DAY 18: DEC 28 TUESDAY
FUTILE CHASE FOR OUR LOST PDI FORMS [Waste of time, money and energy]
When we land in Chile and go through immigration they give a slip called PDI. Every hotel in Chile charges 19% tax for localites and this tax is not charged if you can show them you are a foreigner with your PDI. We had not known this and our PDI had been lost. At our 1st hotel Norus Santiago they kept asking for our PDI, we did not understand what they were asking for. They charged tax also for our stay, we did not even know we could have avoided that.
When we stayed at Puerto Natales, we paid cash but we were charged the tax also.... though they obviously are not accounting to the tax authorities.
At TDP the owner asked for our PDI and explained the Chilean rules. We could not find ours, he said we can get a duplicate from the Police station if wr can spare time. Ge charged us the tax, which was steep in his case, as that cabin was pricey. He said if we get a duplicate, he'll cancel our cc payment and we can pay lower amount through paypal.
So on 25th when we were in Santiago we walked to a place marked PDI Police station near Plaza de Armas. Turned out it's a club, not a police station and we had to return.
This being our last day, we took a metro to the nearby police station. There a lady cop told us it can't be done there , we had to go to one near Santa Lucia. We did go there, the cop outside said it'll take 10 days, we can get one from the airport faster.
At the airport, we obviously could not access the arrival area. At the departure counter, the immigration guy told us to forget it and waved us off.
So we lost some money on this as well as time trying to get a duplicate; anyway how did the original get lost is beyond belief
PCR TEST 24 HOURS BEFORE DEPARTURE TO THE US
We had booked online appointment for PCR test with GENOSUR near our hotel at 9 am . We were taking a flight to Houston ay 11.30 pm on the same day. We took a metro and arrived there. There was a huge crowd. They had booked some 20 people for each 20 min slot. So it was quite behind schedule.
There were people lining up for the previous slots. We joined the line for our slot. The guy before us had a bad cold and was sniffing. We were scared he may have covid. Anyway after a wait our test was done, result to be emailed in 4 hours.
Son had earlier taken the test here 2 days fater we had landed because his mobility pass was noit activated and the airport test result was also not available. The airlines wanted a nagative test for boarding. He had just walked in at his apointed time, there was no line. Don't know what was so different there were these many people for the test at this branch on this day.
Anyway, we took the test, went back to the hotel, checked out, kept our bags in the lobby and then began the activity for the day.
As explained above we went to the police statoion. Then went to the Sanrs Lucia one where they refused to give us a duplicate PDI.
Then we walked to the Cerro Santa Lucia nearby
CERRO SANTA LUCIA
.Huelen Hill is a small hill in the center of Santiago. The hill is the remains of a volcano, thought to be over 15 million years old. The hill comprises of a large park adorned with facades, stairways and fountains.
The climb up this natural 230 foot hill offers a worthy reward: breathtaking panoramic views of the city. Son had already gone up and I've posted the pics in Dec 19 post. We went up half way this day
Chilean National Museum of Natural History
We had seen mummy Juanita in Arequipa Peru... so well preserved the child looks as if she';s sleeping. Children were offered as sacrifices to propitate Gods. They were given intoxicating drinks and buried alive when they were unconscious. The famous mummy of a seated boy is in a protected cell in this museum, they had a replica for display but even that was not available to see
We had our lunch at the side of the fountains... son went all the way back to the hotel and brought the bag with the food. Then we sat in the hotel lobby for a while we intended to call a taxi through wifi on UBER. The hotel manager had a nephew driving a legal taxi and we took that to the airport.
Easter island head at airport...
Boarded our flight. Collected our checked bag at Mexico City and rechecked before entering the aircraft to Houston.
Chocolate from his office was awaiting son at home.
WHAT WE HAD MISSED
Rapa Nui/Easter island was the biggest miss... the people had voted 80% against resumption of tourism on the island after covid lockdown.
Carretera Austral is another drive we would love to do
Carretera Austral (CH-7, in English: Southern Way) is Chile's Route 7. The highway runs south for about 1,240 kilometers (770 mi) from Puerto Montt to Villa O'Higgins, passing through rural Patagonia. Involves 3 ferry crossings [1st is 45 min, next is a 5 hour 110 km crossing which needs advance booking, 3rd is a 50 min crossing. These days there is wait for all the ferries. Advance booking is vital]
Carretera Austral provides road access to Chile's Aysén Region and southern parts of Los Lagos Region, very picturesque.
The altiplano lagoons , salars etc opened in February after our visit in Atacama.
We hope to visit these in the future.
HAPPY TRAVELS, EVERY ONE!
HOPENTO SEE YOU ALL SOON!😊
Trip report on our vacation in Catalonia, Spain 2022 [Costa Brava, Pyrenees and Barcelona] starts here
https://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2022/06/how-to-plan-trip-to-northern-spain.html
