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Published: September 9th 2023
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Have you ever fallen in love with a country so much that you wished you could live there forever? Believe me or not, that’s what I felt about Chile after an amazing 10 days journey in this beautiful country. We travelled from top to bottom in Chile, and I enjoyed every moment of it. I know this sounds a bit impractical, but I felt that I blended so well with the lifestyle as if I had been living there so many years. Despite my language barrier, I enjoyed company of the common people, places like Punta Arenas and San Pedro made me feel home, I could watch the beauty of Torres del Paine for eternity. Somehow, I found a mental bond with the country. Spending noontime in a food court in Santiago Mall or asking subway train fare to a ticket agent using Google Translate in my smart phone felt so normal at a time. It never occurred to me that I am just a visitor in Chile. Does it sound real? Well, you all know I am a crazy nomad. That’s why I felt so sad when I woke up in the morning in my hotel in Santiago and it
suddenly flashed in my mind that it was our last day in Chile. We have to leave Chile in the evening back to our home country in Canada. I quickly got out of the bed. No, I was not going to let this day just go by. I would make the most of it. ‘
The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it’.
****
Paying a visit to San Cristobal in Santiago has been in my bucket list all along starting from the day one of my planning for a trip to Chile. I really wanted to enjoy the panoramic view of the City of Santiago from the top of San Cristobal Hill. Unfortunately, I had to push our plan for this visit near the end of our trip due to our cramped itinerary. I must admit that it was our crazy idea of setting our foot in almost every corner of this beautiful country in just 10 days. But we made it. And we made sure to keep our last day in Santiago free so as to make a leisurely trip to San Cristobal.
It was a lovely sunny day in Santiago
when we headed out for San Cristobal. Two Spanish words that were the main engine for driving us everywhere in Chile are ‘vamos’ and ‘cerveza’. Especially, the word ‘cerveza’ can take Ryan anywhere on earth at anytime of the day. We handed our luggage to the front desk for a later pick up after we checked out. I took a deep breath and stepped on the busy road in front of the hotel. The underground metro station was close to the Best Western Hotel and with Ryan’s accurate sense of direction we exactly knew how to reach San Cristobal Hill from there. From the last metro station, it is roughly half hour walk to reach the park of San Cristobal Hill. Actually, once we got off the train, it was a lovely walk to San Cristobal along La Consepcion under a soft winter sun. We crossed the Mapocho River and took a leisurely walk along the affluent neighbourhood of Av. Sta. Maria. The City of Santiago has so much to offer, it was impossible to cover the City in such a short time. But I am glad that we didn’t miss this part of the beautiful city.
We purchased
cable car tickets for traveling to the top of the Hill. Slowly the city of Santiago surfaced in front of us as we were climbing up the hill in cable car. During our first leg of stay in Santiago when we just arrived, we saw Santiago from the viewing gallery from Costanera Center, the tallest building in Chile. But that was different. The viewing gallery from Costanera Center only shows glimpse of the city from various angles. Here, the panoramic view of the vast city of Santiago with the background of Andes Mountain from the top of the hill was unparalleled. The statue of Virgin Mary, commonly known as the Statue of ‘Immaculate Conception’, was standing high under a blue sky decorated with fluffy white cotton ball clouds. There is a small chapel at the base of the statue where John Paul II prayed and blessed the City of Santiago in 1987. There is also a church close by for holding the masses under special occasions. The hill is not only a tourist attraction, locals also visit the hill quite often. We took cable car back to the bottom of the hill after spending some time on the top.
On the way back, we settled on a street side patio of a pub to enjoy some ‘pisco sour’ for the last time. It was not a crowded street during the weekend. Sitting under the patio next to a leafy sidewalk, I was watching people walk by, sometimes a couple hand in hand – so peaceful! While sipping my drink, I was reminiscing our last ten days in Chile. The furnicular ride of Valpariso, sunrise against Osorno Volcano in Puerto Varas, speechless beauty of Torres Del Paine, nostalgic Punta Arenas, innocent look of a lone guanaco by the road side in Atacama, – all were passing like a slide show in front of my eyes. But above all, what fascinated me most is the friendship of the lovely people in Chile. Where else would you find a person who would let a total stranger like me use her National ID because I couldn’t purchase an internet service in my phone without it! How many times you find an air crew goes out of the way to help a passenger and becomes a trusted friend forever? This is only possible in Chile! Yes, I loved them from the bottom of my
heart. I strongly believe, a place is always characterized by its people and not by the place itself. Chile has made my belief even stronger. The belief has worked as a catalyst when I wanted to make Punta Arenas my home, the trust of friendship from Ckoi Lodge staff made me feel relaxed when I walked on the red dust of desolate unpaved roads in San Pedro! Once again, I heard the eternal truth whispered in my ears, ‘
Friendship knows no language, it speaks the universal language of the heart’.
Thank you Chile! I will be back again!
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