Day 20 - Santiago

Last night we found the indoor pool and hot tub in our swanky hotel. We had a fun time splashing around and finally got some use out of our swimsuits. This unusually ritzy Holiday Inn is like an oasis after 3 weeks of backpacking. After dropping our packs of at the airport storage desk in the morning, we ran the gauntlet of aggressive taxi drivers and tour guides waiting for us outside the airport doors. Good grief! I got so annoyed with all the drivers jostling to take us to various places, that I just turned around and went back inside to the safety of the airport. However, that safety zone did not last long due to the aggressive tour agents inside. We turned our backs on all of them and went for a walk. We found a taxi driver standing quietly in the corner, just holding his taxi sign, not hustling anyone. He became our taxi to city center and along the way pointed out areas of interest and helped us get our bearings in city center.

We climbed up Santa Lucia mountain for a nice view of the city, found the artesian market, and then made our way through the pedestrian shopping district. Santiago is a huge city, with 4 million people, all of which seemed to be walking and smoking in city center. Since neither of us care for big cities, smoking, or shopping, Santiago was not our type of travel destination. It was just another city. We both arrived at deciding that hanging out in the airport for a few hours was better than being in downtown Santiago, so we flagged down a cab and went back to the airport. Also, at some point, someone tried to get into my backpack while we were walking and a nice gentleman stopped me to point it out. I then got further warned by his spouse and a newsstand lady who told me to wear my backpack in front. Nothing was taken-- the only things in the pocket were some lens filters, and they were tightly stuffed in the pocket.

Back at the airport, we dropped our bags off at the airline counter, got our boarding passes, and then immediately left the airport once again, to walk back across the street to the unusually swanky Holiday Inn. Matt purposely kept a room key from this morning and just flashed it as we walked in, so instead of spending the next 3 hours in the airport, we are in a nice bar, sitting on a poofy couch, sipping an entire bottle of champagne waiting for the tasty restaurant to open.