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Published: February 3rd 2007
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Welcome to Chile
This is the border between Chile and Bolivia, however we didn't clear customs for another hour or so! And so we arrived in Chile... or rather we arrived a couple of hours before we reached the border post of San Pedro de Atacama.
San Pedro de Atacama
Our first taste of Chile was the crazy border crossing which seemed chaotic to say the least. We weren't allowed to leave the minibus until the tourist police said so. Then we had to leave our backpacks on the bus until they decided we could pick them up to be searched. Following a superficial search we were officially in Chile, passports stamped and ready to go.
We headed into San Pedo, which is a small village on the edge of the Atacama Desert. We stayed for a day or so deciding that this small village is one that was too expensive for us and the activities mirrored those we had seen in Bolivia. The big different was the heat. It was hot, hot, hot!
We did go horse riding into the Devils valley which was lovely - it did result in Jem having some burns on his legs (as he didn't believe the agency's advice when they said to wear jeans but instead went with his trust old three
Hores Riding
The agent´s favourites (Killer and Devil) couldn´t get out of the stable for our 8:30am start so their stand-ins were Quite and Lazy, which suited us just fine. quarter length pants). For those who didn't feel the pain - the singed leg hairs provided much amusement.
Santiago
On the way to the hostel Jem spotted a restaurant that we tried at later that evening. The food was a promise of things to come. We were so impressed with the food (especially after the fairly non-descript food of Bolivia) we went back for a second time. We also tried some Carmenere wine (the first of many). This grape was taken (read: smuggled) from Spain as "Merlot" before it was wiped out in Europe. As a result only Chile is the only major producer of Carmenere wine (a small quantity is also produced in France). It is sort of light like a Pinot and spicy like a Shiraz (or Syrah, depending on where you come from).
On one of our many general walks around the city, we also discovered a fantastic street which has loads of cafes and bars down it so we headed there for several meals. On one such meal - we couldn't finish all our wine and befriended some French people who were living in Santiago. It was great to get some tips from
On the wine trail
The first stop on our DIY wine tour (although we did take a taxi for this one!). semi-locals.
Central Valley - Talca and Santa Cruz
We always intended to spend some time wine tasting in Chile so we headed south for a few days in the Central Valley. First to Talca (which is further south than Santa Cruz). The Maule Valley has some fantastic Carmenere wines but unfortunately several vineyards were closed so we spent most of our time eating and drinking in restaurants instead (its a hard life). We also visited Villa Algere which is known for its traditional architecture and streets lined with orange trees.
Next the Colchcagua valley - where the vineyards were set up for tourism it was great. We visited two (one large and reasonably commercial and one boutique) on the first day and attempted to visit three on the second day (unfortunately, the last one was unable to fit us in but fortunately at the second one we tasted 5 different wines and the tastings were the size of a small glass of wine). We had also decided to walk part of the way and between each of these vineyards (we think we walked about 6 kms) because all that wine and the good food was having an effect
Outside Montes
The last winery on our DIY winery walking tour. Luckily it was only 500 meters down the road from the previous one as they were fully booked. on our waistlines. We had planned to walk back to the main road (another 5 or so kms) but the heat of the day got to us so instead we hoped in a collectivo (a taxi which goes on a defined route and picks up and drops off people along the way - it a good option if the towns are small or the taxi goes past both the start and end point of your journey).
We then headed back to Santiago (via the tourist route and the slowest buses possible - our bad choices along the way).
Santiago, again
Back for the last time and we decided to finish off the trip with a bit of R&R around the pool. We checked into the Hyatt thanks to some loyalty points.
It has been a fantastic way to end our trip (with some well deserved luxury).... and toping up the tan for NZ. We head back tonight but are easing ourselves back into real life slowly with three weddings in the next 10 days.
We are incredibly sad to see the end of this trip as it has been fantastic and reminds us of how much we like to travel and how big the world really is. We have been fortunate enough to spend the last few years in London... so we hope to see some of you (and read your blogs of course) coming to visit us in NZ. Email us as our home will always be open to you when you visit.
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