I’m not sure what it was – probably traveling to a new country – but I was definitely taking more pictures than Juan when we first arrived in Chile. And if you’ve ever experienced Juan with his camera, then you know that’s a lot of pictures! Though you wouldn’t blame me if you were in my shoes because as soon as you cross customs in Chile you begin a picturesque descent through the Andes that takes you through more than 25 hairpin turns. As we traveled towards Valparaíso we passed lush fields of veggies, fruit orchards, vineyards and greenhouses. It reminded me how much produce Canada imports from Chile. Which got me thinking and my mouth watering for two very hard to find items in Argentina – avocados and chili peppers!
We bypassed Santiago for the moment and headed straight for the coast to Valparaíso. Though this place has the population of Winnipeg it felt like we were pushing through the crowds in New York. There’s tons of activity and street vendors selling everything from succulent beef and pork skewers and sopaipillas (fried tortilla-like thing topped with cilantro/onions and a hot pepper sauce) to bathroom faucets and TV antennas. Chile is surprisingly expensive so we stayed at one of the cheapest hostels in town nowhere near the tourist district. There weren’t too many inviting places around but we managed to find a lively hole-in-the-wall beside the bus station to enjoy some local brews, that is when the whole downtown wasn’t shut down…It’s a funny thing being a tourist. Only a tourist can arrive in a town the day before a national holiday, the day before the president is set to visit, the day before protests are planned and have no idea. As we ate our chicken skewers and sopaipillas, looking for a garbage can that was nowhere in site (they had been removed by the city ahead of time so that protesters would not vandalize them or use them for vandalizing), we had no idea that the next morning there would be no vendors in sight either.
May 21st is a day of memorial for Chile. It was on this day in the late 1800s that Chile lost a naval battle to Peru, costing many lives. Not only is the 21st a day of memorial it is also the day chosen for the presidential state of nation address, which makes it a fitting day to have a protest. Juan and I came upon the military police in full regalia as we were wandering around looking for a coffee that morning. On the streets were also parked huge army tanks or “guanacos” that can shoot a powerful stream of water into large crowds (these are nicknamed after the animal the guanacos because they spit – like a camel). We kept walking in the direction we thought would take us away from the action, but ended up walking right into the protest, which at the time definitely felt more like a parade. 10,000 people showed up, mainly to protest a large hydro-dam being developed in Patagonia, though other issues were being raised in the leaflets and signs at the rally. People were there from workers’ unions, student groups, women’s rights organizations, LGBT groups and more. The energy was palpable (and positive) and we watched for quite some time as they passed by us to head to the central plaza. As we walked in the opposite direction I felt so sad because we had seen the welcome they were about to receive and I’m sure they knew it too. Juan and I went to a different area of the city, where the memorial service was being carried out. About an hour later we finally sat down to eat and saw on the TV what looked to be a war zone. The same happy parade of protesters was now a chaotic jumble of citizens seeking cover from the guanacos and tear gas that the police were using to break up the protest. It was sad. We left Valparaíso for the rest of the day to visit Viña del Mar, so we were well out of harms way, but days later we were still feeling the effects of the tear gas that still lingered in the air.
Viña del Mar was only a quick 15-minute metro ride from Valparaíso but it felt a world away. Lacking tear gas and jam-packed streets, it was a nice escape. But the town is definitely more upscale, evident from the beautiful condos, nice wide leafy streets, occasional castles rising from the treetops and ritzy restaurants along the beachfront. Along this beachfront a tag team of gypsy women managed to steal $12,000 pesos from me! My money literally disintegrated in their hands. Not being able to afford travelling to Easter Island wouldn’t be a problem though because here we visited the Fonck Museum that houses a large collection of artifacts from the island, like a Moai stone sculpture and impressive wood carvings. Nearby was also an outdoor food market, right on the dried up riverbed – everything looked so delicious and fresh, and often ginormous. They also have a very respectable stationary store.
We finally got to visit Valparaíso properly the next day. As Juan mentioned we were not staying in the touristy area of the city so it was quite a surprise when we took the ascensor (elevator) up to Cerro Concepcion and Cerro Alegre. I swear it felt like those doors opened onto a different world. A world of beautiful vistas of the Pacific Ocean, narrow streets with cafes, restaurants, and art stores and artistic grafitti covering walls and buildings alike. There is a bohemian/artsy feel to this place that we just loved. We walked up and down and all around these steep hills on which Valparaíso is built and took in the warm sunny day. I should say that that Valparaiso is built on 45 steep hills and has 14 very old ascensors that take you up and down. The area we visited along with the ascensors are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Juan and I definitely loved this area and agreed it would make a perfect 1 week get-away.
Without any travel books to guide us we were off to Santiago, the capital of Chile and considered to be one of the top 20 places to live in the world. We were expecting a large chaotic city with a rich history and colonial flare. We saw none of this. The city is large but feels small, is old but feels new, and it is quite pleasant and orderly. The transportation system is quick, clean and efficient - it was a breeze taking the subway to our hostel. We had learned our lesson in Valparaíso and this time paid bigger bucks to stay right in the heart of the artsy cultural area called Bellavista. There were lots of restaurants and pubs that always seemed to be overflowing onto the sidewalks with students from the nearby university, and we found out the drink of choice here is beer - I’m pretty sure we didn’t see one wine glass! We were surprised because it’s starting to get pretty cold here, yet these Chileans have no problem drinking beer outside at all hours. We’re trying hard just to stay warm putting on four top layers! What have we Winnipeggers become?!
Juan and I have a tendency to try to do everything on offer when we arrive in a city or town, which tires us out completely and we often don’t use the hostel to it’s full potential. This was something we were hoping to change in the last part of our trip and I think in Santiago we were successful. We managed to visit the national art museum, hit a few artisan markets and check out the main plazas, including Plaza de Armas. We took the funicular (train) up to a lookout point on Cerro Cristóbal, which gave us a panoramic view of the smoggy city and visited the Mercado Central, which apparently is the place to go for traditional Chilean seafood. I never get too excited about seafood, but Juan loves it. Unfortunately in this instance, my meal of fried fish was much better than his seafood soup of mussels and clams called paila…in his words it was gross and just as bad as the first dish they served him which was another seafood soup, but this one arrived cold and after one bite Juan sent it back to the kitchen. I had consoled myself (when resigning to seafood for lunch) that at least there was a glass of wine included with the meal, but whatever we were served was not wine…it kind of reminded us of apple cider and was ok if you forgot they told you it was wine. Despite this meal out (or maybe because of it!) we cooked quite a bit at the hostel and made good use of their fooseball table, pool table and TV. We met quite a few people, including a girl from Guelph who helped orient us in our search for apartments.
Although we thought Santiago was the end of our Chilean travels, we’re now writing from La Serena, 7 hours north of Santiago on the coast of Chile. We’re here hoping to see a reserve of Humboldt penguins. Unfortunately the ocean has not been cooperating and we’re now just waiting in hope that the boats will be running soon.
We’ll keep you posted!
Kelly & Juan
p.s. If you’re wondering about the name of our blog this time we should explain that Chele is Juan’s childhood nickname and well…it is damn cold here in Chile!
