Bussing is a great way to visit Manhattan as well as traveling out of the city. Port Authority has busses going to different states and covering most major areas in New Jersey and New York. It is conveniently located by 42^nd street and 8^th avenue with a subway stop to the building (the exact address: 625 8th Avenue New York NY 10018 corner 42^nd Street).  The blog article today is about the Greyhound Lucky Streak Atlantic City Bus.  I love taking this bus because you can literally get to Atlantic City from New York City for as little as $10.  The way it works is you pay $35 up front for the round trip bus fare. Depending on the time you take the bus, it will take you to different Atlantic City Casinos. When you arrive at the casino, you’ll get a cash voucher for up to $20. Voucher varies by casino.

Gate to Atlantic City

Here is a breakdown of the voucher by Atlantic City Casino:

1.) Atlantic City Hilton   Voucher $15.00 offered seven days a week

2.) Bally’s $21 Cashable coupon on weekdays and $19 on Saturday and Sunday (Total Reward Player’s card required).

3.) Caesar’s $20 cash weekdays and $18 Saturdays

4.) Trump Plaza $20 cash, $5 food voucher seven days a week. Trump Card is required to use voucher.

5.) Tropicana $20 cash voucher seven days a week.

6.) Show Boat $20 cash voucher seven days a week ID is required

7.) Resorts $26 non cashable.

Greyhound Lucky Streak tickets can be purchased at windows 79 or 80 at Port Authority. Buses depart at gate 82 right next to the ticket window.

Ticket Window 79

Below is the Greyhound Luck Streak bus schedule.

 New York City to Atlantic City Bus Schedule (Greyhound Lucky Streak)

* Also stops at Atlantic City Bus Terminal

Atlantic City Casinos to New York City

Schedule is subject to change. Be sure to pick up the latest schedule by the ticket window. Happy Travelling!!

China’s East coast (Hangzhou, Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, and Wuxi).

If you are in Asia middle of January to first week of February, make sure to keep your eye out for great tour package to China during Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year is a week long holiday for the Chinese and many of them charter flights to Asia countries such as Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines with empty planes returning so they organize really cheap tours to fill up the seats. I took a tour from the Philippines from January 24 – January 30th to Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, Wuxi, Jiaxing and Hangzhou with food (3 meals), transportation, admissions, accommodation, air ticket and taxes all for USD$450.

Hangzhou

Hangzhou is a very popular tourist destination. Located at the heart of this city is the famous west lake which is a delight to wonder around. It is surrounded by restaurants and museums. You can rent a bicycle for 1.5 hours for free if you show them your foreign passport. In addition to the West Lake, Hangzhou has been producing tea for over 600 years. There is a small tea museum which our tour took as to with a little exhibit on how they roasted tea. The beauty of the place is seeing mountains all surround by tea tree and the secluded farming community.

Shanghai

Shanghai is China’s financial capital filled with modern and massive mass transit system, this is an amazingly vibrant city. If you are there for a day, you could go to the top of the world financial center and get a 360 degrees view of Shanghai. This is better viewed during the day. The TV tower is another place you could check out an opium wax museum. Wonder around the Bund Street right by the Huangpu River. You will see 1930’s buildings with European architecture. Connecting to the Bund is East Nanjing road which is a busy shopping street. If you have a little time, Xintiandi is another shopping place with a mall.

Suzhou

According to Marco Polo, Suzhou is the Venice of the orient. Although the city is currently surrounded by modern buildings, Suzhou does have a lot of the old city around. In fact, a restriction has been made on the height limit of modern building not to exceed the height of a certain Pagoda. Pingjiang Road is the old city and you can see the canals and old houses. Suzhou Museum is a famous museum designed by IM Pei since this is his hometown.

They say the women in this city are the most beautiful in China because that’s where the Emperor’s concubines lived. According the tour guide, his theory is that this is the fashion capital since the city has been producing silk for over 5000 years. All their sheets and pillowcases are made from silk resulting in better skin. Back in the days, women also were able to have a little education in Suzhou.

Nanjing

Nanjing was Chinas capital during the Ming dynasty and briefly in the early 20th century. There are plenty of remaining city walls and gates to see as you drive around. Holocaust Memorial is a museum build over a mass grave during the Japanese occupation in 1937. There are pictures displaying what occurred mostly taken by Japanese soldiers. The Bridge of Changjiang, crossing the Yangzi River, is another interesting sight. It was designed and built entirely by the Chinese after the Russians marched out and took the designs with them in 1960.

