This narrow but extremely long country has always fascinated me. And now I'm here! Unfortunately, not in such good condition. I've injured my foot in Patagonia. I kept walking because I had to make photos. Perhaps not such a good idea. Things didn't get better so upon arrival in Chili I went straight to a hospital. A private hospital that is. Much more expensive but better. An example of the way the Chilean society is set up. Big differences in social standards and social welfare. The same goes for education.

I was lucky to meet Alexandra, the receptionist of my apartment block, who showed me around, told me stories about her country and became a friend. I couldn't do the same amount of work as I normally do because of the injury. But still I found a rather good spot near my hotel where life in the capital can be seen. On Plaza Constitution there still is a slight hint to the recent past. At least it felt like that to me. The Pinochet regime is long gone but when I was standing here protesters were still demanding more investigations into what happened in those days.

But Chili has long moved on and it's going fairly well. Santiago with six million people is massive and by far the heaviest populated area in Chili, with all the problems that go with a city of that size. To me it felt relaxed. I didn't see much but what I saw was nice. They are a hard working people, which is quite visible in the city they've built. According to some perhaps they work too hard.
One way or the other, it's a good place. I must come back some day and explore more!