Santiago -- brown city

The flight from Madrid to Santiago was a rather long and monotonous trip, except the last bit when the fantasmagoric colors and relief of the Andes near Santiago replace the incredible vastness of the Amazon forest.

As mentioned here, Santiago is brown and very '80s looking. It does have its charms, though.

Children in fountain on Plaza de Armas

Olivier Faivre, my climbing partner, is joining me tonight at the Andes Hostel, a cool relaxing place near Plaza de Armas. I already noticed some drinking joints around the area. A drinking night ahead?