Wuxi

Wuxi is a city next to Lake Tai. Aside from the lakes, this city offers a wide variety of fresh water sea food. Wuxi translated to English means No Tin. It used to be a tin producer so in the past the city was named yoxi. When they ran out, it was renamed to WuXi. People with the last name of Wu probably are descendants from people in this city.

Hope this was helpful and happy traveling.

Macau, China

Also known as the Las Vegas of the East, Macau, China, is a three island city where you will find the same gambling franchises as you see in Las Vegas plus a few other Chinese franchises.  You will find gambling franchises such as Wynn, MGM Grand, Venetian and Sands in Macau. Aside from Gambling, Macau offers numerous historical sites to see, Cirq Du Sole Show, and if you come during November, Grand Prix Racing. It is also an hour Hydrofoil ride away from Hong Kong and right by the Chinese Border town, Zhuhai, China. This is a very unique city in that it offers churches from previous Proguese colony as well as Chinese temples. This is literally a city where east meets west.

For backpackers and sightseers, the best way to see the city is to take the free shuttles busses offered by the different hotels. There are buses that will shuttle from the hotel to Macau  or Taipa Ferry Terminal or the Border gate to Zhuhai. Most hotels are in Macau Island, where the historical sites and grand Prix track is at. Venetian , Best Western Taipa and Grand Waldo Hotels are at Taipa Island. So if you take a bus to Venetian from the ferry Terminal. Then a bus from Venetian to Border Gate and Take a bus from the Border Gate to Wynn, you’ll see a large chunk of Macau and Taipa.

The casino’s offers free water, tea, Horlick and juices. There is a charge for alcoholic beverages. The only hotel that offers it for free is Wynn. Most of the historical sites can be viewed from a pedestrian street Rua de S. Paulo  to Rua da Palha. There you will see the ruins of St. Paul, a church with only an entrance.  It is the most famous ruins of Macau. The church was built in 1580. In 1835, a fire burned I to the ground leaving only the façade, staircase and portions of the wall. It was restored and completed in 1991. Interestingly the Na Tcha Temple is right next to it built in 1888 for the worship of Na Tcha.

As you walk along the pedestrian street, you will see plenty of shops selling Portuguese Egg tart, Beef, pork Jerky, egg rolls wrapped in seaweed, pork chop sandwiches, fish and meat balls. These are excellent Macanese food. If you don’t have time to try them all, you must try the Portuguese Egg tart. If you go to a Chinese restaurant, try their fried pigeon. They have the best fried pigeon in the world.

Other interesting sights to see are St. Dominic’s Church, Mount Fortress. The historic sites are within a walking distance from Wynn, MGM Grand, Grand Emperor or Sofitel Hotel.

The only show available in this city is Cirqe Du Sole’s “Zaia”. You can get free entertainment in the Sand’s Casino but other than that, if you want more show’s you’d have to go to Las Vegas for that.

As far as accommodations, you can get a room for under $60 USD from the best Western Macau through expedia.com. For casino hotels they range from around $107 – $250. You might be paying more but the rooms are bigger and you can share the cost with a larger party.

The Car and Motorcycle grand Prix are held in the city itself. It is known to be a very challenging course due to it’s fast straights and sharp curve. The exciting thing is when the race is not going on, the busses and cars actually use the race track as road.

Well that’s my two cents on Macau. Hope you find this helpful and happy traveling.

Mexico City- The Egypt of the West

I’ve always thought that the only thing to do in Mexico was to go to their beaches until my friend and I decided to backpack into Mexico City did I realize that the capital was a treasure chest of sights. We saw pyramids built by Aztecs and Toltecs, churches, volcanoes, open air market, gondolas and a really great bus and subway system. I’m going to talk about where we went and how we got there including some travel tips. Hopefully you will find this useful when you plan your next trip to Mexico.

