Princess Diary - Rubia volve!!!

"Princess Ruth"

Hoy me llego un mail de Ruth que andaba perdida por Bolivia. Tengo que aclarar que si la traté como una pricesa fue para que le vaya con el cuento a todas sus amigas y de esa forma poder armar mi propio harem. Nahhh, mentira....volve rubia!!!, mira si estaré al pedo que ahora me dedico al SUDOKU...aahhh!! (Snif...snif y mas snifs).

Ruth said:

"When travelling for several months, there is nothing like staying at the home of a new or old acquaintance. I had the good fortune of doing so for a night in Comodoro Rividavia, and for a paradisal week in Santiago. After the Santiago week, I will never again be able to be objective about Chile´s capitol.

The dreaded 37 hour bus ride from Comodoro to Santiago via Mendoza was not as bad as I had expected. After all, I did have the Manu Chau concert to look forward to. Also, the last several hours´ drive through the Andes while crossing the border between Argentina and Chile was spectacular – a bus trip I would recommend to anyone who has a passion for mountain passes.

The Manu Chau concert itself was phenomenal. Despite the fact that I was utterly agostada (exhausted), I was energised not only by the band (half of them in their forties, shirtless and tattooed) and Manu Chau himself, but by the crowd who went totally bos! Gérman, Isabella and I went for a most delicious stir-fry afterwards – the Chileans being pretty much on par with the Argentinians when it comes to having dinner after midnight!

I refer to Santiago as paradise because for one week, while staying at Gérman´s place in Providencia, Las Condes, I felt 100% at ease and had no worries save for getting my visa for Bolivia. Santiago spreads itself between mountains, and there are trees and parks everywhere, so one always feels close to nature. The weather was balmy for most of my stay, so I spent lazy afternoons sunbathing next to the pool on top of the apartment block, or swimming in its icy waters. I really felt like a spoilt princess, and even moreso because Gérman treated me to dinner several times or cooked the most delish meals. Felt pretty inadequate with my small contribution of Dutch cheese-and-bacon pancakes!

As far as sightseeing went, I saw very little of Santiago (admittedly partly because Gérman had MTV and I had some major catching up to do!) I visited several museums, but walking up to the statue of the Virgin of San Christobal (on a hill with panoramic views of the city) was definetly the highlight. It turned out to be quite an adventure, actually. I got lost, ended up in someone´s vegetable garden, clambered through a fence and finally got to the base of the Virgin herself by climbing over a thick brick wall. Needless to say I took the conventional way down.

The trouble of having such a carefree time, of course, is getting back to dingy hostels and loud-mouthed Gringos. And so I found myself back in Mendoza, Argentina, missing Gérman with whom I had connected so well, missing my family a lot for the first time, and hitting a general low - the first of its sort since I started travelling."