It was one of the longest Mondays on earth. After saying our farewells to friends and family in Auckland, we boarded the plane at about 5pm. When we landed in Santiago it was only 12 pm - on the same day. Travelling back through time is a very strange, if not entirely unrewarding experience. You do at least get to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner twice in the same day.
Things became more disorientating by having to speak Spanish, testing out all those phrases we'd rehearsed while travelling around New Zealand in the camper van.
But we managed to find our hostel, and take a wander around the city centre without too much trouble. We even ordered our first 'ceviche' and 'pisco sours' at a lovely restaurant set in an old hair dressing salon. We fell asleep just after midnight - the end of a 39 hour day.
It wasn't until Tuesday that the tiredness hit. We both felt a little dizzy and dehydrated walking around the Pre-Columbian history museum, looking at the fantastic burial masks and mummies. Then we somehow ended up ordering a large plate full of pickled pork for lunch at a cafe serving traditional Chilean food.
But with the help of three different guide books and some good strong coffee we are finding our feet, and enjoying the challenge of a new country. Soon we'll be heading south, to see the lakes and volcanoes - and try a few more delicacies that don't involve so much pig meat.
Things became more disorientating by having to speak Spanish, testing out all those phrases we'd rehearsed while travelling around New Zealand in the camper van.
But we managed to find our hostel, and take a wander around the city centre without too much trouble. We even ordered our first 'ceviche' and 'pisco sours' at a lovely restaurant set in an old hair dressing salon. We fell asleep just after midnight - the end of a 39 hour day.
It wasn't until Tuesday that the tiredness hit. We both felt a little dizzy and dehydrated walking around the Pre-Columbian history museum, looking at the fantastic burial masks and mummies. Then we somehow ended up ordering a large plate full of pickled pork for lunch at a cafe serving traditional Chilean food.
But with the help of three different guide books and some good strong coffee we are finding our feet, and enjoying the challenge of a new country. Soon we'll be heading south, to see the lakes and volcanoes - and try a few more delicacies that don't involve so much pig meat.
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