SANTIAGO - Half Way Round

Big milestone this week as I hit the half way point on the journey some are already calling the "gosh, I`m bored hearing about that boy`s trip" trip. Sarah and I left the UK on June 14th and so, on December 14th, we celebrated by going to a Chilean vineyard and drinking a lotta wine. (And then Sarah ate forty tea sweetners. I`m really not quite sure why. Maybe she realised we weren`t going to see each other for the next three months. Or that we would be spending another three months together in Asia after that...) Not that I`m half way through the mileage yet. That`ll come next Wednesday when I head across the southern Pacific to fluffy, spangly New Zealand. But, hey, any excuse for wine, right?


Wine tasting at the Concha y Toro vineyard. Apparently the casks are worth around $1000 even without wine in them. Aren`t tours just fascinating?

Concha y Toro gets bonus extra no points from the Phil`s Phworld Tour Rating System for two glasses of most excellent wine, the wonderfully condescending tone of the tour guide when it was clear nobody on the tour had the first clue how to tell anything about a wine from sight and smell (come on, does it *really* matter?) and the hilariously inept `Devil`s Cellar` segment which would have been scary if our guide hadn`t announced she was leaving us alone for five minutes and we shouldn`t move from the dark corner she`s just left us in. But, all in all, good wine and therefore a good day out.


Jess and Lucy posing at Aconcagua for what I can only describe as a psuedo National Geographic shot. Doesn``t it just reek of refugee?...

Other recent travels included a trek into the Andes and across the Argentinian border to Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in South America. (Which, incidentally, nobody guessed correctly. Boo shucks to you all) Being just a few hours from one of the most spectacular mountain ranges in the world had been a tad dissapointing in Santiago given that on most days you can barely see them through the haze (although you do get the rather eerie sight of snow capped peaks floating in the air) So the chance to get up close and personal with the mountains couldn`t be missed. Firstly that meant another stop on my religous iconography world tour: the three thousand feet high Cristo Redeemer tunnel marking the main border crossing between Chile and Argentina (yes, yet another set of Argentinian stamps for my passport and I`m yet to spend a night there) Then a quick walk around the foot of Aconcagua itself. Which, apparently, is one of the most dangerous ascents in the world and requires several weeks of aclimatisation before climbing can even be attempted.


Impressive glacial canyons just itching to be photographed! Come to the Andes where nature poses for YOU!

The Andes have a special kind of undiscovered quality although that in itself is probably just exceedingly good preservation from the Argentinian and Chilean authorities given that thousands of people come to the foot of Aconcagua alone every summer. And there`s a special place in my heart for my first contact with snow on this trip. Admittedly, given we`re in early summer here, we`re talking about ice not sufficent enough to make a Mr. Frosty. But when you`re living a year of perpetual summer it`s the snowy sort of things you miss the most. And we even had a couple from El Salvador with us who`d never seen snow before. Ever. Prompting a mad dash by them up a near vertical slope to make contact. It`s the bizarre sort of behavior only a mountain can inspire.


Bridge across a river valley. Interesting fact, film fans: this sturdy piece of work was constructed by the production team on the so-so-snore Brad Pitt epic Seven Years in Tibet. The Andes serving as some sort of stunt double for the Himalayas, or something.

All in all, Chile (which was never one of my `most anticipated` stops) has been exciting, beautiful and relaxing except that it has to be viewed and enjoyed through many layers of Spanish and several of smog. Neither of which have done anything for my hayfever. Next stop: Christmas, New Zealand and a 6am reunion with my Aussie friend Bronwyn after a thirteen hour flight. Sometimes this travelling thing makes you tired just thinking about it.


Another entry into the Phil`s Phworld random signage of the world collection. This little gem (ho hum) was found by a roadside in Chile. Any explanation as to why these particular stones contain energy, let alone the positive kind, was sadly missing.

ADDENDUM: The Obligatory Argentinian Fruit Story

So, anyway, fruit. Apparently the Chilean authorities´ greatest fear in these post 9/11, war on terrorism times is that people are bringing fruit into their fair country. And we`re not talking banana plants, or some sort of genetic seeding material to destroy their industry. We`re talking single apples, the odd grape and even (shock horror) occassional pears.

Crossing the border from Argentina, Lucy, Jess and I were lined up along with the other members of our Andes tour along a wall which looked deceptivly like the setting for a firing squad. Our bags were placed in front of us and, one at a time,, we were asked whether they contained any fruits whilst being pointed at with an accusatory finger. After our complete denials, our bags were then placed through what could only have been a Fruit Scanning Device whilst we watched on waiting to see if our well concealed apple pips would be discovered. One bag beeped. It was mine. I was beckoned over to a table where my bag was carefully opened and all my belongings set out before me. Then, when it was abundantly clear to everyone that there were no fruit products anywhere about my person, the customns man took a good look in my empty bag, then at me, then back at the bag. And then he asked me if there were any fruits in the bag.

Next time, I`m going to take a melon or two along with me. Just to see what happens.