Top Places to Visit in Santiago Chile

• San Cristobal Hill
• Palacio de la Moneda
• Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts
• American Museum of Natural History
• Plaza de Armas
• Casa Colorada
• Parroquia de Santa Filomena
• Inglesia de San Agustin

1. San Cristobal Hill (formally Tupahue or "palace of the gods," today rises over 2500 feet. On the top of the hill is the "Chapel of the Immaculate Conception," and a 65 foot statue of the Virgin Mary. At the bottom of the hill are a zoo and a beautiful Japanese Garden. Also located on the summit is the Manual Foster Observatory.

2. Palacio de la Moneda is the location of the Chilean government. It was opened in 1805 as a national mint (Moneda means "coin." The Palace occupies an entire city block and has a beautiful facade.

3. The Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts began in 1880 and moved to the present location in 1910. It contains hundreds of artwork by Chilean artist, plus several pieces by South American artists. There is a lovely café and gift shop and is a lovely place to spend a morning or afternoon. By the way, admission is free on Sundays.

4. The American Museum of Natural History is a terrific museum filled with many exhibitions including Environmental Halls, Reptiles and Birds, Fossil Halls and Human Origins, to name just a few. A charming restaurant and gift shop is available and is a place where you could spend the day.

5. The Plaza de Armas is the veritable essence of Santiago and is surrounded by many historical buildings, including the Metropolitan Cathedral and the Central Post Office. There are some delicious restaurants surrounding the Plaza. It is a fantastic place to spend a couple hours just watching the people.

6. The Casa Colorada (Red House) is a Colonial house built in 1769 and houses the Museum of Santiago.

7. The Parroquia de Santa Filomena is a beautiful Church built in 1884. The church is decorated with many beautiful paintings, and the window paintings are spectacular.

8. The Inglesia de San Agustin (Church of St. Augustine) was built in 1625 and is the second oldest church in Chile. In the church is a wooden statue of Jesus Christ, called Christo de Mayo. There is a local legend that during an earthquake the crown slipped down around the neck of the statue. When they tried to push it back in place blood started flowing from the face, and the ground began to shake. The statue has remained untouched with the crown still down around the neck. A beautiful church worth the visit.

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Top Places to Visit in Lima Peru

What comes to your mind when you think of Lima Peru? The ruins of Machu Picchu? Beautiful mountains - historic buildings - Llamas running in the streets? Well, that is Lima, but much more awaits the visitor to this magnificent city. Here are just a few of places to see.

• Historic Center of Lima
• Museo de la Nacion
• Plaza Mayor
• Walls of Lima
• Cathedral of Lima
• Torre Tangle Palace
• Museo de arte Italiano

1. Lima was founded in 1535 and originally called the City of the Kings. Today the Historic Center of Lima still stands in all its wondrous beauty. Magnificent buildings surround this historic site, recognized by UNESCO as a World Historic Site.

2. The Museo de la Nacion (National Museum) is home to thousands of artifacts dealing with the entire history of Peru. The most moving exhibit is located on the sixth floor called Yuyanapaq, which means, "to remember." It is a photographic tribute to the historic struggle of the land between 1980 and 2000.

3. The Plaza Mayor is the true birthplace of Lima. The foundation of the town was laid January 18, 1535 and the city was built around this plaza and the Historic Center of Lima. The plaza is surrounded by the Government House, Cathedral of Lima, Archbishop's Palace, the Municipal Palace and the Palace of the Nation. A spectacular place to visit and not to be missed.

4. The Walls of Lima constructed in 1684 to protect the city from invaders and torn down in 1872 to expand the city. During construction in the 1980's some of the remains of the wall were discovered a today a beautiful park displays some of these ruins.

5. The foundation of the Cathedral of Lima was laid at the same time as the foundation of the city. It has been damaged several times by earthquakes. The church contains beautiful paintings, sculptures and is the burial place of the founder of Peru, Francisco Pizarro.

6. The Torre Tangle Palace is probably the most beautiful building in South America. Two outstanding carved wood balconies are on each side of the building, and the entrance is carved in stone. Currently the Ministry of Foreign Affairs occupies the property. You can book a tour through one of the local tour companies in Lima. It will be well worth the visit.

7. The Museo de arte Italiano (Italian Art Museum) was a gift of the Italian government in 1921. It contains many excellent works of art from over 125 renowned artists.

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7 Reasons To Spend Your Money Travelling

Reason #7: Culture

Mopeds zoom up and down busy streets beside me. My head jerks back and forth. I'm looking side to side, trying to find a gap in traffic. But it seems like it won't ever come!

Traffic honks loudly, cyclers pedal fiercely, and food stall workers buzz around prepping for yet another busy night. Stand still for one moment and multiple tuk-tuk drivers are there to greet you, offering everything you may need. Move too fast and you'll miss that chance to cross the road in that gap of traffic to get to that restaurant where your newest group of friends has agreed to meet.

