People told us that if we'd already travelled in Asia, that South America would be a breeze. I'm not sure what stereotypes we were arriving with, but we still can't get over how modern and easy it is here. Chile is definitely a first world country, with standards of living (and prices to match) on a par with the EU. Wide pedestrianised avenues lined with cafe's and ice-cream parlours, trendy shopping centres, efficient buses and classical architecture that wouldn't look out of place in Paris or Madrid all lull you into forgetting you're in another continent.
As always, we've wrestled with the dilema of where to go and what to leave out. Patagonia lies south of here, but reports from other travellers inform us that it can get very cold and wet there, and that if we've already seen mountains, fjords and glaciers in NZ that our time might be better spent elsewhere (how glib does that sound?). So tomorrow we're crossing the Andes into Argentina and will slowly saunter north towards the salt flats and desert there. We're told that Bolivia and Peru can be more basic but for now Chile is a very pleasant surprise.
No comments:
Post a Comment