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Santiago:
STAY: La Chimba Hostel – really sociable hostel.
EAT: Pad Thai, New Horizons (best curry in South America. It doesn't look like much but it's amazing and SO CHEAP)
GO: San Cristobal Hill and Santa Lucia Hill, explore Bellavista. Cool shop on Manuel Montt Street with vintage shopping galore! (same street as Pad Thai)
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TIPS: use Ubers everywhere! They're very cheap and the safest option.
Valpariso:
STAY: Casa Fischer Hostel
EAT: Lots of places at the top of the hill where the street art tour finishes.
GO: Street art tour - free but tipping is expected. To find the tours just google one of the various companies for details.
TIPS: Would only recommend half a day here. Apart from the art tours there isn't much to be done.
Atacama Desert:
STAY: Juriques Hostel or Hostel Pangea
EAT: Literally too many places to recommend!
DO: You start the Salt Flats tour here so book that in one of the tour shops and also book a day tour and an astronomy tour. We used White and Green Tours, which was good but look around cause you could find something better. Salt Flats tour is 3 days and ends in Uyuni in Bolivia but that’s also a dump so head straight to Sucre when you arrive.
TIPS: If you can go to a desert rave they do them every Saturday (could have changed now) and you can expect bonfires and fat speaker stacks. Its a lot of fun and you have a very high chance of catching a shooting star or two.