Our trip started from Houston Texas, taking Greyhound bus all the way to Mexico City. The bus stopped at Brownsville, TX to pick up and unload passengers then proceeded through the Mexican Immigration. For American citizens, you need to obtain a visitor permit. Once you are in Mexico you can go to any banks to get it validated and the fee is 230 pesos (USD $23). If you fail to do it you may get penalized 400 pesos (USD$40) on the way out of Mexico. This is not necessary when traveling by plane because it is already included in the tax.  However, we exited Mexico at Laredo, Texas and they didn’t check for the permit. So if you don’t want to get it validated, do it at your own risk.

Matamoros, MX was our transfer to another bus. We had to give our greyhound ticket to a Autobuses express Futura (aka. Groupo Estrella Blanca), a bus company Greyhound contracts to, and they printed out a new ticket for us. There were other bus companies going to Mexico City. One was ETN (www.etn.com.mx) and they have really nice first class busses with dinner, movies and reclining seats.  A one way ticket with Futura from Matamoros to Mexico City cost a total of 735 pesos (USD $73.5). 565 pesos (USD $56.6) Matamoros  to Queretaro and 170 pesos (USD $17.5) Queretaro to Mexico Norte. The bus made other stops along the way such as San Louis Potosi. It was a fifteen hour bus ride overnight and the driver made a dinner stop at “Taqueria Pedrito”, our first taste of authentic Mexican food J.

Mexico City has three bus terminals, Terminal Central Norte, Terminal TAPO and Terminal Central Ponente. Some destinations are available at all stations but most of the destinations are specific to their terminals. Like  Teotihuacán and Tula buses departs from Terminal Central Norte. Cholula  from Terminal TAPO. Puebla  via Terminal Central Norte and TAPO. All the stations have their own subway stop so you can easily go to your hotel just by taking the subway. Even the international airport has a stop (Terminal Area) along Ruta 5.  Subway is probably the best way to get around town. It’s only 2 pesos (USD $0.20) per ride. Safer than taxis because there are police patrols in all the stations and it’s really clean. Just like traveling anywhere, you have to take precautions from pickpockets and use common sense.

With 22 million people, Mexico City is the largest city in the western hemisphere. It is 6,000 feet above sea level, therefore, cold and night and warm in the afternoon. Temperature ranges from 55 degrees F  to 75 degrees F during summer and around ten degrees lower winter time. July to October is the rainy season so be sure to bring an umbrella or a raincoat.

What to see in Mexico City

Plaza De La Constitucion/ Zocalo. It is one of the biggest squares in the world with political, historical and cultural importance. It is surrounded by Palacio National (National Palace), the Federal Executive’s headquarters.

On another side of the Zocalo is  Cathedral Metropolitana y Sagrario (Metropolitan Cathedral and Sagrario), the biggest church in Latin America. The church was built over Aztec temples and because of the soft ground, the church is also moving and sinking. There is a pendulum in the church which shows how it’s move over time. As you enter the Cathedral, you will notice a black Jesus on a cross. Legend has it that there was a priest who drank poison. When he touched the Jesus on the cross, he was cured and the poison went to Jesus thereby turning him black.

Templo Mayor is right next to the cathedral. This area partially corresponds to the place where the Aztec Empire carried out religious ceremonials.

Wonder around this square and you will notice different activities. Every Friday afternoon, there is the changing of the flag, a ceremony where the Mexican flag is removed from the square. It is quite a sight to see all the soldiers take down the flag and march down the square.  There are also a lot of stores in the area.

Another nearby sight to see is the Palaco De Bellas Artes (Fine Arts Palace). Check out the art deco and prehispanic ornamental motifs. Events and exhibits are constantly taking place at this venue.

Beside the Palacio De Bellas Artes is Alameda Central Park. It’s an interesting park to wonder around.

However, the biggest park in Mexico City is Bosque de Chapultepec located at the end of Paseo De La Reforma or it can be accessed by Auditorio subway stop. This park is comparable to Manhattan’s central park. There is a zoo, museums, lakes, bike paths and street vendors. If you arrive early in the morning, you will run into a lot of people jogging or biking. The zoo gets really busy on the weekends and entrance is free.

Palza De La Reforma is a large road with hotels and shopping malls right along. The American Embassy is there. Four Seasons Hotel, Sheraton, Holiday Inn Express, and Hyatt are a few of the hotels along this road. It is like the Champ Elysees of Paris or the Fifth Avenue of Manhattan.

