A 'quiet' few days in Santiago!
So after the action packed time we had had in Bolivia it was time to relax a little in Chile´s capital city Santiago. Getting there proved harder than we thought though as the ground crew damaged our plane and it was cancelled. We can´t complain though as we were bussed to a five star hotel for an evening of luxury and free food. Our room also had sky T.V. (a real treat for us) and it was while watching BBC world news that we saw pictures of the riots in Santiago that had happened that afternoon. Whoops!
So one day later and with the images of riot police and water cannons fresh in our minds we set off again. Landing in Santiago we had no trouble finding somewhere to stay and it felt safe in the city. So we spent the evening enjoying the fine wine of Chile, WOW a bottle of fantastic sauvignon blanc for just 1.70 British pounds, Ellie thinks she has died and gone to heaven!
The next day however while we were taking in a few of the sights of the city, things changed a little. Out of nowhere there were riot vans, trucks with water cannon and lots of riot police in full body armour and all the shop shutters came down in a frantic unison. Feeling a little curios we went to see what was happening. As we got to the main road that leads to the Parliament buildings we found ourselves in the middle of reporters, camera men and photographers (all carrying gas masks!). After having a little chat with the one presenter we discovered that the rioters were expected to surface soon and head to the Parliament building to generally cause trouble. It was at this point that everyone started to cough and sneeze. This was the result of tear gas being blown down the street from where the police were dealing with some of the rioters. After 30 minutes of sneezing and coughing we decided that there was not going to be any action where we were standing so gave up and went to see some more sights. Fact of the day, for anyone thinks that they may be tear gassed by police in the near future. Take some lemons with you. Eating the lemon and the skin makes you less susceptible to the effects of tear gas and according to the photographers works like a charm!
Although we have not directly seen any of the rioting there has apparently been quite a lot of it and we discovered this morning that one of the riot police got killed yesterday afternoon. But don´t worry, we are safe and sound!
So one day later and with the images of riot police and water cannons fresh in our minds we set off again. Landing in Santiago we had no trouble finding somewhere to stay and it felt safe in the city. So we spent the evening enjoying the fine wine of Chile, WOW a bottle of fantastic sauvignon blanc for just 1.70 British pounds, Ellie thinks she has died and gone to heaven!
The next day however while we were taking in a few of the sights of the city, things changed a little. Out of nowhere there were riot vans, trucks with water cannon and lots of riot police in full body armour and all the shop shutters came down in a frantic unison. Feeling a little curios we went to see what was happening. As we got to the main road that leads to the Parliament buildings we found ourselves in the middle of reporters, camera men and photographers (all carrying gas masks!). After having a little chat with the one presenter we discovered that the rioters were expected to surface soon and head to the Parliament building to generally cause trouble. It was at this point that everyone started to cough and sneeze. This was the result of tear gas being blown down the street from where the police were dealing with some of the rioters. After 30 minutes of sneezing and coughing we decided that there was not going to be any action where we were standing so gave up and went to see some more sights. Fact of the day, for anyone thinks that they may be tear gassed by police in the near future. Take some lemons with you. Eating the lemon and the skin makes you less susceptible to the effects of tear gas and according to the photographers works like a charm!
Although we have not directly seen any of the rioting there has apparently been quite a lot of it and we discovered this morning that one of the riot police got killed yesterday afternoon. But don´t worry, we are safe and sound!posted by Ellie and Adam at
4:19 PM
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