format and grammatical errors. I am doing my best to put my best English forward, but I simply do not have the time to thoroughly edit/review everything I type...it would take too much time. In advance, thanks for understanding.
After traveling and sleeping in a new bed, I awoke with a fair amount of stiffness in my body. I decided it was best to go for a walk, before breakfast. I ended up walking for about 45 minutes, until my feet became a bit sore (sucks getting old). Along my walk, I found a farmer’s market, and was able to buy a kiwi, an apple, a box of green tea, a cheese-ham empanada, and cherries. Not my typical breakfast, but good enough to start my day.
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| Neighborhood Farmers Market |
Next stop, a visit to my lawyer. I received news that I will be able to pick-up my truck on Friday…Yeah! My lawyer will drive me to the port authority and help me clear customs. Thereafter, I am on my own. I expect to pay a receiving fee and customs fees (more details, post payment). Once I receive my truck, the next big decision I have to make is whether I cross into Argentina via Mendoza or Pucon. At this point, I am not entirely sure which one is better than the other. Maybe I’ll flip a coin.
I spent the rest of the day touring Santiago, via a double decker bus. The company that offers this service is called Turistik www.turistik.cl For the cost of $19,000 CL Pesos, Turistik provides hop-on/hop-off all day city bus transportation. FYI, the tour was in Spanish and English. I was a bit hungry, so my first stop was the Mercado Central. Here you will find Pescado/Fish…and I mean lots of fish, and just about everything else from the sea (el mar). You can walk the isles and watch men/women fillet all kinds of fish. It’s been a while since I filleted a fish, and I actually wanted to step behind the counter and give it a go. After I perused the isles, I decided to sit down and have lunch. Now, I have a general rule when I pick a place to eat; if I see tourist, I stay far away. In other words, I eat where the locals eat. Why? I have a much better experience and if the locals trust the food, then I know it is good. Further, I like supporting the small business man/women. It’s a simple formula that has never failed me. Sadly, I know 99.9% of people would pass up the places I eat (oh, well). So, I ended up ordering Congrio/Conger Eel…a Chilean specialty. I ordered it La Plancha (broiled), but if you prefer, you can ordered it Frito (fried). You can order a side dish of wither rice or salad. As you can see from the photo, I opted for the ensalada mixta. Including agua sin gas (pure water without the bubbles) the total bill came to $7,900 CL Pesos; not the cheapest option for lunch, but a tasty one and a great experience (see photos).
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| Wish it was open roof, but the sun is strong and too many low hanging telephone wires and tree branches |
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| This is where the tourist eat |
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| Pretty cool to watch the action |
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| If it smells like fish... |
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| Congrio Eel Before... |
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| Congrio Eel After...Muy Rico! |
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| Charlie the Clown...he invited me to his house for food and drinks, not sure if he was clowning around! |
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| Call me crazy, but I thought about wetting the line |
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| Always have loved this flag |
After lunch, I was back on the bus to finish the city tour. All in all, if your in Santiago, I would recommend taking this tour because the stops are at all the places you want to see (art museum, national palace/congress, parks, shopping, food, etc). Or, if you are a true independent traveler, you could easily take a local bus or the subway, to many of these locations.
Back at the hostel, Alex had cooked another dinner and once again the fee was only $1,000 CL Pesos. That's about $2.00 USD.
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| Eating dinner with folks from Seattle, Brazil, Germany, Chile, and Hungary. |
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| White wine with la cena (dinner). Lago Yelcho is an amazing fishery in southern Chile. |
In closing, if you would like to learn more about Santiago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago
