Cerro San Cristóbal, Santiago, Chile

Walking around the centre of Santiago which is relatively compact it doesn't seem unique from any other city. The streets are wide, some are pedestrianised with shops, and it's very busy with people doing last-minute Christmas shopping.

I'd like to see if Santiago is any more appealing from a height so take the funicular up to Cerro San Cristóbal, a conical hill in the northeast of the city. It forms part of the Metropolitan Park, with great views of the sprawling city and mountains. At the summit is a colossal statue of the Virgin.

At the top I notice I have dust in my camera and stupidly try to administer emergency surgery with the result that I only make it worse. With only a few hours before everyone shuts up for Christmas, I descend via the teleferico (cable car), which also has great views, and head into town.

After trying nearly every camera shop in town and being sent from one place to another, I find someone who calls himself a technician. By the way this is what not to do! He leads me to a shabby little room, like a camera graveyard, with broken cameras stacked high. I start to get a little nervous when he disappears behind a shelf and says I can't see what he's doing. It takes him an hour and a half to pull apart bits of my camera, and even washes one part under the tap! Completely shocked, with my camera in bits, I can only watch in despair and hope he hasn't ruined it. Looking through the lens breaks my heart. It's dustier than before and now has dirty streaks across it.

(Photo - view of Santiago from Cerro San Cristóbal)