On arrival in Santiago we suffered our biggest burn of the entire trip. We had read about dodgy taxis in Santiago but thought little of it as it is such a modern feeling city. Not only did our driver try to palm the 10,000 note I'd given him to replace it with a 1000 - but he also had a meter that ran like a fruit machine on Red Bull. As I was too busy berating him for trying to be so sly with the palm (the Chileans have cunningly made the 10 and 1 thousand notes identical colours) I hadn't twigged that the 6,000 on the meter was outrageous. We realised afterwards that he also dropped us in a garage opposite the hotel, presumably so that we wouldn't have the opportunity to get a second opinion about the metered fare. And I was so nice to him. What an thoroughly unpleasant chappie he turned out to be.
I should opint out that we only stayed one night in Santiago before going to Isla De Pascua but then we came back for a few more so I will slip those in here:
On our return to Santiago we junked Barrio De Brasil for Paris/Londres and found a huge room filled with lovely antique wooden furniture in a very attractive area. And we set to exploring different districts in Santiago. We got lost on the cable car ride, found the arts and design area, did some shops and museums and then hit the zona rosa. And we decided that for our last night we should treat ourselves to a slap-up meal. We chanced upon a seafood restaurant and were able to indulge in ceviche - our favourite dish that we had originally experienced when we had 'arrived' in Latin America in San Blas in Mexico back in May. This time we had a huge plate of salmon, prawns and white fish cooked in lime juice, weashed down with some local white. It was fantastic. We can't wait to try the lime trick with the salmon back home.
Santiago looks a bit like this
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