On to Southern Chile
Geographically, Chile is the Victoria's Secret model of countries, and having started with the top half, I was now going to finish with the bottom half, but before doing so, I had to stop at the navel for a bit. Translation: La Serena was my last stop in Northern Chile, and my sights were now on Southern Chile (and specifically, the Lake District and Patagonia), with a quick 2-day stop in Santiago to take a breather.
I took a relatively quick 5 hour bus ride from La Serena to Santiago, and attempted to Uber over to my hostel 5 miles away. But, Uber cannot deliver in Chile. I have never had a good experience here with Uber. Like always, I check my Uber application to see where the driver is in relation to me. And without fail, I see the driver doing circles around me. 3 minutes away, then 6 minutes away, then 4 minutes away, then 8 minutes away . . . I end up talking to my phone, "where are you going your f-----in idiot, I'm right here." This was no exception. I attempted 3 times to get an Uber. The first time, the guy whizzed by me, and I chased him down, dragging my huge duffle bag behind me. After a few hundred feet, I jumped in his car, and he looked surprised to see me. He told me in Spanglish that he couldn't take me my place, because the Internet is down. I had a conversation with him for a few minutes as to why that even matters. He refused to take me, so I thanked him for wasting my time (about a half hour), and jumped out with my luggage. I scheduled another Uber, but same thing. The guy kept going in circles. He then cancelled, and charged me a cancellation fee. I had some time on my hands, and wanting to find out what the deal with Uber in Santiago was, I scheduled still another Uber. Same thing, and actually same guy. He again went around in circles. I actually called him, and he told me that there was a lot of traffic, which to me, did not explain why he was going in circles. Again, he cancelled and charged me a cancellation fee--all total, about 3 dollars, which I could have let slide, but out of principle, I contacted Uber, and after some back and forth for an hour, I got my 3 bucks back.
So, what have I learned? Never take Uber in Chile. I ended up going to my hostel the old fashioned way--in a yellow cab.
The next couple days, I got back into my routine of going to Starbucks to work, and then eating out in downtown Santiago. Santiago felt like a home away from home, even though I do not maintain a home in California anymore, so I guess it just felt like home.
Now, I spent a month doing a lot of outdoor and semi-adventurous things in Northern Chile, and the one place I did not expect to get hurt was in Santiago, but I did exactly that. While walking on the sidewalk, there was a tree well with no tree, so I didn't see it (probably looking at my phone).
Why? What is even the purpose of this double tree well? So, I caught the front edge of the well and I went flying forward. Although I am a bit clumsy at times, I do have really good recovery skills, so I ended up somehow evading the opposite edge of the well, and slid on my knees while bracing myself with one hand. This was in rush hour traffic, so undoubtedly dozens of people saw my stunt. I jumped back up to my feet as if I tried to do that trick, and kept walking down the sidewalk, walking back to the hostel with blood oozing down my shins. As you can see from the picture, the tiles are nicely scored, so I ended up losing some skin from my knees. I still have the scars three weeks later.
While in Santiago, I had still not made my arrangements for Southern Chile. I was not sure whether I was going to just take a bus down to visit the Lake District, and then to Patagonia, or whether I was going to fly to Patagonia, and then take a bus back up with any remaining time that I had. Not knowing if and when my work would call me back to California, I decided to take a flight to Patagonia as that was supposed to be the highlight of Southern Chile, and perhaps, all of Chile--and I did not want to miss that or rush through it if I were to be called back early.
So my next stop was set, and I was looking so forward to my next adventure . . .
I took a relatively quick 5 hour bus ride from La Serena to Santiago, and attempted to Uber over to my hostel 5 miles away. But, Uber cannot deliver in Chile. I have never had a good experience here with Uber. Like always, I check my Uber application to see where the driver is in relation to me. And without fail, I see the driver doing circles around me. 3 minutes away, then 6 minutes away, then 4 minutes away, then 8 minutes away . . . I end up talking to my phone, "where are you going your f-----in idiot, I'm right here." This was no exception. I attempted 3 times to get an Uber. The first time, the guy whizzed by me, and I chased him down, dragging my huge duffle bag behind me. After a few hundred feet, I jumped in his car, and he looked surprised to see me. He told me in Spanglish that he couldn't take me my place, because the Internet is down. I had a conversation with him for a few minutes as to why that even matters. He refused to take me, so I thanked him for wasting my time (about a half hour), and jumped out with my luggage. I scheduled another Uber, but same thing. The guy kept going in circles. He then cancelled, and charged me a cancellation fee. I had some time on my hands, and wanting to find out what the deal with Uber in Santiago was, I scheduled still another Uber. Same thing, and actually same guy. He again went around in circles. I actually called him, and he told me that there was a lot of traffic, which to me, did not explain why he was going in circles. Again, he cancelled and charged me a cancellation fee--all total, about 3 dollars, which I could have let slide, but out of principle, I contacted Uber, and after some back and forth for an hour, I got my 3 bucks back.
So, what have I learned? Never take Uber in Chile. I ended up going to my hostel the old fashioned way--in a yellow cab.
The next couple days, I got back into my routine of going to Starbucks to work, and then eating out in downtown Santiago. Santiago felt like a home away from home, even though I do not maintain a home in California anymore, so I guess it just felt like home.
Now, I spent a month doing a lot of outdoor and semi-adventurous things in Northern Chile, and the one place I did not expect to get hurt was in Santiago, but I did exactly that. While walking on the sidewalk, there was a tree well with no tree, so I didn't see it (probably looking at my phone).
Why? What is even the purpose of this double tree well? So, I caught the front edge of the well and I went flying forward. Although I am a bit clumsy at times, I do have really good recovery skills, so I ended up somehow evading the opposite edge of the well, and slid on my knees while bracing myself with one hand. This was in rush hour traffic, so undoubtedly dozens of people saw my stunt. I jumped back up to my feet as if I tried to do that trick, and kept walking down the sidewalk, walking back to the hostel with blood oozing down my shins. As you can see from the picture, the tiles are nicely scored, so I ended up losing some skin from my knees. I still have the scars three weeks later.
While in Santiago, I had still not made my arrangements for Southern Chile. I was not sure whether I was going to just take a bus down to visit the Lake District, and then to Patagonia, or whether I was going to fly to Patagonia, and then take a bus back up with any remaining time that I had. Not knowing if and when my work would call me back to California, I decided to take a flight to Patagonia as that was supposed to be the highlight of Southern Chile, and perhaps, all of Chile--and I did not want to miss that or rush through it if I were to be called back early.
So my next stop was set, and I was looking so forward to my next adventure . . .
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