Teotihuacán Pyramids – It is located around 1.5 hours North of Mexico City by bus. It’s the third largest pyramid in the world.  The archeological site contains multiple pyramids used by the Aztecs for religious rituals. It is believed that this was where human sacrifice ritual was performed. Two distinct pyramids are the pyramid of the Sun and Moon.

To get to Teotihuacán buses are available at Autobuses Del Norte Station. “Linea Autobuses Mexico San Juan Teotihuacán (The bus company)” runs every thirty minutes and costs 31 pesos  (USD $ 3.1) one way. It will drop you off at gate number one. To get back to Mexico City, the bus can be taken at gate number 2. The driver will accept payment when you enter the bus. Entrance to Teotihuacán is 48 pesos (USD $4.8).

Tula is another pyramid archeological site. The pyramids were built by the Toltec, Aztec’s ancestors. At this site, you will see a pyramid with stone carved soldiers. The soldiers are believed to be great warriors or generals. They are used as the supporting columns for the temple. There are also palace ruins as well as remaining structure of a Pelota court. To get to Tula, AVM runs very thirty minutes from Autobuses Del Norte Station. The fare is 57 pesos (USD $5.7) one way. When you reach the bus station, you can take a cab for 25 pesos (USD $2.5) to the archeological site. It’s only 1 mile away from the station so if you want to walk, it’s not very far. We took a cab to the site, and walked back after familiarizing the direction from the carbide. The entrance to Tula is 39 pesos (USD $3.9).

Xochimilco Canals – Pre-Spaniards time, Mexico City use to be interconnected by a canal system similar to Venice. When the Spaniards colonized the country, canals were drained and roads were built. We went to check out the canal. It is accessible via subway (Ruta 2). We took it all the way to Tasquena. From there we transferred to a light rail (2 pesos or USD $2.00) and exited at FCO. Gottia. We walked the rest of the way to Xochimilco because the Xochimilco station was under construction. Anyways, we thought that the canals were over rated. The boats looked interesting but the surrounding houses were a little sketchy and the area didn’t feel very safe because there weren’t a lot of people. However, there is a market a few blocks away from the canals and this is an interesting place to explore. Vendors sell everything from food, pets, fresh fruits, music, dvds  to clothing.

Since we had an extra two days, we ventured out to Puebla and Cholula. Cholula is only fifteen minutes away from Puebla. Puebla is around 2.5 hours south east of Mexico City by bus. ADO is a bus company which offers direct service to Puebla from Autobuses Del Norte or TAPO and it cost 110 pesos (USD $11) one way. Bus company going to Cholula is Estrella Roja and leaves from TAPO every thirty minutes with a one way fare of 76 pesos (USD $7.6). The bus will drop you off around 10 minutes walk away from the Zocalo (City center) at around 12 Pointe and 14 Sur. Zocalo is located at Ave Morelos and Ave 5 de mayo which is south east. The street numbers will get smaller as you walk towards the Zocalo. If the number gets bigger go the other way because Zocalo is at 1 Pointe 1 Nte.

Cholula

La Gran Pyramid, largest pyramid in the world measuring the base,  is along Ave Morelos and 6 Sur. Entrance fee to the tunnels is 39 pesos (USD $3.9). There are over 2,000 tunners to this Pyramid but archeologists have only explored 500 tunnels. The passage into the Pyramid will show you the how mazy and deep the tunnels go. As you walk along, you will notice the different pyramids because La Grand Pyramid is composed of layers of pyramids build over each other. You cannot see the much of the outside structure because it has been covered by soil. On top is a Church with a beautiful view of the city. Cholula has around 266 churches which make up its skyline. You can also catch a view of Volcano Popocatepetl if the sky is clear. If you miss it don’t worry because it’s very visible on the Bus ride back from Mexico City or vice versa.

Puebla

To get to Puebla from Cholula, we took the collective, an intercity bus for 5 pesos (USD $0.50). It picks up people from 2 Sur and 5 Oriente a few blocks from the Zocalo and Grand Pyramid. The bus should have a big sign saying Puebla or you can ask the bus driver. It’ll take you to the central bus station at Puebla which is walking distance from Puebla’s Zocalo (City center).

