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Published: February 10th 2006
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As we dropped down a mere 2000m from the altoplano to the small village of San Pedro de Attacama, one of the first things I noted was that the cars and trucks slowly climbing the hill in the opposite direction all appeared to be shiny and new. A bit of a change to their Bolivian and Peruvian counterparts just a few kilometers away.
When we reached the border control, the door of our airconditioned bus slid back and we were welcomed by the scorching heat! needless to say, San Pedro lies in the driest desert in the world, 100km from the driest place on earth. The village itself is a collection of adobe (mud brick) houses lying around a dazzlingly painted white square intertwined by dusty streets with lots of tourists. We arrived in high season and Chileans and Argentinians were on holiday en masse. This meant that the prices (which we already expected to be high in Chile) where even higher and it took sometime for us to adjust to paying 5 whole pounds for a meal, rather than the 40 pence or so we got by on in Bolivia!
We found a nice hostel and checked into
our small (and once again expensive) double. It was good to be in the warmth again, but by the time we managed to pop out for lunch, we were hit by the dreaded "siesta" and everything was closed until 6.
So a little hungry and tired and went to buy our bus tickets to Salta, Argentina for the following day. To our annoyance, we discovered that there were only two bus companies going to Salta and they were both booked up for the ensuing 10 days!! We explored other avenues, including hitching with truckies or private transport but the former seemed too dodgy and the latter too expensive (380 USD for a 7 hour trip, based on 4 passengers) We wanted to go to Salta but not that much! Even with JGirl's excellent Spanish and her endless charm, this was the cheapest price we could get. This was blow number one: we had come to Chile to make the road to Argentina easier and cheaper but now we appeared to be stuck in San Pedro and it was primed and ready to take a chunk out of our budget!
Ultimately, we decided not to stay in San Pedro
for 10 days but to head south to Santiago on a 24 hr bus that was due to leave in two days. We spent the next couple of days settling into the desert lifestyle. The town although expensive, turned out to be a cool place to chill aided by good food, music and company and lots of hammock swinging. The only downside to the whole experience was the loss of our wallet, and typically the day it was half hinched by a Peruvian lad, it happened to have ALL of our debit cards in it. Very stupid I know, but we had gone to buy a ring form a shop and where not sure what type of card they would except, therefore for the first time in our travels, we took all of them! BIG mistake. The wallet had money in too to the tune of 60 pounds but the inconvenience of not being able to withdrawer money from cash points was the real bugger.
We had just enough money to get ourselves to Santiago and to the the most comfortable hostel we have stayed at yet. This goes by the name of the "Happy House Hostel", a beautiful,
Santiago Cemetery
Salvador Allende's tomb charismatic colonial building, located in the Bohemian district (sorry have forgotten name). It may have been slightly pricey but it was just like staying in someone's house, and a luxuary one at that!
We spent the next three days hanging out in and around Santiago and exploring its sights. We checked out the impressive city cemetry. Vast areas within the cemetery consist of large family mausiliams(sp?) housing politicians, military greats and other 'well to do´s'. As you stroll through this tranquil place, various impressive styles of architecture peak through the green leafy tree lined avenues. It is very much like a hot verison of the Highgate cemetery in London. The Chilean version accommodating both those that had and those that didn't, ie rich and poor. The graves of the latter being overgrown, shabby ... and often completly forgotten
We also climbed the Cerro San Cristobal, a large hill in the middle of the city, affording amazing views, dominated by a large white statue of the Virgin Mary. She keeps a watchful eye over the bustling metropolis, and in turn is greated by views of the dramatic Andes rising all around her. The central fish market also proved to
be a great find, the centre has been transformed into a bustling area filled with restaurants (mainly selling fish dishes unsurprisingly)
Overall, we liked Santiago, it is a very civilised place. The street vendors seem to have a deep routed hate for Maggie Thatcher, which I suppose is justified. JGirl found a "Salon" where she got waxed for 50p-bargain! what she saved in cost she made up for in pain. I fell in love with the national dish, otherwise known as a "Completo" - this for those of you who are curious, is a large hot dog topped withe heaps of onions, freshly chopped tomatos and mashed avocado.... deliciosa!
We decided that it had been way to long since we had seen the sea and a beach, so with that in mind we headed off to the coast for a couple of days of fresh sea air.
Valpariso used to be the most important sea port in all of South America, and therefore back in the days of Drake and other English pirates, it was raided over 18 times. With the birth of the Panama Canal, its importance diminished, leaving the city in suspended animation. With the
lack of sea trade, all the major banks upped sticks and moved to Santiago. The city itself grows from the shore line up into 24 seperate small hills or "Cerros" each cerro has its own history and distinctive feel, poor barrios sit side by side against large mansions. We stayed in or on should I say, Cerro Conception, whose streets consist of steep inclines with brightly painted tin covered houses along its sides. The area has been enjoying a bit of renovation of late and long time residents now share their streets with artists and students. It was a lovely place to stay.
We had planned to visit Vina del Mar (Chile's seaside resort) but rain and clouds stopped play. Instead we spent a couple of days wandering around Valparaiso's labyrinth of cobbled streets, imagining life back in its heyday, we enjoyed riding in the "acensors' - small wooden cabins, plonked on rails and used by residents and tourists alike to ascend and descend the steep hillocks. These inventions are over 100yrs old and still work in the same way today as they did back when things were busy here. Functional but very rickerty.
We ended up in
Valparaiso
Main Square moument Chile by default but are glad that in the week there we managed to see a couple of places and sample a slice of Chilean life. That said, we were looking forward to Argentina and wanted to make tracks there. JGirl has been dreaming of learning Tango in Buenos Aires and I have been dreaming about.....steaks....! We are told the best steaks in the world are to be had in Argentina and high quality beef is available everywhere. JGirl has not eaten beef for 10 years but even she may turn to the 'dark side' as she calls it!
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JGM1
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What a coincidence
Amazing - I am sitting here at work (with Eppy) reading your latest bulletin about San Pedro de Atacama. He and I were there 10 years ago! We travelled around Chile in 1996. It doesn't sound like it's changed very much. xxx