That's rush hour in Asia, only to be experienced by standing right in the middle of it. There's no other way to learn about a culture, but to submerge yourself in it. No books, no videos, no media back home will really show you what it's like to be part of another culture. So get out there and be part of one!

"People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home."

-Dagobert D. Runes

Reason #6: Get Perspective

Getting tired of waiting for the newest fancy gadget to come out? The one everyone wants to be the first to get, even though, within a week, everyone will own it anyways.

Why not put all that in perspective by trying your hand at travelling somewhere different? Away from the comfort of your own vehicle, or the public transportation system you already know inside out. How about somewhere without high speed trains that easily zip you around to anywhere you'd like to go.

Try Thai time for a change. Where afternoon means any time from eight in the morning to a few hours after sunset. Here, buses are never on time, but no one is stressed or phased by it. Nothing other than the traffic seems to be urgent. Bring a deck of cards, and enjoy your hour long wait for dinner. Enjoy a good book and a few naps while waiting indefinitely for a bus that was supposed to have picked you up five hours ago.

In Asia you never know what's going to happen, so relax and live a stress-free life like the locals. Kick back, relax and enjoy it!

"The voyage of discovery lies not in discovering new lands, but in seeing with new eyes."

-Marcel Proust

Reason #5: Eat and Drink!

Ahhh, a world where food means more then a can of Alphaghettis, or a pre-packaged microwavable dinner full of chemicals. Europe has fresher tasting ingredients than North America. In Asia they're even fresher. The land where even I like to have extra vegetables in my stir fried dinner.

How about some pasta? Head down to Florence and see how the Italians really cook it up. Think that Guinness beer tastes good back home, try it fresh on tap at the Guinness factory in Dublin Ireland. Or head back to southeast Asia and get yourself a fresh fruit smoothie, with locally grown fruit!

Food and drink always tastes way better in its country of origin! Find out where your favourite food was first served, then go discover how it really tastes. As well as what other wonderful dishes they might also serve.

Eat your tripple A steak and beef back home, but save the French baguettes for Paris, Pad Thai for Thailand and Couscous for Morocco!

"Eat well, travel often."

-unknown

Reason #4: Adventure

Not getting enough from your weekend outings to visit the mountains? Time to go further than the next town down the road? Do you need to find yourself that new and better camping get-away?

Are you always looking for a bigger adventure? Then a trip around the world is the perfect thing for you! Take to the night markets of Asia, go trekking in Nepal, ride a camel at sunset in the Sahara desert, ski the swiss alps or take a boat to an island in Thailand. You'll always be about to set foot on another adventure, as soon as your finished the one your currently on!

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."

-St. Augustine

Reason #3: Opportunities and Connection

If the most exciting opportunity of your daily life is getting to do that new task at work that only arises once a month, maybe its time for a change.

When you're on the road, great opportunities arise nearly daily. From that awesome day trip spending time hanging out with locals in their own village, to meeting someone new and exciting to travel with for a few days, to the chance to see your favourite band live in a foreign country with a group of new friends, you never know what's going to happen next on the road. Embrace it and make as many connections with others as you can. The rest will work itself out. Drop off your laundry to a local cleaner instead of having to do it yourself, and jump on that opportunity to rent a bike and explore a foreign land by cycle.

"The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are."

-Samuel Johnson

Reason #2: No Frowning Faces

Don't like hopping on that same bus every Monday-Friday morning and being surrounded by hundreds of frowning faces? Are you becoming one of these frowning drones? Sadly, this is common in the Western world, but there's hope!

The rest of the world isn't like this. Take a look at the Khmer locals and they'll always be flashing a smile at each other. Right back at you too. Here, smiles are contagious! You will catch their case of the "smiles" before you have a chance to realize you're no longer frowning.

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."

-Lao Tzu

The #1 Reason to spend your money travelling: No Routine, No Stress, No Worries

Wait, what's that? It's 11:30am Monday morning and I'm still in bed. Something's funny. I'm not sick. I didn't sleep through my alarm. Oh yeah! That's life on vacation. No job to attend every morning, nothing to stress about. No relationships and drama to deal with. Just me, myself and I.

So turn that frown upside down and get out there and enjoy life as a backpacker, stress free!

Backpacking is much cheaper then most people believe. Almost every backpacker destination is cheaper than home, and this will be apparent in your daily budget. Accommodation can be found for as low as one dollar a night. Prices for meals are just as low. Transportation is cheap and great activities normally range from free-$10.

Of course it's easy to splurge on everything, but if you are determined, your budget can be as low as $10 a day in Asia. A more comfortable budget will set you around $25 a day depending where you are. To compare, that means one tank of gas back home equals four days of travel!

Still not convinced? Being a world traveler also looks great on your resume!

The next opportunity you get, take that leave from your job, and go out to explore a world unknown to most Westerners. You'll meet tons of other like-minded Westerners all smiling and having an exceptional time.

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