We were sad to leave Mendoza and the friendly Argentinian people but excited to experience more of Chile. We were expecting to arrive in Santiago at 5:00am (with no accommodation booked, as per usual), but luckily we had to wait at the border crossing for an extra 3 hours delaying the journey allowing for a few extra hours of sleep and daylight when we arrived. The city of Santiago was even more developed and ‘North American’ than the previous cities in northern Argentina.
Modern skyscrapers dominated the city, while hazy smog hung over the city obscuring the views of the snow capped mountains just outside the city. Apparently the views from the city are spectacular outside the months of January and February when the heat and smog are at their worst. We hit the streets again for our usual wonder around to scope out the usual points of interest. Exciting again for us, but not so much for you readers I suppose. Sorry about the lack of adventure stories lately!!
One of our favourite stops in Santiago was the Mercado Central, as well as the Mercado de Flores.
The Mercado Central was set up indoors with (mainly) seafood/fish vending stalls surrounding an interior area were loads of restaurants served up fresh meals. Neither one of us are big seafood fans, but the food looked so fresh and appetizing that we were a bit disappointed that we had just eaten before we arrived. The Mercado de Flores was located on the opposite side of the river and was home to an incredible fruit and vegetable market! We’ve never seen so much incredible looking produce under one roof anywhere before. Good thing our hostel had a nice kitchen, as there is no way we were able to leave without stocking up on items to prepare a nice fresh dinner!!
Day 2 in the Capital we ventured out on the cities well developed metro to check out some of the areas too far to walk. We ended up lost on the way to the mall and stopped in at the nearby Hyatt to ask for a map. I think we should have stayed there!!! Wow, perhaps the nicest hotel I’ve ever stepped into. We looked a little out of place with our flip flops and daypack, but they were still happy to help us out. After Dawne got her shopping fix at the mega mall we visited an artesian market on the edge of the city. It was a really cool place which was set up like an old town with shops selling jewellery, crafts, art and other artisanal items. After we retired back to hostel for the evening to chill out on the rooftop patio for the rest of the evening. In the am we decided that it was about time that we shed some weight in our bags, as they were getting to be impossible to lift anymore. We sorted through our items and headed to the post office. Lucky for us it turned out that Correo Chile was the cheapest mail service so far in South America !! Hooooray! You can sure feel when your bag is 12 lbs lighter! We definitely should have sent a box home ages ago!! Hopefully it all makes it!
After lightening the load we ventured up the hill at Parque Metropolitano to the gorgeous outdoor pool overlooking the city. It was a nice relaxing day and the pool was great to cool off in the hot afternoon sun (sorry about the crappy winter back home!). Afterwards we went back to the hostel to look for our Dutch amigo Corneleo, who should have arrived that morning but didn’t show. We found him and it turns out that he wasn’t as lucky as us in Mendoza, and ended up missing his bus altogether! God bless that crazy taxi driver we had!!
In the morning we checked out and headed to the terminal to catch a bus to bus to the nearby ocean town of Valparaiso. The couple hour bus ride was very pretty as we passed by many wineries through the mountains making our way to the sea. At the terminal Dawne began talking to a local tour agent who talked for about an hour before we were able to leave. Nice work!!
The city of Valparaiso was absolutely amazing!! It’s an old port town with colourful houses stacked steeply up 40+ hills along the ocean. In the cities heyday (between 1883 to 1916)they built elevators up the steep hillsides to connect the walking pathways. The elevators are still in place and many of them still functioning!! In order to get a better vantage point of the city we headed out in a small boat on a harbour.
I was a great way to see the city, however, the highlight of the ride was not the view of the city, but rather that of an angry sea lion roaring and charging towards another tour boat which got too close to the pier where the animals were sleeping.
I’ve never seen anything like that in my life and now fully understand why they are called sea ‘Lions’. Wow!! We also passed by the Chilean navy ships which were just beyond the harbour. We spent the evening eating along the beachside and enjoying the sunset.
The next day we had some time to kill before departing in the evening to our next stop. We spent the day walking around the city, riding on the elevators and also enjoying the incredible “art” plastered throughout the city. I use “art” very loosely as it is actually graffiti, some clearly contracted by the companies or homeowners and others clearly not. I could tell I’m getting old, as I viewed all the works as vandalism, while the youngians (Dawne and Corne) thought they were amazing works of art…. What a lost and confused generation!! Either way, there’s no doubt that the painters who created the murals were very very talented, particularly SR. Gomez , who was painting by brush for Hostel Bella Vista. He had painted all the walls, each stair, and even the gutters with sights from the city, complete with waterfalls where the water ran from the top of the stairs to the bottom!! It was incredible!!! We were blown away by the character and charm of Valparaiso and would certainly recommend this little gem to anyone ever in nearby Santiago!!
(These are just some of my (Dawne) fav's)
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