15th to 21st Feb ....back in Chile but not chilly!!
I left for the bus station full of excitement about the trip over the Andes mountains into Santiago. The first thing you see is a row of 50 bus lanes and you do not know which lane your bus is leaving from, and your Spanish is not up to such interrogation! With the help of a really nice couple I ended up on the correct bus with my luggage. Oh for Business Class travel!! The bus was really very comfortable, once I got on it.
But, I was not prepared for the four hour wait at the border crossing in blistering heat!! I will never complain about US Immigration again! To give you some background history, Chile are dependent on wine growing and vegetables, so they are, rightly so, paranoid about taking a whole list of things into their country. The sniffer dogs are not for drugs but insects, fruit, cheese.... I could go on forever, but I think you get the message. Everything has to be taken out of the bus and put through a scanning machine - of course, you always get the idiot who forgot to eat the apple or banana, and so the whole thing grinds to a halt - many times!! The only redeeming feature was the amazing switchback ride down the mountain - I was sitting upstairs at the front and it was a white knuckle ride - I thought the bus was going over the edge down a sheer drop of hundreds of feet - I held my breath most of the way down!! Wait until you see the pictures! I was not the only one who was sweating or holding on for dear life. I have the utmost respect for the driver - he must have nerves of steel.
We eventually got to Santiago at 7.30 pm to a free for all at the taxi rank. It was bedlam! Again, two very nice professional ladies came to my aid. They happened to live in Providencia, where I was staying. One of them took me in her taxi and the other one went alone in another taxi. She was a really nice lady but, not a word of English!! Again my pigeon Spanish came in useful - I was able to tell her where I was staying and when she was dropped off she told the driver to take me to my B&B - what a relief! By the time I got there I was cream crackered (those of you, who know cockney rhyming slang, will know what that means - the rest of you can guess!! I retired to bed and slept like a baby.
Everyone here seems to use the long-distance buses and I am not surprised - they are really luxurious, well CATA definitely is worth travelling with. This is another lovely B&B. I have not had a bad one yet - long may it continue - thanks Trip Advisor.
Santiago is in a bowl and so I was not prepared for the heat and the SMOG, which causes havoc with your picture-taking. It was, on average, 32 degrees centigrade and upwards each day and very little air.
On Saturday I took another city tour - US$30 - it was a hop on hop off but I stayed the distance and then decided what I wanted to see in depth. This city has a very European look about it - lots of tree-lined avenues and beautiful houses. I managed to get Mass in Santiago Cathedral, which is really ornate, as most of them are - the only contrast is that as you come out of the church you are faced with the beggars on the steps - what a contrast. I spent all day Saturday and Sunday exploring Santiago.
Must Do´s
Buy a Bus/Metro Card - the drivers or stations do not take cash - buy the card (like an Oyster card in London) at the metro and you can top it up when necessary.
Take the Funicular and the Gondola to see the Virgin at Cerro San Cristobal - fantastic views - if the smog lifts!!
Visit Bellavista - one of Pablo Neruda´s houses, and a Bohemian district with lots of Lapis Lazuli gem shops.
Go to the top of Cerro Santo Lucia - again great views.
Plaza de Armas is the main square with the nicest Post Office I have ever seen - great architecture.
Palacio de la Modena - residential palace of the Presidents of Chile - really cute guards, I mean changing of the guards!!
Some very interesting museums to visit
Visit a vineyard - I visited Conche y Toro but it is very touristy - try one of the less well known places - Conche y Toro is the largest winery in Chile and in the top 10 in the world.
On Monday I got another bus (this time Tur Bus company) to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar. It was a two hour journey through the vineyards, which are at the foothills of the Andes. Unfortunately, when we got to Valpo - that is what the locals call Valparaiso - it was covered in a sea fret or mist so you could not see anything!! It also made the temperature chilly. The other problem was that all the museums were closed - you need to remember that museums close here on Mondays. I took another tour of this area which was alright apart from the weather. Apparently, this is a regular occurrence in this area - the sea mist. We had lunch at a little restaurant overlooking the sea with its high rollers (I mean the waves, not the people) - although there is a Casino in Vina del Mar! There are lots of ascensores (lifts) to the houses on the top of over three dozen hills, on which Valpo stands. The town is like a semi-circle bay with the houses sweeping down to this bay. Many cruise ships dock here and there is a big tanker business at the port. I went up ascensor Conception which gives a really good view of the bay and there is a good coffee place up there with comfortable lounge chairs. I also went up another couple of ascensores - the higher up you go the more expensive the houses!! There is a very strong Naval presence here, with lots of frigates and destroyers in the harbour. I spent the day between Valpo, Vina del Mar (a more up-market seaside resort) and Renaca beach area, where we had lunch. It was just a pity that the sun did not break through until 4 pm, when the haze burnt off. I got the bus back at 6.30 pm, as it takes 2 hours and I wanted to take some more pics on the way back.
Tuesday was wine day...... Conche y Toro to be precise. A big multi-national concern, with a guided tour to match - all very automated and sterile - just like the vats where the wine is stored! Big groups being shown around, but no spontaneity - all very regimented for me. I only liked one of the wines - a Cab Sauv - but we did not taste their top range - surprise, surprise!! Mendoza was far more personable and personal.
Tomorrow I am going to Los Domenicos - more of which I will tell you later.
Have now been there! It was an arts and crafts centre with lots of small craftspeople selling their wares. I was not in the mood as just before I got there a cruise ship had dropped off a bus full of American tourists!! I have nothing against Americans but this group took over the whole place, so I just went and had a coffee and watched the world go by! I did not know that it was a tourist stop on the cruise lines. I spent the rest of the day covering some of the places I had not managed to see before. The temperature here has been in the 90´s every day so very difficult to keep cool and when you are sightseeing you need some breeze!
I was taken by taxi to the Diego del Almagro hotel, which is near the airport. I ti s a great place to stop if you have an early flight the next day. They provide breakfast and a shuttle to the airport for checking in. Well worth the $106 I paid.
I am now leaving Chile with very fond memories of the country - wonderful scenery with vast contrasts, lakes, mountains, desert, glaciers, straits and friendly people - it is more expensive than Argentina but not too much.
I have been really fortunate with the B&B´s I have stayed in - up to now!! They have all hit the spot. You probably will not hear from me again until I am in Florida as I do not know what Columbia has to offer. It is another adventure into pastures new!! So I will say Buenas Dias y Hasta Luego!!
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