Vacation to Chile 13 Nov - 1 Dec 1999

Page 1 Coming Page 2 Coming Page 3 Coming Page 4 Coming Page 5

OK. I'm still in scanning mode. Check out the next pages. They were easy to slap together. Basically, if you're a typical American, you've never been to South America... or even Mexico (Cancun and Tijuana pub crawls don't count). So... take all your preconcieved notions about "the third world" and throw them out the door. They have the Internet. (billboards for "pay your bills on the Internet!" greeted us as we left Santiago airport). They have MTV, for better or worse. They have CNN. They know who Yanni is, and the Pet Shop Boys (whose Nightlife album was playing around the country as we travelled, days after its worldwide release). Chile is *not* a poor, dusty, destitute country. It's the other end of the spectrum. Green. Lush. Friendly people. Incredible beauty. Great food, and wine too (they seem to keep the good stuff in the country). Interesting culture. Some people I've talked to say "Hey, that sounds like New Zealand." Others liken it to a little slice of Europe, from Rome across northern Italy and the Alps into Germany. Maybe that's stretching it a bit... or not far enough. Chile's a big country, just not very wide. And hey, it's even safe enough to drink the water there. I did. Anyway, check out these initial pictures. More are coming; when they arrive the links to the left will start to work. Next page