This coming Monday, May 7, 2007, if all goes according to plan, I’ll board a bus here in Santiago, Chile with a destination of Lima, Perú.  Lima was actually my original port of call, anyway.  I merely opted to spend a few weeks in Santiago as an afterthought.  The distance between the two cities is 1534 miles, and the bus-fare amounts to US $93.  So far I don’t know whether food will be served on board the bus, as is often the case in South America, or whether we’ll have meal stops.

I don’t have anything against Santiago, where I have spent six weeks.  Quite the contrary, the few parts of the city that I have seen are very elegant and fashionable.  The main shopping district consists of several pedestrian malls that were streets at one time.  The area is very large, perhaps 6 or 7 blocks long, and 3 or 4 blocks wide.  There are many upscale shops and some downscale shops.  I have been keeping my eyes open for shops that have philatelic stamps.  I bought 7000 stamps in Argentina, and thought I’d add to my collection, but so far I’ve found nothing.  Bookstores are few, and those that do exist are pitiably small.

As I mentioned before, the Metro here is marvelous, 100% comparable to the Los Angeles Metro, with fares of 75¢, not $1, as I said earlier.  Food tends to be expensive, equal in price to food in the US.  However, there are some incredible bargains in clothes.  I bought several garments for a song.   However, these are not to be found in downtown shops or malls, but rather in the garment district. 

The main thing I don’t like about Santiago, at least at this time of year, which is the late autumn in South America, is the cool weather, with lows near 40º F (5º C) every night.  This is accompanied by morning fog 2 days out of 3.  Lima is equally foggy and dismal for the most part, but the temperatures are 15 to 20 degrees higher in the winter.

I was in Lima for 5 days in May of 2004 and one day in December of the same year.  I had a beautiful room in a pensión, paneled in wood, with a full-length mirror, a double bed with a satin bedspread, and a private bath.  I paid $8 a night, but that price was negotiated for me by a hard-bargaining Peruvian who knew the ropes.  I don’t know what it would have cost otherwise, but perhaps I’ll return to the same place.  I’m no bargainer at all.  I almost always just pay the asking price, and even if I try to bargain, I usually don’t get anywhere.

After 3 months in Perú, I may continue to Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador for a brief stay, before traveling on to Caracas, Venezuela.

It’s interesting to compare prices in Chile and Perú with those in Brazil.  My 1534-mile bus-ride for $93 is much appreciated when I recall paying $180 for the 1524-mile ride between Rio de Janeiro and Belém.

As usual, I’m all excited.

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