We stayed overnight at Santo Domingo Hostel. It’s well maintained building with a beautiful courtyard with a café and internet.

5 De Mayo shops – Take a stroll along 5 De Mayo street. It’s a pedestrian street with shops and street vendors. Be sure to stop by a “Iglesia de Santo Domingo de Guzman y Capilla del Rosario”. All the way to the front of the church is a room filled with 24 karat  leaves from bottom to ceiling.

5 de Mayo intersects with Ave. Reforma which is where the Zocalo is at. There is a big church called Cathedral de Puebla with the highest bell tower in Mexico. Walk East along Avenue Reforma until 6 Norte. This is the street with all the local art vendors selling pottery, porcelain, painting etc. It’s great for buying souvenirs. 6 Oriente is the candy street lined with candy and pastry vendors. If you have an extra night to spare, an overnight stay is recommended to enjoy to city.

Our vacation lasted 5 nights. We took the bus back from Mexico City to Houston Texas, transferring at Monterry. The Mexico City to Monterry bus was through Futura. It was a nice brand new Volvo Bus with dinner and movies and reclining seats. Try to get these kind of buses when traveling in Mexico, they are great and don’t cost a lot more. Unfortunately the bus we transferred to from Monterrey to Houston was a crappy old bus with a malfunctioning Air conditioner.  It feels like Mexico exports their old buses to the U.S. because all the greyhound buses I’ve ever been are old. This is probably due to the fact that nobody takes the bus in the U.S.

That’s the end of my Mexico trip. Hope this was helpful.

The cruise I was on was twelve days with Princess Cruise onboad the Star Princes. It started from Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Falkland Island, Ushuaia, Punta Arenas, Puerto Mont and ended at Valparaisio, Santiago. One day at each City. Cruising from Buenos Aires to Santiago, a room at the starboard side is highly recommended for a better view. Port side if you are cruising from Santiago to Buenos Aires.

Montevideo, Uruguay is a city with the highest literacy rate in the world. It’s a busy place during the summer due to it’s wonderful beaches. You will see plenty of Argentinians visiting.

After arriving in port, there were free shuttles from “Casa Mario” shuttling you to their store. Everything in the store is a about twice the price of what you can get locally. So I recommend taking a walk or taking a cab to Ave 18^th de Julio. Ask the cab to stop where you see a lot of shops on the street. From there start walking back South East towards Plaza Independencia. This area is filled with building with beautiful architecture. Keep going East and enter into Sarandi Street which is a pedestrian shopping street. You can probably walk towards the ship from there. Around 30 – 45 minutes walk.

After having cruised with Carnival, Royal Caribean, Norweagian and Celebrity, Princess Cruise seems to have the best overall service. Staff in the ships go out of their way to serve you. I often got customized food not found in the menu. Their cabin design is well thought out. I’ve been in ships where you will only get a partial view in a balcony because windows are half length and their door swing open. Star princess was great because of the sliding doors and full glass windows. You can be in bed to enjoy the view. In addition, rooms have a walk in area where you put all your clothes. The ship also had heated outdoor swimming pools with green house windows to protect you from wind.

Second Stop was Stanley Port, Falkland Island. It is a city of 3,000 people and offers a great opportunity to watch penguins. The city is small with a grocery and some souviner shops by the port. This is a windy city.

After Falkland Island, our ship went around Cape Horn then up to Ushuaia. Cape Horn is also known as sailor’s graveyard due to the treacherous weather conditions. Before the Panama Canal was built, ships traveled through this area to get to the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean.

Next stop was Ushuaia, Argentina. Back in the 1800’s it was the penal colony of Argentina. It is in an island called “Tierra Del Fuego”, translated as “The Land of Fire” because the mountains looked burned in the morning. The city is the southern most city in the world. Often used as a jump off point to Antarctic, another 1,000 miles away. At this city’s backyard, is a large Glacier (Glacier Martial). You can take a cable car for 30 Pesos or hike up to the midpoint. From there, a trail leads up to the glacier. You will be able to get a good view of the city from up here. Make sure to dress warmly because it’s cold up there. Ushuaia also has a pretty good park, and a train ride tour.

