Welcome to Santiago!!

Well, here I am... After a quick 2.5 hour flight to Auckland to refuel and then a long haul of 12 hours, I have arrived in Santiago. The flight was good, very good actually, even though the food, compared to recent travels in Emirates, was a bit 'light on'... Good, just could have been more!

I was told what to expect when departing Auckland, a very LONG takeoff roll, which was very much the case. It was more than a little bumpy as well as we crossed the bay and headed across the Pacific. The dinner service was delayed just over an hour until we got through the turbulance! I was also told that the approach into Santiago is quite special... Indeed it was as we took a northerly approach THROUGH a valley (snow capped Andes on the right, and another mountain range on my side). We did a quick left bank followed by a steep righthand bank which now saw us heading south and the Andes on my side. It was very glary, so I am sorry for the photos below...

Business LAN, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Economy Rear LAN, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Approach SCL, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

I finally got something good about my British Passport. Had I have come into Chile on my Aussie one, I would have had to pay for an Arrival Visa of $64USD, but as Chile and the UK have reciprocity rights, this fee is waived! I passed through immigration within 15 minutes and I had a driver waiting for me outside, you know the guys holding a placard with YOUR name on it! Cool hey! It took us nearly 40 mins to get to the hotel and it was fairly interesting sights along the way. I was dead tired, didn't think to have camera with me, and got to the hotel, checked-in and had a quick 2 hour sleep!

After dinner, I got my internet working, photo's uploaded from camera and I am now about to head off to bed, I am beat!

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