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Published: December 19th 2006
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Now, admittedly I only spent three days in Santiago (and on one of which I opted to take a day-trip to the coast - more about that in a minute), and I think I have been somewhat spoiled by the fantastic South American cities I have visited (think Buenos Aires particularly) but I just couldn't find anything to get excited about in Santiago. It
is rather efficient and clean, and is fortunate enough to have the Andes as a backdrop (if the smog lifts enough to be able to see them!) but if that is the best thing I can think of to say about it, I'll take the dog poo covered pavements of Buenos Aires or the urine stink of Rio over that any day. At least those cities had some character, something I was disappointed to find lacking in the Chilean capital. Add to that the fact that I spent my time there with a rather annoying 19-year old Mancunian girl who was uncomfortable being left on her own for longer than, ooh, five minutes, and I'm sure you can understand why I was rather relieved to board the plane for Auckland.
So I'm not going to talk
Villarica volcano, Pucon
I visited this town for a day on the way to Santiago about that.
Instead, I'm going to expand on the aforementioned day trip that I decided to take (unfortunately with Manc girl). This trip took me, Manc girl, about 40 middle-class, middle-aged sightseers and one rather cute Kiwi to the coastal towns of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar. And what a lovely place Valparaiso is! It possessed a lot of the things I had loved about other towns on this trip: plenty of colonial architecture, cute little side streets, crazy houses painted in about 6 different colours . . . From what I could see the main town and port itself was nothing to write home about; for me, the main action and attraction lay in the thousands of haphazardly built and located houses in the funicular-accessed tiny lanes carved into the hills and cliffs surrounding the main town. As our guide told us (I understood his Spanish better than his English): 'the women in Valparaiso have the best legs in the whole of Chile, because of all the hills they have to walk up.' And he wasn't kidding - about the hills I mean, not the legs. I'm not really qualified to comment on that particular statement! But I
Pucon sunset
I took this from the bus from Pucon to Santiago could believe it to be true, as unless you take the funicular (something generally patronised by the tourists and nobody else) or have a car (and there's a limit to how many cars fit up there on those hills) the only way to get home is walk up the incredibly steep hill. Travelling up it by coach seemed to go on forever, so I would hate to know what it feels like to walk up it. Although maybe I should have done it, given the weight that I have gained since the beginning of this trip . . .
So, back to Valparaiso. Declared a World Heritage Site for its historical importance, natural beauty, original architecture and location in 2003, it is home of Chile's National Congress and its most important seaport. The port itself does little to add charm or character to the town, but it is a busy hive of activity and I ate lunch there, people and boat watching. While in town I also visited the house of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, nestled snugly in the hill with spectacular views over the town and coast. It was an interesting and beautiful house, very much to my
Santiago
Thank god for the Andes taste and I left feeling like I could quite happily live there. I also really loved some of Neruda's poetry and quotes that were dotted throughout the house, a particular favourite being 'The child who does not play is not a child, but the man who does not play has forever lost the child in him', written to explain why he kept a rocking horse in his living room. Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971, was described by Gabriel Garcia Marquez as 'the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language', and was quoted by Lisa in an episode of the Simpsons (Lisa: Pablo Neruda said, 'Laughter is the language of the soul'. Bart: I am familiar with the works of Pablo Neruda) - three rather impressive accolades.
After my lovely day in Valparaiso, by the end of which I wished I was staying there rather than in Santiago, it was back to the capital via a quick stop in Vina del Mar. And a day later it was time for me to say a sad and, in my opinion, premature goodbye to South America, which really felt like the end of a chapter in
my journey. I will miss the continent enormously and have resolved to visit it again, to explore some of the regions and countries that I have not had time for on this trip. It almost seems like a crime to leave without seeing places such as Peru or Bolivia, but I know I cannot do it all in one trip, and I like to think I'm leaving myself something to look forward to in the future. I could quite happily have spent my entire year of travelling in South America, especially Argentina which, for me, had it all: great food, friendly people, and most importantly hugely diverse and mindblowing scenery.
I have so many happy memories of the last 3 months, more than I can count and certainly more than I ever hoped for, that the rest of my trip has a lot to live up to!
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Jean
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Well you did not find character to the citiy since you did not really visit it. If you just go downtown and up the hill, you will see nothing. That would be 1 tiny speck of Santiago. One has to be well informed where to go and there are tons of places!!! It has so many bohemian neighborhoods. Anyways, that shows that chileans need to work in advertising what they've got....a pitiy you missed out santiago really. cheers from switzerland.