Punta Arenas, Chile is another stop. This is a windy and rainy city. A raincoat is highly recommended because umbrellas don’t work. It is certainly an excellent place to put up windmills. There are only three nice things to see here. Plaza Independencia with a statue of Magellan, The cemetery with Alice in Wonderland Trees and Zona Franca (their duty free shops). Plaza Independencia, and Cemetery is within walking distance from the port. You need to take a cab to Zona Franca. The duty free is not a lot cheaper but sells a lot of electronic items.

Leaving Punta Arenas, the ship went through straight of Magellan and passed by two Magnificent Glacierrs, Romance Glacier. It was a large frozen waterfall from the ocean all the way to the top of the mountain.

Then two more days of cruising at the beagle Channel with literally thousands of uninhabited islands.

Arriving at Puerto Mont a few days later. At the city, you can see lake Osorno and a large snowcapped mountain. Osorno is the fourth largest lake in South America. This is where the Pan American Highway ends. The city has a lot of genman influence so you can get some great German food in town. You’ll need to take a cab from the port to get there. If you want to stay in the city. Make a left at Ave Angelmo and there are gift shops. There is also a large mall around 40 minutes walk to the right ride of the port.

Valparaisio is the last stop. It’s a two hour bus ride to Santiago Chile. Bu tickets are are around USD $3 per parsons one way. Multiple companies are avaialbe. Tur Bus is pretty good. It’s only 30 minutes walk from the port terminal.

Curising south American is definitely an out of this world experience. If you have time, definitely do it.

Happy Traveling!

Traveling to South America, Chile and Argentina.

Getting around. The objective of this blog is to share with you my travel experiences and how to get around with  a shoe string budget. One of the trickiest part about backpacking is finding cheap transportation from one city to another and determining what the routes are. You usually only find this information out when you arrive at the destination.

My trip to South America is one month starting out in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay , Falkland Island and back to Chile.  Bought a round trip Air ticket from Expedia.com. Be careful with buying international air ticket from Airfare.com because the don’t send you an email when airlines don’t confirm the purchase. I initially bought it from them only to find out two weeks later that I don’t have an air ticket. Luckily I double checked.

Santiago, Chile

Background

Chile is one of the economically thriving countries in Latin America. It is divided from Argentina by the Andes Mountain. Making the country shaped like a reversed thin pyramid. In fact, the average latitudinal distance from east to west is around 150 miles. Technically you only have to travel a maximum of 150 miles to reach Argentina. You can pretty much see the Andes mountains from anywhere in the country.

In the north are desserts. The South is made up of literally thousands of islands making up the straight of Magellan and beagle channel. Due to the weather extremities, one third of its population resides in Santiago, Chile.

This is a very safe city. In fact safer than Italy or Barcelona, where I was pick pocketed. Rules are even stricter than the U.S. The fine for picking a flower is USD $500.

Arriving in the Airport

When you are there, you feel like you are in Europe.  The subways are way better and cleaner than New York city J. Arriving to the Airport, make sure you don’t bring in any fruits or dairy products.  They have plenty of dogs looking for just that. I was hounded by one. Luckily I declared the Brazilian apples. Otherwise the fines are pretty steep.

In the airport you will see Tourist information Kiosk. Make sure you get a map from them. They have the best maps. It contains map of the subway system and recommended sightseeing sights.  Subways cost 380 Chilean Pesos (CP) during regular hours and 420 Chilean Pesos (CP) during rush hours. Equivalent to around USD$1. This is the best way to get around the city.  The person in the information desk also speaks English and can answer any travel questions.

To get from the Airport to the city, there are three ways. Taxi Cab, Tur Bus or Bus Service. Taxi Cab goes for CP 18,000 (USD$ 40).  They take credit card if purchased before you exit the airport.  Tur Bus offer the best rate, CP 1,500 (USD $2). It takes you to the bus station which is at “University de Santiago subway station”. You can take the subway to your hotel from there for around USD $1. Below is a subway map.

SubWay Map

What to See

Old part of the city. (See map below for sight seeing spots).

Take the red line subway to Moneda station. Walk across the street to see “Placio De La Moneda”. Go Along Moneda. There is a TGI Fridays and Ruby Tuesdays over there. Walk towards Ahumada because that’s a beautiful pedestrian street. Take that street all the way to the end, Mercado Central (Beautiful fish market where there are restaurants that can cook fresh catches). Along the way, you will run into a lot of the important sights such as Plasza  de Armas and Metropolitan Church. Coming back, I recommend taking Estado street towards the U. De Chile Subway station. 

