Chile is hot

I didn't get Chile for about five days: I knew that I liked it but I didn't know why. Then it was on the night that the taxi driver refused a tip of 2000 pesos (two pounds) because it was too much: I got it. It's the civility of the place; everyone is civil and extremely polite. I suppose the omnipresent police in their intimidating brown uniforms makes everyone civil. It certainly had that effect on me. When there is a demonstration of 100 people about Peruvian refugees there are 300 police escorting them together with their back-up of riot buses and fire hoses,

As per usual I start off with a City bus tour so I can get my bearings in Santiago. Once again there is a building, the tallest in Santiago (shown on right), which I can use as my touchstone. The next part of my travelling ritual is to ride the subway. I was not that impressed with the Buenos Aires Subte but  the Santiago Metro is excellent. It is clean, safe and efficient. For less than 40p you can travel anywhere in the city. What I like doing is getting the subway to some place mentioned in the guide books and walk back at my leisure towards the hotel. This is a great way to see any city.

Once again, it's the buses that are on top of Santiago's traffic pecking order though a pedestrian's life is not as threatened here as in Buenos Aires. The city is beautiful; it was founded in 1590 and the architecture reflects hundreds of years os Spanish colonialism. There is also some great modern architecture.

On my second night I go to see Rod Stewart. I am not a particular fan of his but this is like live greatest hits.He is a bit of a hero in Chile because he was the first star to come here after the fall of the Junta. He represents freedom and democracy to the Chilean people and the show is a sell-out. Unfortunately Sophie Ellis-Bextor cancels her Saturday gig at the last minute and Megadeth play the day after I leave.

My favourite part of the city is Bellavista. This is like the Greenwich Village of Santiago. Lots of buskers, drummers and market stalls. It is difficult getting a grasp of time sitting in the sun, reading a book, drinking Escudo and eating papas. One of nature's alarm clocks is the parade of school girls when their private school finishes at 2 o'clock. They all wear dark blue and the only difference in uniform they can exhibit are the bags they carry. Sadly most of them smoke but this is true of a lot of people here.

Chile is extremely long and narrow which gives you the option of getting close to the South Pole which I do after a 6 hour light to Puerto Monte which is a lot colder. 

Its narrowness means you are never far from the sea and I take a bus to San Antonio and visit some of the ports of the Pacific. One of the strangest group of people I have ever met is the happiness group. Their sole aim in life is to make people happy. The seven of them do this by jumping out at traffic lights w

hen they are on red and entertaining everyone around with juggling, music and dance. They do not ask for money;they are not given any grants; they just want to make people happy. On YouTube you can see their show.

All the civility of Chile disappears on my last Saturday in the country particularly at the Estadio Nacional where University de Chile (La U) are

 playing Colo Colo. This is a top-of-the-table local derby - what the locals call a classic. It was the most frightening football experience of my life. La U won 1-0 and Colo Colo fans w

ent mad. By contrast all Sundays take on a festival atmosphere. Streets downtown are closed and street food and street theatre comes to life. My 3 bean and potato stew at 50p is delicious. Most of the vendors seem to be refugees from Peru. Chile and Argentina are the most affluent countries in this region. Even so I had breakfast, lunch, a couple of beers, 3 metro tickets and a return ticket on the finicular railway for less than 7 pounds. Nothing quite prepares you for the 

view of Santiago from the statue of the Immaculate Conception which you reach after a 50 minute uphill walk or a 5 minute ride on the finicular. I choose the latter. The city spreads out in front of you and you can see how it is dominated by the omni-present Andes. This trip is one big classroom.

Coming back down and walking through Bellavista you realise how many dogs there are on the street but even they are civil. They just hang around chilling out. Well it's of to Vegas via Miami for the Calzaghe fight.

On the iPod Stop the Clocks Oasis

Reading Generation X

Published Shirt of the Villa: Chile