At ten in the evening on Sunday, the taxi came to drive me to Jose Marti national airport.

I gave my last pesos (convertible and cubano) away to the taxi driver and barman respectively, and walked through customs, after talking to two drunk Spanish guys who said they were boyfriends and were off home to Madrid.

Leaving Cuba is technically a lot easier then getting in: no queues, no hassle, no stern looks. But it's not the practicalities that make leaving Cuba so tough. It's all those faces, all those memories, all those salsamoves...

The flight was not too bad, I had an aisle seat and Lanchile are pretty good, you have your own screen and can watch whichever film you like. I watched Shrek II and an episode of Friends, after which I got the occasional minute of sleep. I arrived in Santiago at about 10 in the morning, changed money and took the bus to my hostel, which I booked up front and found the way to with barely looking at my map!

It's a real backpackers place, which I chose because I figured otherwise I might feel a bit lonely and isolated. Plus it's cheap, only about 6.5 $ for a bed in a dorm. But to be honest, it's not really my scene, bunk beds and dorms and all that... It's a great house though, the (Australian) owner is a young guy doing up one room at a time and it will be a superb place once it's finished. I had a brilliant hot shower and talked a bit to Caroline, who turns out to be from... Surbiton. There is something surreal about talking about walking by the Thames when you are in the middle of Chile.

Santiago is leaving me decidedly underwhelmed at the moment. Chile is, well, chilly. I need to wear a jumper and it's cold and grey. It does not feel any different from any other big city. I need to get used to the money as well. It feels horrible expensive to pay over 1000 pesos chilenos for some chips and a coke, but it's only about 1.5 EUR...

I nagged the guys at reception for sheets but they still didn't have any because the laundry was late, so I decided to just get my sleeping bag out. I had a bunk bed at the top, which I really hate because I can never get in and out them properly and have to get in in the most unelegant way.

I still slept pretty well, considering the noise of the barbecue downstairs, people walking in and out and the bunk bed swaying dangerously everytime I turned over.