A day to forget!

I had hoped to do a day trip to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar from Santiago, but we are only here for a couple of days, tomorrow is a public holiday, and I need to try to get my glasses fixed, so it doesn't seem possible. We are also pretty tired, and we have a lot more camping coming up, too! Another reason to come back to South America?!

We didn't set an alarm this morning. We got up when we were ready and went for breakfast where we chatted with Rich and Dave and a couple of the newbies. At just after 11am, we went to pick up our laundry. On the way, we were approached by a woman who asked us if we spoke English. It turned out that Mel was Turkish (she grew up in Bakirkoy!), but lived in LA. Today was the last day of her trip around South America. She flies home tonight. She stopped us because she was badly shaken up. She had just been assaulted by a guy on a motorbike. He had mounted the pavement and tried to grab her phone. He failed because it was on a strap around her wrist. Instead, he snatched her sunglasses off her face!! She thought he had cut her cheek. He hadn't, but I'm sure she'll have a black eye tomorrow! We stayed with her until she calmed down and was able to continue her journey. We felt very sorry for what she had been through!

Shortly afterwards, we bumped into Kim. She was out and about on her own, so we told her about Mel and warned her to be careful.

We collected our laundry and then took it back to the hostel. We then set off to explore Santiago. We walked through the restaurant and bars district of Bella Vista to get to the funicular station. There, we bought a combined ticket for the cable car and scenic bus.

We took the funicular up Cerro San Christobal to visit the church and the statue of Christ the Redeemer. Mark wasn't feeling well enough to explore to the mountain top, so once we got there, I left him having a coffee and went for a walk by myself.

San Cristóbal Hill rises 850 metres above sea level and about 300 metres above the rest of Santiago. It was named by the Spanish conquistadors for St Christopher, in recognition of its use as a landmark. Its original indigenous name is Tupahue. On its summit, there is a sanctuary dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, with a 22-metre statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an amphitheatre, and a chapel. Within the pedestal of the statue, there is a small chapel in which Pope John Paul II prayed and blessed the city of Santiago on April 1, 1987.

After our visit, we took the funicular back to ground level and hopped on the scenic bus. It turned out that this simply took us back to the top once again! What a waste of time!

Back where we started, we set off to walk to the Central Market, taking photos as we went. The Central Market building was designed by Gustav Eiffel in 1872. It is famous for its seafood stalls and restaurants. We decided to have lunch. Mark still wasn't feeling great, but he thought he could manage a crab stew. I ordered fish and chips. Both were very good if a little pricey! I guess we were paying for the location!

Outside, after lunch, I switched on my phone to check the route back to the hostel. Before I even knew what was happening, a guy ran at me from behind and snatched my phone. It was on a lanyard around my neck, so it took some force to get it off me. As soon as he had it, he sprinted away and disappeared into the afternoon crowds, leaving me feeling bruised and absolutely furious at the loss of my phone! Mark chased him, but people in the crowd stopped him - it was all just so upsetting!

With nothing else to be done, we made our way back to the hostel. My mind was racing with the ramifications of not having my phone! It would take me several days to get my life back!!

Everyone was very sympathetic when they heard the news. It was so weird, especially because of our meeting with Mel earlier in the day! During the course of the evening, I heard several stories of robberies in Santiago in a very short space of time. It certainly leaves a nasty taste in the mouth! Santiago is not somewhere I'll be rushing back to!

At 8pm, we put in an appearance at the bar for Sam and Meghan's stag and hen party, but we didn't stay long. I couldn't get my mind off everything I still needed to sort out with my phone!

Obviously, none of the photos I took today had been backed up to the cloud, so they are lost. I have downloaded some images from Pixabay to remind myself of where we went.Read more