Day 6 Atacama to Santiago

Early start, picked up by the Tonaki’s for the 2 hour drive to the calarma airport.

We are hoping to grab a earlier flight back to Santiago, so as to make the most of the few day there and relish in the step up in accommodation. 

We will go from our gorgeous quirky hostel to the Sheraton for 4 days. 

Such a treat but of course the hotel is the start of our conference. There were some date changes (before we left home) which gives us these 4 days

 I can assure you, tho it won’t stop the washing being done in the bathroom (a much nicer one!) and then strung around the room... that’s just what happens

We did manage the earlier flight, which was great and left us with the afternoon to go on a little walking adventure.

Following the map perhaps a little too literally we found ourselves walking along the verge of a motorway for a short distance. This did, however allow us to see some spectacular murals along painted the river bank. 

Crossing said river into the Providencia and subsequently the Baquedano district.

This just looks like a war zone but I guess it is.

All the shops are closed/ shutdown. The first 3 floors of most buildings had windows broken or boarded up. The crown plaza hotel unrecognisable under the boards and graffiti

Even MacDonalds was shut down.

Walking through such an angry part of Santiago, we did not feel threatened at all.

To lighten everything up a bit we continued a little further to Santa Lucía hill. This is a beautiful park in the middle of the city and the historic stairs are the gateway to the old city.

Came home via the subway, which as always is a fun experience. Particularly buying a ticket...

Later we retraced our steps to a bar for a pizza dinner with a big beer: great waiter who had worked in Sydney.