World's Best Dog

Santiago is a great city, attractive architecture, interesting nightlight, with friendly people who are ready to help whenever and wherever possible, but the biggest highlight for me HAS to be the Completo's! Or rather the Italiano's - but Completo's sounds so much better!

They are quite simply perfecto!

A delicious hotdog topped with salsa, onions, cheese, mayo and lashings of fresh guacamole, we practically lived on Completo's the entire time we were in Santiago.

Between us, Natalie and I have eaten hotdogs from around the world, from Coney Island, NY to Germany - and Completo's/Italiano's win hands-down as the best either of us has EVER had! I think it's the classic South American twist of luscious guacamole topping that beats the rest to the punch. Fresh, creamy and utterly delicious on a hotdog - who'd have thought?!

AND they cost under a quid! Bargain basement!!!!

If any London-based hotdog vendor is reading this, please, please, please take notes from your Chilean brothers...and then call me!

Touchdown in Sunny Santiago

Trippin Chicks are reunited and reignited once again!!! And already causing trouble, as you would expect! Hey, we can't let down our public! ;)

My flight over was great! The plane was empty so I lounged across 3 seats and slept! That's probably what got me energised for day of exploring and a night of partying!

If anyone has any post-earthquake qualms about visiting Santiago - don't!

Firstly, the views of the Andes upon landing (pictured) are breathtaking!

But beyond that, immigration was surprising efficient and everyone at the airport was super friendly and eager to help! Luggage came out quickly (LHR-take some tips!) and booking a shuttle to my hostel was cheap and easy and done with a smile. The shuttle bus driver even gave me a yummy chocolate egg as we waited for other passengers! The guy collecting the tickets asked for my number - but that's another story!

There are obviously signs of a major disaster, especially in the outskirts. One of the shuttle bus passengers was a local woman, so I was fortunate enough to see some of the residential areas, as we drove through a labyrinth of small streets finding her house. There are still small piles of rubble lining the pavement, scaffolding in place making repairs and new brick walls looking very out of place lined up next to ones that are aged. And there is graffiti absolutely everywhere!

And the hostel is lovely! We're staying in Eco Hostel, not too far from the centre of town, and it's safe, clean and awesome showers!

To celebrate my arrival and our reunion we ventured out to Bellavista, which is the cool part of town that boasts the best bars and restaurants, and kicked off the evening at 6pm with Tequila Margaritas! Potently strong, but a really good idea at the time - especially when we ordered our second! Well, it was Happy Hour - 50% off drinks! It would've been rude not to!

And it's so warm that everything is done al fresco, which is brilliant!

Santiago, my first impressions of you are great...now let's see what tonight has in store...

Packing Squared

It's not really sinking in that I'm going to be spending the next 6 weeks wreaking havoc in South America. I have no idea why. It was booked 2 months ago, talked about for 2 months prior to that and my fellow Trippin Chick, Natalie is already in Argentina - and I leave tomorrow!!

In fact, this time tomorrow I'll be sitting on the plane.

Not even loading my backpack full of cute little cami's, skirts or shorts (which, if you wore in London now, you'd freeze your little schnitzels off!) seemed to help me register that for the next 6 weeks, hostels will be my home, buses my mode of transport and the mystical landscapes of South America, my enviable backdrop.

I blame my amazing little packing cubes! Seriously!

The last time I backpacked - around Brazil - I remember jamming and cramming stuff into my wonderfully sturdy 65 litre Macpac Orient Express and thinking of how the next month of my life will be spent jamming and cramming everything from my cargos to my toothbrush, but somehow that dread and frustration was quickly replaced with a sense of challenge, adventure and of course the thought of gorgeous Brazilian men. It was all worthwhile.

But this time packing was a breeze! I managed to roll up 18 tees, cami's and vests into a single Eagle Creek packing cube! Yes! 18!!! And I easily fit other accessories, like belts, fleece, bikini and jewelery into another. Comfortably rolled shorts, skirts and a pair of pants around them and voila! I'm good to go! A little too easily, I think, but at least now the evening is mine.

I owe a big thanks to Natalie, who opened my eyes to them! At a tenner a pop they ain't cheap, but they are strong, durable and so worth it!

Anyway, first stop Santiago...I hope you're ready...me and my cami's are!

Shake, rattle and roll...

