I spent 150 pounds in 10 days in Chile. Chile is expensive, very European (so different from other
South American countries) and people in Santiago are busy. Although before I came to the city, I thought it was bigger and busier, kind of London but not, nothing like this. You can visit the whole city in one day on foot. What surprised me a lot were dogs. Millions of homeless dogs sleeping like dead in the streets and parks. They rule the cities and towns and they form gangs. Luckily, people respect them and feed them so they are not skinny like in Brazil for example, and they are generally very friendly. Sorry, maybe I talk to much about dogs :)
Spanish that people speak in Chile was the most difficult for me to understand, comparing to other South American countries. Sometimes it sounds like another language.
Santiago de Chile - Mendoza: 341 km, 6 hours on the bus, cost: 15 pounds. The route to the Chilean - Argentinian border is just spectacular. I highly recommend taking bus during the day to be amazed by the range of Andes, high mountains with snow on the summits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andes
On our minibus I spoke to a guy about earthquakes (my favourite subject in Chile). I learnt so much about earthquakes and how to cope with them. In Santiago the deadly earthquake happened in February this year, the next one is expected in 20 - 25 years. The same in the south of the country. However, the north is preparing for a big one just now. All the government can do is to warn people and to introduce "survival" programmes because the exact date and time are not known. Apparently the best thing to do when it starts is to stand in the entrance door. Inside and outside of the house there is a risk of being hit by falling walls and objects.
