Day 13 – Antofagasto to Santiago

Last night was rough. I did not sleep much. Police were called twice to the front of our hotel. We were safe behind the hotels locked doors, but out on the sidewalk was another story. The police first responded to a major argument between a woman and 2 men. I could not understand what they were screaming. Then police response followed a loud crash. A car crashed into something followed by more yelling and police sirens. The night security guard certainly had a busy night. There were also people ringing the bell to come into the hostel at all hours. I could hear the night staff telling them to “vamos.” Another ‘guest’ got majorly scolded for coming in really late. I think he was drunk, because the exchange of words as they came up the stairs by our room was very belligerent.

We decided that hanging out at the airport was a lot safer than hanging out in our room, so we took a 40km cab ride to the airport and waited 4 hours for our flight. We took photos of Antofagasto through the cab windows. That is the safest way to see the city.

The flight was fine and upon landing in Santiago, all we could see was smog. The Andes were hidden behind a thick blanket of brown haze. Directly across the street from the airport is a Holiday Inn. Since we have to be at the airport tomorrow morning at 6am we thought staying here was really convenient. Wow….this is a swanky Holiday Inn! Everything is muy limpia with extra blankets and pillows…what luxery!