Chile

December 22, 2009

From Mendoza, Argentina, we crossed into Santiago, Chile. We took a fabulous bus, a full cama bus which meant the seat basically reclined all the way. It was great because the drive was amazing, weaving through the Andes, so I laid back, listened to my i-pod and enjoyed the view! One notable mention was that at the bus station I tried to step up a big step and ended up falling over, and because my backpack was so big I couldn´t get up! Dor had to hoist me up...hilarious. Also, a customs dog sniffed my blue cheese which I didn´t realize wasn´t allowed to bring cheese or fruit into the country, so that was a little issue. Then the dog sniffed stuff in both my big bacpack and Dor´s...we caused quite a commotion that day!

While we were in Santiago, we stayed at Casa Roja, a hostel that was made out of a huge, old mansion. This hostel was amazing! HUGE kitchen, pool outside, great outdoor area to sunbathe and read, great social scene...massive! We had a great time especially with some English guys we had met back in Cordoba, Argentina.

Santiago was a nice city-I thought it was very pretty and nice. Chile is much more expensive than the other countries, which we didn´t love! (Backpacking makes you really...thrifty (cheap) ) :) We had 3 nights in Santiago, so we did some sightseeing, seeing a lot of the city basically all on foot. Santiago had a huge and beautiful park, Parque Metropolitano, which I spent some hours navigating and enjoying on my own. Other than sightseeing, we basically enjoyed the hostel´s pool and the summery weather and the fun company and social scene at the hostel.

I had one very notable afternoon in a park near our hostel where I spent hours writing postcards, updating my journal, and listening to music. For a while, I just laid on my back looking up at the trees listening to music and thinking about my journey and life. It was really nice to have the time alone to enjoy some peace and nature. I also encountered a very unique pick-up line by a Chilean man in the park...he sat down next to me and said in Spanish "Do you have tweezers?" and proceeded to tell me how he had a splinter in his hand...blah blah. I explained in Spanish I was from the US and my Spanish wasn´t great. He exclaimed "Tu pareces una Chilena!" aka you appear to be/look like you´re from Chile! He then proceeded to ask me if I wanted a Chilean in my life...(at least that´s what I understood in Spanish).

It was funny because in the park earlier that day I had to ask a guy for directions (the park was huge!) and he thought I was Chilean as well :) haha.

After a few nights in Santiago, Dor and I, along with our new friend Neive, from New York, headed to Valparaiso. It was a small beach, artsy town about 2 hours away by bus. We spent one night here, touring the city and enjoying the beach in Vina del Mar a bit. Valparaiso had a really cool and artsy feel that I liked a lot. Many walls were painted with murals, and everything was so colorful! It was pretty awesome too because there was this one area called Museo del Cielo where the streets, walls, stairs were all painted with murals and mosaics, and we got to actually meet one of the painters--he was so proud of his work, happy to pose for a picture, and very friendly. It was really nice! The beach in Vina del Mar (15 mins from Valpo) was nothing to write home about, and a bit chilly (in Chile, haha, a stupid running joke) but it was nice to spend some time on the beach.

That was all our time in Chile...just to see the capital and check out the beach....I would say that a large amount of backpackers only spend a little time in Chile or skip it due to the cost and since Argentina is right next door and significantly cheaper (and my opinion, even more awesome :) )From there we took a 12 hour overnight bus to Osorno, Chile and then caught a connecting 5 hour bus back to Argentina!