The massive earthquake in Chile strangely by-passed hostel-dwellers in Salta, Argentina.

Most fellow hostellers were completely unfazed by the news. The live coverage of a potential tsunami in Hawaii did elicit some interest, but only once the hockey was finished. Obviously dude!

But then something happened...the earthquake you didn't hear about on the news: the Salta quake! 6.1 on the richter scale, two deaths and a lot of shaking. There I was minding my own business - sitting on my bed in fact (WORKING, before you say anything Puja, you smutty little fox you) - when the sky started to rumble with a dull thunder.

The cleaner outside my room continued with her work and it occurred to me for a moment that she must be scrubbing very hard to make such a racket. Then everything started to shake. Seriously, it was like the room was a tin can being rattled in the wind. The earth didn't part but it certainly did move some.

It didn't really hit me what was happening at first, but then the panicked look of the cleaner registered that perhaps all was not well. And then... Well, then it was over as quickly as it began.

Other hostellers later confirmed that panic had stricken the streets of Salta. In the supermarket there was a en mass charge for the exit as products toppled off the shelves in spectacular style and the streets were filled as people fled from the potential death-traps of buildings.

The Salta quake made the Argentine news but was otherwise unreported in the wake of the Chilean tragedy. And to be fair, by comparison, it was not note-worthy.

But still...

The South American Dream

So whilst Puja keeps the fire burning in London, this is what happens when a post-quarter-life-crisis female quits her job and abandons life in London for a South American adventure.

The challenge - to become as rich in experiences as I am poor in cash.

First stop: Buenos Aires

I've got £20 a day to live on and a back-pack bursting at the seams with unsuitable clothing. Did I mention my 4 1/2 inch black sequinned stilettos? Who said backpacking can't be glamorous?

So far I'm hardly slumming it. In Buenos Aires I've been residing on the sofa of a Canadian friend - the lovely Julia - in the achingly hip Palermo district of Buenos Aires. Dinner on my first night was bife de lomo (apunto por favor) accompanied by a bottle of Malbec, naturally. Cliched? Probably. Why fight it.

Since then, the past week and a half has flown by. From hip-hop clubs to swinger's clubs (we didn't go in by the way), 5am hot dogs to 6am hotties (turns out the locals are very friendly), champagne and dancing. So much dancing: my South American dream is actually happening.

Next stop: Salta. A mere 20 hour bus journey away.

The 3 D's

While my trippin partner, Natalie is gallivanting around Buenos Aires (getting ready for the 20 hour bus ride to Salta today - ay caramba!) I'm making the most out of being in London, before I jet off for 6 weeks myself.

Well...when I say "making the most of", I know visits to museums, galleries, parks and theatre would probably spring to most people's minds - London being one of the world's leading hubs of culture, and all. I actually mean going out for dinner, drinks & dancing!

The 3 D's!

It's not my fault though! The release of Avatar has made 3D all the rage! Everyone's talking about it, raving about it and trying it...I just gave it my own little (cheeky!) spin.

And it's working out a treat - as my friends will vouch for! As we all know, London is not only a rich source of culture, but it's also one helluva place to eat, drink and party - if you know where to go, of course! I'm mean, just because we're backpackers, it doesn't mean we slum it! Not when it comes to our social life, anyway!

If you're stuck on where to have a 3D time in London, feel free to drop us an email, or leave us a comment and we'll we'll reply with our suggestions.

We promise you'll have an intoxicating time!

Day of Departure

Want to know what happens when two city girls from London pick up their backpacks and head to South America?

We're pretty sure the answer is yes, so let us welcome you to the Trippin Chicks travel blog. This time we're trippin over to Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Peru. Actually, my best mate Natalie left for Buenos Aires tonight, but I am counting down the days til I meet her in Santiago at the end of March!

It's been 4 long years since we last went backpacking together - it was around Brazil, where we celebrated Carnival with the locals, trekked the Amazon, dived with sea turtles, drank caipirinhas in Hotel Copacabana and topped up our tans on Ipanema Beach - so dusting off our backpacks for this latest adventure was the best bit of cleaning we've done...well...ever!

So while i'll most likely be writing about the 'joys' of London and counting down to March 29th, she'll be showering us with fantastic travel tales of her escapades in Argentina - no pressure! ; )