We have travelled through numerous Central and South American countries by now - Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and now Chile. Even though they have much in common, most notably their language (though even here there are countless differences), colonial past, and the catholic religion, each country provided a very distinct experience. But it was only once we arrived in Chile, that we felt we may have arrived on a new continent . . . this especially in terms of the level of economic development. All in all, Chile feels nothing like a developing country - infrastructure is in excellent condition, all services are very professional, the country is well organized (though Gaudi complains they have too many laws) and efficient. Of course the down side of this for us is that it is so much more expensive! Crossing the border from Bolivia to Chile means that our average daily spend has doubled. We find it striking that the most developed country we have experienced so far is right next to the least developed one, Bolivia. Well there is a huge dessert separating the two but still you would hope some there would be some spill-over . . . Chile has also been the country were politics has been least on the foreground (even though we are here in the middle of the presidential elections).
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