Santiago, Valparaíso y Pichilemu
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We had 2 full days in Santiago before moving on to the coast. We had to cram a lot in the 2 days to see everything we wanted to but we made it work.
On the first day we dropped our stuff off at the hostel and sorted washing. We then hit the streets of Santiago, and the heat quickly hit us. Santiago was by far the hottest place we have been so far with no clouds and barely any breeze. The temperatures were around 30+ degrees each days. We explored the suburbs of Lastarria and Barrio Italia on these days as recommended by the hostel manager. We also went for dinner at an Arabian restaurant in Bellavista near the hostel. We got “happy hour” cocktails for $5.50 NZD each, including Aperol Spritz, Mojitos and Margaritas. Turns out happy hour at that restaurant runs all day. We topped off the night with yet another gelato.
On day 2 we started our day off the usual way, with some avo/tomato on toast and caffeine. We then headed out for a 3 hour walking tour which took us through some of the locals markets, and ended at the cemetery where some important people were buried, but probably mostly for the architecture. We met a girl there called Mel who is travelling from Sydney, and who is also moving to North Vancouver to live around the same time as us! Making friends before we even get to Canada!
In the afternoon we visited the Museum of Human Rights, a must do for anyone visiting Santiago. You learn all about the military dictatorship (run by Augusto Pinochet) that took over Chile in 1973, and ruled until about 1990. Quite brutal information to take in.
On the way back from the Museum we stopped in at Domino’s to get the Chilean staple, Completos. It’s basically a glorified American hotdog with avocado, diced tomato and onion, sauces, etc. We didn’t get a photo but it was tasty and good to add to the collection of foods eaten by locals. We caught up with my mate Susan for Pisco Sours at a bar after this. She had just flown in from NZ the day before and was about to head down to Patagonia so it was a quick hi/bye before we were on our way again.
The following day we got up early to walk up Cerro San Christobal before it got too hot. The hill was just behind our hostel and didn’t take us too long to get to the top.
After this we had to visit “Sanhatten” so Lucas could purchase a camera clip piece which he’s had to go without the whole trip. The tour guide called it Sanhatten as it is the wealthy area of Santiago, like Manhatten. While we were there we felt like we were in a completely different city! It was very very nice.
The camera shop took us conveniently close to this place called Oakberry which I saw on Instagram. So we thought we would make the most of being near it. Yum.
After lunch we took the 2 hour bus out to Valparaiso on the Coast. We had one full day in Valparaiso (2 nights) where we wandered around the area of our hostel (Cerro Concepción), did another 3 hour walking tour, and, of course, ate cake! The light coloured cake in the picture is called tres leches, or three milks in English. This cake is a Chilean specialty, and very yum!
We then headed to Pichilemu for a few nights, still on the West Coast of Chile, south of Santiago. Pichilemu (more specifically Punta de Lobos) is famous for its surf. On our first day we wandered around town and spent time relaxing on the beach. Lucas got an empeñada for lunch from La Casa De Las Empeñadas which of course I tried, and it was the best empeñada I’ve tried on the trip yet. Thanks Cam for the suggestion! Lucas tried three of the flavours they had over the few days we were there.
We then went to Punta de Lobos for a picnic and sunset, and to watch people surfing the big waves. When we got out there we realised the waves definitely weren’t as big as they can get, but they were still decent. It was fun watching the surfers with our red wine and cheese/crackers. We were out there a few hours, waiting for the much anticipated sunset. It did not disappoint.
On our last day Lucas hired a surfboard for the day and got out for a morning and afternoon surf. He can talk more on how the surf was. I relaxed on the beach and read my book for a lot of the day.
We headed back to Santiago for one night, before catching the 10 hour bus over to Mendoza where we met up with Macy. I loved this time in Santiago, Valparaiso, and Pichilemu. Santiago in particular for me had so much character and colour!
Links & Lessons Learned
[ SANTIAGO, CHILE ]
[ VALPARAÍSO, CHILE ]
[ PICHILEMU, CHILE ]
[ CHILE ]
[ SOUTH AMERICA ]
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