You notice a difference immediately after crossing the border from Peru to Chile. Chile appears to be a much more prosperous country but they manage to disguise there ghettos a little better. The beach areas are quite nice with a whole different clientele but off the beaten track, you see the extreme poverty, similar to Peru.
I have not been feeling great the last 2 weeks and not sure whether it is altitude related or something I ate. I was convinced to go to the hospital yesterrday and for those of us that like to complain about the Canadian Medical System, me included, try coming to Chile. This is when you realize you are still in a 3rd world country. The one and only hospital looks more like a Wal-Mart Auto Centre, not very clean. We arrived at 8 am, nobody spoke English and the place was so chaotic you never knew what was happening. Finally after 3 hours waiting, I went to speak with one of the staff and she said we had hours to wait. Fed up and frustrated, I told Leslie we were leaving when I heard my name called. We entered this little room where a nurse and I assume a doctor were sitting awaiting our arrival. The nurse looked at us with a puzzled look on her face asking why we were here. She indicated the medical system was terrible and the hospital was the worst place to come. She informed us there were two private clinics that we should consider and we would be looked after within minutes. We took her advice and jumped into a cab. Night & day! We arrived at the clinic and were immediately greeted by professional looking staff who hustled us into a waiting room, took our credit card of course and started the process. Long story short, the process was quick and efficient and I am now waiting for some test results.
Now on to better things...not sure what to make of Chile yet but we have decided we will not have time to do Patagonia. Therefore, we will head south to Santiago and then east toward Buenos Aires.
I have not been feeling great the last 2 weeks and not sure whether it is altitude related or something I ate. I was convinced to go to the hospital yesterrday and for those of us that like to complain about the Canadian Medical System, me included, try coming to Chile. This is when you realize you are still in a 3rd world country. The one and only hospital looks more like a Wal-Mart Auto Centre, not very clean. We arrived at 8 am, nobody spoke English and the place was so chaotic you never knew what was happening. Finally after 3 hours waiting, I went to speak with one of the staff and she said we had hours to wait. Fed up and frustrated, I told Leslie we were leaving when I heard my name called. We entered this little room where a nurse and I assume a doctor were sitting awaiting our arrival. The nurse looked at us with a puzzled look on her face asking why we were here. She indicated the medical system was terrible and the hospital was the worst place to come. She informed us there were two private clinics that we should consider and we would be looked after within minutes. We took her advice and jumped into a cab. Night & day! We arrived at the clinic and were immediately greeted by professional looking staff who hustled us into a waiting room, took our credit card of course and started the process. Long story short, the process was quick and efficient and I am now waiting for some test results.
Now on to better things...not sure what to make of Chile yet but we have decided we will not have time to do Patagonia. Therefore, we will head south to Santiago and then east toward Buenos Aires.
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