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Published: February 17th 2007
The mountains as we head to Chile
This is looking east at the Andes from just outside of Mendoza. Look at our return to Mendoza entry for some interesting road pictures.Dave's Take on Santiago
We decided awhile back that we would mostly shy away from Chile because of its budget busting abilities (this is definitely good for Chile though - as their economy is prospering) , but being so close we could not stay completely away. We opted for the mini bus option from Mendoza to Santiago, which is supposed to shave an hour or so off the travel time and the price was identical to the larger buses. An early AM departure at the now familiar Mendoza bus station to catch our CHI-AR mini bus. It was running a little late as we found our driver engaged in a rather heated discussion with another man behind the bus. Nonetheless we all crowded around the back with our luggage to be loaded - the driver barely broke stride in his argument as he manhandled the bags out of our hands and almost ripped Kevyn´s shoulder off.
So finally after some delay we got in, first in the front seat and then we retreated to the back seats to distance our self from the irate driver. Off we went without a word. As we were driving through the vineyards and outskirts
Aconcagua
Our one and only shot at the mountain. We dared not ask our driver a thing, let alone for him to stop so we could get a better photo. of Mendoza, our driver was constantly continuing the arguement (or recounting it) over the cell phone. Actually, everytime we entered any cell phone coverage area for the 6 hours the conversation continued. Cell phone usage and driving is one thing; but add a minibus passing others on some of the most windy and steep roads I have ever seen - it gets scary. Not to mention our driver talked alot with his hands. Oh well, we made it right? He was still at it when we reached Santiago!!!!!
Anyways it was a very scenic ride and the road around Aconcagua (the highest mountain outside of Asia) was a feat of perserveance for whomever built it. Steepest switchbacks ever(29 of them, to be exact...they are numbered) and it was the first time I have ever seen any vehicle in one of those runaway truck ramps!!! They really do work.
Anyways at the border, they are deadfast certain that no Argentinian fruit will cross the border into Chile - no matter what!!!! Every car is searched, every bus is emptied of everything and scanned through an airport like scanner. So as you can imagine this takes time, quite a bit
K waiting at the border for over 2 hours
Chile hates fruit, many say that the border hassles are a result of still disputed territory with AR, that is in the south and the border crossings there are a snap, it is quite busy here and quite beautiful amking the wait OK. of time - about 2 hours. Meaning for us, a long time to stay inside a huge building sheilding ourselves from the wind. At least the customs was set in a beautiful area and the whole drive was incredibly scenic and interesting. I would be more impressed with Chile´s inspection system if it was not for the rotting banna we found in our pack when we finally reached Santiago!!!! Ooops...
A short taxi ride took us to our reserved room at Hostel Americano in Santiago. It wasn{t the nicest place we stayed, it was very old and dingy, but the people were friendly and it was in a good location. A quick drop of our gear and we were off. We became quickly versed in the metro of Santiago and headed downtown to the touristy-ish area. We saw some great architecture and history, and we rode our first funicular. For those not lucky enough to have ridden a funicular - they are FUN (see pictures). We rode it to the top of a hill in the center of town - offering almost 360 degree views of this growing metropolis. The area is also a popular mountain bike ride up
the mini bus that could
These little guys saved us at least an hour as we sped through the Andes. as well for the locals. A nice church and many historical monuments make up the peak of the island in the sky away from the hustle of Santiago, Chile. We did not stay until sunset as it is late here, similar to AK and we were hungry.
KJ´s note: This is where we discovered for the first time this very strange (to us) drink, which Dave has featured in his unusual sights journal. We noticed everyone around us had this drink with a spoon and some kind of seed or nut-looking things in the bottom. We figured, when in Santiago, you know....so we bought one. It is called Mote con Huesillo, and here is what I found on the internet about it. Beware the translation is a little rough:
In Chile we have a considered drink “national”, because nobody has known it until it steps on the western slope of America by these latitudes, and I am speaking of never weighed mote well with huesillos. The huesillos are bare and dry peach trees (peaches), with seed and mote is dry wheat, soaked and soon cooked to unite it to the huesillos that together is delicious! So, it was
K finds a volcano.
This is in Plaza Brasil just west of the center where we stayed and found several Chinease restaurants. interesting, and actually quite good. We were glad we tried it.
We ended up in the Bellevista section of the city that is said to have a happening restaurant scene. We were excited by the prospect of greater menu variety. Argentina has been somewhat of a challenge for us, since we don´t eat much meat, and neither of us will touch a ham and cheese samdwich! Anyway, we surveyed several menus and found a very international selection and entered one when we saw some Mexican items on the menu - my eternal search for the bean. Readying ourselves for a Mexican feast we found they had other items - we ended up with sushi and Japanese Gyosas that were incredible. This was a very welcome change in our eating choices and we soaked up every second of it. The elusive bean would have to wait again. Full and satisfied, we headed home via the Metro and fell fast asleep in our very empty hostel.
The next day was Valentine´s Day and we started the day with a very nice breakfast in the hostel and decided to walk back to the center taking in the sites along the way.
Sleeping
The playground was closed and this guy took up for a nap on one of the concrete playing objects. Santiago is a very architecturally interesting city. We made our way through the streets and plazas and ended up at the Chilean Museum of Pre-Colombian Art. This museum is said to have one of the greatest collections of pre-European artifacts for the Southern Hemisphere and Central America. In short IT DOES!!!!!
This is one of the nicest and insanely cool museums I have ever been too, the varying amounts and types of exhibits is amazing and anyone nearby Santiago should spend some time there. Unfortuanately, they did not allow any photos to be taken inside and everyone should go see it for themselves. This single place was the highlight of our short adventures into Chile.
I will move on, but really, I could rave more! We continued to the metro and by now we were pros at the metro (or so I thought). We were headed to a market that is said to have some of the best shellfish restaurants around. Not on a ocean, we still decided it would be a nice place to have lunch. So all aboard, a quick transfer and we made it to our stop. The hardest thing with the metro is getting
The entrance to the Metro
in another beautiful plaza again. back above ground. With many exits you never know exactly where you'll end up and orientating on the map is fruitless in the crowds. So we exited and set out in a predetermined direction. After about 3 blocks Kevyn said that the area looked familiar. That was silly, we were miles away from where we had been and we pressed on. I finally agreed that we had ended up back in the same plaza we had been in earlier when Kevyn pointed to the same dog lying in the same place under the statue that we had seen earlier. (The ornate buildings and statues were further clues...we aren't just navigating by sleeping dogs...those are EVERYWHERE!!!).
Ok, so we made a huge loop and the stations were 3 blocks away. In my defense, the subway maps have no scale so who would have known? Anyways after a great laugh and admitting Kevyn had been right, we turned around with my Metro aptitude very low. We made our way to the very packed market and eventually retreated back to the street. It was packed and our translation skills were minimal (we could make out "octopus" and "fried fish" but it didn't
New vs. old in Santiago Chile
Always contrasting architecture to see. convince us to stay) with several touts trying to negoitiate us into their restuarant - or more aptly described as stalls. While smelling good, we did not find a place to eat and retreated back towards our hostel. Back on the metro, we enjoyed seeing all the men carrying on borad, presumably for their Valentine. This time we navigated our way to our destionation without any problem.
We ended up at a Chinease Warehouse Restaurant. I call it this because it could have sat well over 400 people, yes I counted. The food was decent and we were full for our short bus ride to the next destination - Viña del mar, Chile...
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