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Published: February 10th 2010
The drive from Mendoza, Argentina to Valparaiso, Chile was beautiful and we were very happy to have had panoramic seats on the bus as we traveled during the day. Our bus left Mendoza on the morning of the 1st and we arrived at the border at 12:30pm. We were fortunate that it only took 1.5 hours to get our exit/entry stamps and to have the officials complete the luggage search. We were also very happy that we did not have to pay the reciprocity fee - I guess for now Canadians only pay when arriving by air. (Who knows how long that will last). Anyway, with an additional $135 in each of our pockets, we reached Valparaiso at 6:30pm.
Valparaiso is a really neat city with a laid-back feel. We spent 3 nights in total, staying at the ´El Rincón Marino´ hostel which (although quite pricey at CLP $19000 - approx. $38 USD/night) was very nice and well kept, probably one of the cleanest we have been in so far. We had a private room with cable TV but no private bathroom, and the hostel provided a very good breakfast for free which could either be served in the kitchen
or in your room. Although tempting, we never had breakfast in bed. What service though - you never see that offered at other hostels.
Our time in Valparaiso was short-lived but we did manage to see a large portion of the city on foot. The prices of everything down here are so expensive that we made sure to get around on our own and not sign up for unnecessary tours that were way over-priced (they were charging anywhere from $25+ USD/person for a city tour that did not include lunch or gratuity for the guide). So we toured the naval museum, walked past the important buildings outlined in the tourist map and made our way down to Viña del Mar to see the beach and surrounding area. We also tried to access the graveyard as we could see the beautiful monuments and tombstones at the top of a hill but it was unfortunately closed to the public. The weather overall was beautiful, especially in the day, but cooled off a little bit at night as we were right off the ocean.
Valparaiso is a really neat city that is literally covered in graffiti. Of course there is the
Valparaiso
The public elevator system found around the city.useless, unattractive lettering and symbols that should be covered up, but there is also a lot of work that comes off as very artistic and colourful. In fact, we even saw a kiosk selling magnets with pictures of the different graffiti pieces from around the city on them - neat way to make money. Another interesting aspect of Valparaiso is the use of old elevator systems to lift people up the different levels of the city (there are steep ledges and cliffs everywhere). For a small fee, you get a short ride in one of the many elevator carts found around the city - quite handy but definitely not a modern system.
We left Valparaiso on the morning of the 5th and took the 2.5 hour bus to Santiago. We stayed in Santiago for 3 nights at the ´Bellevista´ hostal which was really nice but also expensive at CLP $19000/2ppl/night. Again, we had a private room, cable TV but no bathroom. This hostal had way more people staying in it so the bathrooms were often occupied and not as well maintained as they should have been. Overall though, it was a good place to stay, friendly staff and a
great location.
Santiago is a huge city! It is busy and relatively nice but nothing really stands out about it, nor does it have a South American feel - like Cordoba, Argentina, it looks as though it could be any city found in North America. One crazy thing about the city is that there are an estimated 500,000 stray dogs living in the streets of Santiago - they are literally everywhere!
We didn´t do much in Santiago except ride the metro to different sections of the city (there are 92 metro stations covering 84.4kms) and wander around looking at the buildings. Like Valparaiso, the city tours offered were ridiculously over-priced at $36+ USD per person, not including food or guide, so of course we did not partake. (I don´t understand why people pay that kind of money to ride around on a bus, especially without an explanation of what they are passing by or seeing). Other than that, we didn´t do much except watch the Super Bowl with some guys at the hostel (okay, Braeden watched and was disappointed when the Colts lost. I drank beer and didn´t care either way).
All in all, a good quick
trip into Chile. Next up, a 20-30 hour bus ride (depending on how the border goes) to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Hopefully the border crossing will be a breeze like last time 😊
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james st. james
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james st. james
Just an FYI, the entire country of Chile has 17million people. Santiago has about 5.3 million. Cheers!