Journeyman Dan
 Exploring Santiago My friend Rienk decided that he had had enough of trying to find his elusive motorbike and wanted to experience some of the cultural side of Santiago before his time there was up. It still being my first week I was full of enthusiasm at the slightest hint of new cultural experiences (might change as my journey progresses but I hope it doesn`t). After a bit of slightly-less-than-aimless wandering we finally found the Cemetario Generale. As you can see from the photograph even the entrance to it is huge and very impressive. The grounds inside expand in all directions as far as the eye can see. Full of mausoleums inscribed with the names of entire families it was a very sombering experience. Even witnessed a Chilean funeral, although we kept our distance out of respect and took no photos. One thing that is distinctive about the culture here is how openly passionate they are about most things. Often walking down the streets you will see couples lovingly kissing for many minutes on end. And this sam passion was evident at the funeral. Relatives of the recently deceased were obvious due to the manifestation of this passion. After walking about for an hour we found the tomb of Salvador Allende, Chilean President at the time of General Pinochet`s coup d`état who had been ignominiously buried in a grave in Viña Del Mar. Only with the democratic changes in the 90`s were his remains exhumed and procession marched along the lined streets of Santiago until they reached his final resting place here at the cementary. He has good company as most of the other past Presidents are buried here apart from one (bonus point if anyone can tell me which one!). We also came across a monument dedicated to people who had disappeared during the Pinochet regime. With no body to bury, people were encouraged to leave their own inscription to their loved ones, so then at least they had somewhere to come and pay their respects. Judging by the amount of flowers and how well kept most of the graves and mausoleums were, this is something that the Chileans take a lot of pride in. Rienk and I then walked through Santiago to Cerro San Cristobal as he wanted to climb that as I had previously and I wanted to head further west to the slightly richer areas of Providencia and Las Condes. Also this is where the tourist information site was situated and I was interested in what they had to offer that I had not come across yet. Walked along many a back street, over a river and past a couple of interesting looking clubs until i reached my destination. The lady in the tourism office was extremely helpful, spoke better English than most Chileans I had already encountered and showed me on a map the destinations of a couple of sites in Santiago that I really wanted to visit. I decided against catching the Metro back to the hostel as although it would only take about a tenth of the time, it is all underground and I wanted to experience more of the city (plus try and find a pub to watch the spurs game)! After two and a half hours of walking and burning I only slightly doubted my earlier decision. Didn`t manage to find the football but I did find an English-style pub which served Tetleys, so I was happy. Found Rienk at the hostel who hadn`t eaten yet. Decided to go out and get a sandwich. The guidebook I have says that most places around here don`t get busy till 10-11 but we`ve found that most places are winding down at that time and it`s only the out-and-out restaurants who are still serving. We managed to find one cafe who were still serving food and looked fairly lively as Colo-Colo (Santiago-based popular Chilean football team) were on tv. Singing and dancing all the time they were generating more atmosphere than I have seen at some grounds I`ve been to in England, however I feel compelled to add that the standard of football was bad. Just no flow and no competent defending, but this wasn`t fazing the Chilean diners, who whenever they seemed like slowing down or stopping would be prompted by one of the other casual diners innocuously standing close by. Colo-Cplo won 2-0, their final goal a sublime free-kick from a bald Fat-Frank double. Gave me definite food for thought about getting tickets for a game before I departed. Cheers, Dan
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Diary Photos
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Outside The Cementario Generale |
 Dedicated To Those Who Disappeared Under The Pinochet Regime |
 Salvador Allende's Final Resting Place |
 Havana Salsa Club |
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