Wednesday, 11/8/23: Approaching Santiago after a Long Uncomfortable Night

6:00 AM local time, flying just off the Pacific coast near the Peru-Chile border

Oh, what misery is overnight travel in tourist class.  For several hours, I’ve tried stretching out my legs under the seat in front of me, while wearing my sleep mask with my inflatable U-shaped travel pillow around my neck.  I didn’t succeed in approaching anything that could qualify as normal sleep. 

About 15 minutes ago as the TV screen in front of me indicated we were passing Lima, Peru, I looked from my aisle seat to my right at the young Latina mother who had moved from the middle seat and was lying with her back propped up against the window and her legs extended in my direction over the window and middle seats.  Her three-year-old daughter (who had occupied the window seat) was lying on her back against her mother, her head just below and to the left of her mother’s chin.  The little girl’s mouth was open and her little legs, clad in grey tights with horizontal red stripes extended in my direction. Both were lost in dreamland.  It was a prize-winning photo op but the cabin was too dark (lighted only by pale blue ceiling lights) for my camera to capture it.  I tried with my cellphone but the pic was nothing but blackish fuzz.  Obviously, it would have been highly rude to take it with a flash waking the sleeping Madonna and Child.  So all I can do is describe it.  As I write this, the little girl is squirming and her mother has moved around, trying to adjust both of them to something vaguely resembling comfort.

 

7:00 AM, off the coast of northern Chile

About an hour until we land in Santiago.

Ah ha!  Lights in the cabin have come on and the crew is starting to distribute breakfast snacks.  Mother and child still appear deep in slumber.  Now’s my chance to discreetly steal their souls with my little Cannon.  The angle is not as good as it was an hour ago but I still found them damn cute.




About 45 minutes north of Santiago.  That’s one dry landscape down there!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday, 11/15/23: My Trip Starts to Fall Apart

Image
Bright and early on Wednesday morning, I started packing for my return trip to Chile.   I was itchy to get on the road again and hoped to have a couple hours to write up another blog post.   My bus wasn’t leaving Mendoza until 1:00 PM. I had split up my cash, two credit cards, two debit cards, driver’s license, and Medicare I.D. card among a money belt with hidden zipper, a travel wallet worn around my neck (where I also carried my passport), an ankle wallet worn under my left sock, and a regular wallet where I carried a few bucks as a decoy in case I was robbed.   While verifying that everything was where it should be, I opened up the small zippered pocket of the neck wallet.   There was supposed to be a Capital One credit card and a Schwab debit card in there but the debit card was missing.   I had only used it once – at an ATM in the Santiago airport terminal upon my arrival.   Certainly, I wouldn’t have left it in the ATM machine – I’ve never done that.   I looked everywhere in m
Read more

Thursday, 11/16/23: My Trip Completely Falls Apart

Image
After breakfast, I took a short walk over to bus terminal where I found an electronics store.   I needed a Chilean SIM card for my phone.   It was fine using wifi in hotels for my computer for emails and the news but, out on the street, I especially needed Google Maps to navigate, find restaurants, bus stations, etc.   Verizon had wanted an extra $10 a day to use my phone (including calls, texts, and internet) outside the US.   Unless I was going to be using the phone most of the day for business purposes that was a big rip-off.   A tech-savvy friend had suggested an e-SIM card app, Airalo, which offered reasonably-priced country plans without physically changing the little SIM card in the phone.   Great idea but I learned that my Samsung Galaxy A10e phone is too old to be able to use this app.   My phone is maybe five years old, and I guess you’re now expected to buy a new phone every couple of years – grrrrr.   For about $11, the store clerk sold me a Chilean SIM card (good for 30
Read more

Tuesday, 11/7/23: My Plans for Wandering in Chile

Image
Denver International Airport, 9:00 AM, United Club lounge So what am I doing flying by myself to Chile at age 77 with a heart condition, hearing challenges, and a declining short-term memory? Well, if my 85-year-old friend, Andre, can fly all over the world (and his heart is in worse shape  than mine), I don’t have any excuses. 10:20 AM MST, enroute to Miami I’ve spent many an hour planning for this trip to Chile and putting it together.  Along the way, I’ve given considerable thought as to what I want out of this adventure.  Here are a few ideas: I’ve been fascinated with this very long, skinny country ever since I became a geography geek around age 9.   So never having been to southern South America, I decided that it was time to get my ass in gear and make my 5 th trip south of the equator.   Like a 35-year-old woman who is hell-bent on motherhood, my biological clock has been ticking away and Dog-only-knows when I will hit traveler’s menopause.     Travelling can be tough
Read more