Tuesday 5th January.

Landed in Santiago just after 9 am and after a slow queue for Immigration, waited for my bag which never came. Then another long wait while about twenty of us gave our details to a single Iberia representative who assured me my bag would arrive tomorrow morning. So it was after midday by the time I got through customs and got a minibus which took another 90 minutes through heavy traffic to reach the Ibis where I am staying. The Ibis is OK,  much like any other Ibis. By this time I was feeling distinctly hungry and was pleased to find that there are pleny of places to eat nearby. Settled on Restaurant Fourni where I had some ravioli and a beer. By now I was feeling distinctly tired so after exploring some more of the local area, Providencia,  headed back to my room intending to have a short nap but didn't wake up until neatly 10 pm!

Luckily restaurants were still serving food so I had a Boeuf Bourgignon with frites at the "Normandie" across the road from the Ibis. First dinner I have been able to eat in the open air since Bangkok!

My First Beer in South America