If you still feel like walking, check out Site #3. That’s the San Francisco Church. Walk South on Seranno Street, you will experience cobble stone street, similar to the Latin Quarters in Europe. This also happens to be where a lot of the hostels are located.

If you still feel like walking, walk toards Cerro Santa Lucia. It’s a beautiful park! Across it, at #36. you will find giftshops selling items such as Yerba, Bombrilla, leather items Chilean copper crafts etc.

Wow. That’s a a lot of walking. If you have another full day to spend, Cerro San Cristobal is a beautiful place to visit.  This is a park with a large statue of Mother Mary on top. When you are up there, you will get a beautiful view to of Snatiago. They have a tram which will take you to the top. Cable car rides are also available to take you to the otherrside of the park.  You can take the red line to Estacion Baquedano and cross the river toward Barrio Bellavista. You will find a lot of arts and crafts in this neighborhoods especially at a place called Patio Bellavista.  This neighborhood also happens to be where Paublo Neruda, a famous South Amerian poet, lives.

If you have more time to spend in Santiago, check out the malls. Mall Parque Arauco, Alto Las Condes, Mall Panoramico. You will need to take a cab to get there from down town. However, there is a free shuttle going to Mall Parque Arauco curculing numerous hotels. So you might want to check with your hotel if this bus stops by. These are some that I can remember, Sheraton Four Points, Radisson, Intercontinental.. Mostly in the Lass Condes Area.

Over all Santiago is a very safe place to visit. The subway system is great. Always on time and the cheapest way to get around. The Santiago is also centrally situatuated on the International bus route  if you want to go to Argentina or Peru.

Traveling to Mendoza Argentina  from Santiago

The busses in this part of South America are the best busses in the world. They offer “camas” which mens the chair reclines almost 180 degrees. Semi-camma recline but not ass much.  The bus I took to Mendoza, Argentina was through a company called TurBus. I took the red subway line to “Universidad de Santiago” and right outside are booths where you can buy tickets. The fare was round $20 one way to Mendoza. This is also where you can take buses to the Airport.

Mendoza is an eight hour ride going trough the Andes Mountains. It’s literally hours and hours of mountain view. Almost like going hiking up the mountains but without having to walk. Magnificent views. You will see mountains of all kinds of colors.  I loved it so much, I went on this rout multiple times.

Mendoza, Argentina

Mendoza is the wine Region of Argentina similar to Napa Valley, California where you can visit vineyards and wine taste. If you are not into that, there is sking, white water rafting, canoeing, off road biking or just shopping (Leather Items are cheap).

Cab rides are cheap and the best way to get around. An average fare from one place to another is around USD$3.00.

Down town is walkable.

Traveling from Mendoza  to Buenos Aires, Argentina via bus

There are a number of bus companies going from Mendoza to Buenos Aires. They all run at around the same price, USD$60 one way  plus or minus. Travel time is around fourteen hours so they offer busses which chairs that reclines almost horizontal called “camas”. I took the semi-camas. A overnight bus with a company called Andesmar. It left at 8:00 pm arrived at Buenos Aires at 11:00 pm. Dinner and breakfast was servered as well as a movie. It was a great experience. The bus was a double decker and very spacious.

There is only one bus station in Mendoza and bus tickets can be purchased there. There are a lot of bus companies with ticket boots in the station so you can shop around to look for something you like. Bus will take you to Retiro station in Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

The main bus station in Buenos Aires is called Retiro Station. Cab rides from the station to hotel averages around USD$6. The city has a Metro and it’s a pretty good way to get around as well.

Buenos Aires is broken up into different neighborhoods.

Puerto Madera – Up and coming area close to the cost with a lot of new developments.

La Boca – Where El Caminito is at. Artsy place where you will find tango dancers dancing in the street.

San Thelmo – Antique Store Area.

Calle Florida – Beautiful  pedestrian street for shopping

Recolecta – Cemetery where Evita is buried. Upscale shops

Palermo – Evita Museum. And a large park.

Below is a map of Buenos Aires. Like any other big cities there are plenty to do here so make sure you spend some time in this city.

Happy Traveling!