I did not give Santiago a chance... I did one touristy thing and didn't even make it through the whole thing. By this time I'm pretty over cities so I didn't give a damn about seeing Santiago or put in any effort into exploring the city. If it was my first city then of course I would have been beyond excited but there isn't anything special about the city. It's just another big city without any nice architecture or cool parts to visit. I just used my days there to catch up on some planning for the next few weeks aka making my way down south and doing Patagonia. 

I spent most of my time hanging out at my hostel, which was super awesome! It's a much smaller place with only 24 spots available so there's a closer, more tight-knit feeling to the hostel and everyone pretty much knows each other. They planned something for us each night - free wine, free pretzels, $1.50 gin & tonic happy hour, and BBQ. They have a super cute but ginormous dog who can skateboard!! Duke is probably heavier than me and he will eat everything in site. So when you're sitting outside, you have to be ultra careful because he will come and steal food right off your plate. 

Other times I hung out with Sasha who is now working at an American bar called "California Cantina" owned by a guy from San Diego. She doesn't love it that much especially because she doesn't love Santiago and wants to go elsewhere. It was awesome seeing it again but it was probably the last time for awhile unless we somehow run into each other again in South America or she comes to visit me in Chicago. 

But anyway, I did do half of a free walking tour. I made it 2.5 hrs in out of 4 before I left. I wanted to get a few things for Patagonia since I know it would have been hard elsewhere as I made my way down south and also probably much more expensive. I was told about a cheap store for all of my essential camping stuff, besides my shoes, called Gangas. 

I was in the city for a total of 3 days and on the 4th I took an overnight bus to Pucon - 11 hours in total.