LOCATION: Sydney - Santiago
What's happening?
Big day of flying today - jumping from Sydney to Santiago. @LoRi and @DeLoy flew LATAM - and their flight left an hour before us and of course meant they had to wait an hour at the other end for our arrival.
The Adventure
In the air
Absolute dream to wake up across the road from the Sydney International. Seems like everything is "self serve" now - able to check out of the hotel at a kiosk and then check in and do bag drop at the QANTAS kiosk - all so quickly. We did get called aside for a bag check and a pat down through security - no idea why, we must have just looked the type. We had left the hotel and were heading to Gate 26 in the record time of 15 minutes.
With 2 hours and 45 mins to kill we found some breakfast and then watched the chaos of the airport. So many people. So many announcements. I was in a line queued outside the ladies toilet that extended down the corridor. For a Tuesday ... wow ... so many people.
Needed to get a bus across the tarmac to deliver us to the aircraft and settled in quickly. We had been watching the seat allocations for the last fortnight and had a spare seat next to us right up until Friday - darn, it was occupied. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion - the airport wait seemed longer, the process of movement from one holding area to the next, herding onto the bus and even when on board, seemed to take forever for the plane to leave and all instructions are delivered in two languages ...
Captain did come on to explain some of the chaos - noting that the flights from the Middle East were "parked" waiting for changes in that situation.
I appreciate that the mere thought of 12 hours on a flight might be daunting - but it definitely just passes. @Mac got into seven episodes of Task and one movieI, interspersed it with some meals and a couple of trips to the loo. I was asleep before the plane had taxied to the run way - but did come around for an amazing four part series on Antarctica, followed by a documentary on the octopus (wow, amazing creature), a Teen Cybercrime doco and saved the best for last - a two hour Taylor documentary series called "The Swift Effect." I had 3 great naps, more loo stops than @Mac, chats with the hostie in the galley and in what felt like the blink of an eye, the sun was up, the sunshine was streaming in through the window and we were in awe of the dark, sharp ridges of the Andes - they seemed way too close!
Our fellow passenger did not leave her seat ONCE the entire journey - speculation there may have been a nappy!
Only hold up on the way in was processing of passports - it did seem to take forever, with just a few aisles open to get hundreds of passengers through. Issued with a voucher which apparently is really important to hang onto if we want to leave the country and the whole online customs declaration that we had to do prior to arrival was a non event! Just got sniffed by a dog and were ushered through.
Anyway - with connectivity to the LATAM travellers restored (they had arrived an hour earlier) we really didn't have to do much because they had it under control and there was a slight sense of relief that the Icebergs and Icecubes were reunited.
I admit it - I can exaggerate - but I am thinking this is quite accurate - we must have received 15 different messages and warnings from our various providers in Santiago about transport scammers at the airport. Apparently it is a thing! We were no chance of being hoodwinked as the Silversea team were there in numbers to shroud us in a protective cloak.
On the ground
A freeway ride in a mini bus with a "zealous" driver with no English (standard retort is "we have no Spanish") who delivered us in one piece to the luxury of The Mandarin Oriental. This is a spectacular circle of glass, speared into the sky, with stunning grounds and immaculately appointed rooms with jaw dropping views.
Taken care of at every corner by a Silversea team member, we went through a private check-in process and then onto a cruise check-in and briefing. Forms and keys, health checks, information and tags - it is all getting REAL!
With luggage dropped in rooms it was time to hit the streets to find the local mall. Amazing, dropped from Sydney to Santiago - and although so far apart we could easily be walking down a street back in Sydney. Well, there are a few differences ... they drive on the other side of the road, all the signage is in Spanish and we are ringed by the soaring ridges of the Andes! But urban is urban ... and sad to say, there was a pall of smoke or dust or smog shrouding the mountains.
Found ourselves a corner in the TipyTap bar and did our best through gestures, a bit of Spanish from @LoRi and some help from Google translator to place an order.
Drinks and food all arrived with amazing good humour from the wait staff. I went straight for the jugular and ordered the Pisco Sour. First sip, gasping. Second sip, coughing. Third sip, could taste and actually gave it a thumbs up - very refreshing. Fourth sip.... called for ICE to water the drink down ... I was probably 1/5 th of the way through and my head was spinning and my words were jumbled. It was potent. Had to palm it off to @Mac - it definitely reminded me of the hit from the Long Island Tea.
Great service - friendly staff - and an easy welcome to South America. We did learn that the Pisco was a DOUBLE... that explains it.
A little rest time and a shower before we made our way back to the pool area to catch the evening sunset. Enjoyed a light meal, with some complementary wines to welcome us to the Hotel and got some free Spanish lessons from John the "guard" (the waiter) and played "spot the fellow cruisers" game.
Last sweeping views of the night skies from our room to round out a long day. We had showered, changed and left the room in a bit of a hurry - and came back to an immaculate reset of the room, complete with slippers, coverlet turn down and chocolates. Oops, would have left things a little less chaotic - you know the mentality, "tidy up so the burglars can find everything before you leave to go on holidays."
Feeling this was a little bit of pampering as a precursor of the days to come. Bring it on!
Survival Barometer
Steps 11 410
Weather 26 Sydney 29 Santiago
Health travelling well - the 36 hour day means all travellers are a little weary
Can you believe this?
🌄 A Seriously Cool Santiago Fact from Co-Pilot
Santiago is one of the few capital cities on Earth where you can stand in the middle of downtown, look east, and see a wall of mountains rising more than 5,000 meters straight up. The Andes aren’t “nearby” — they’re right there, towering over the city like a vertical continent.
Why it’s amazing
- The Andes are so close that Santiago’s weather can change dramatically within hours because the mountains trap air like a giant natural amphitheatre.
- On clear days, the skyline + Andes combo is one of the most dramatic urban views in the world.
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