Santiago, Chile

Oct 19-21

Whenever you ask someone what they think of Santiago, they're guaranteed to say it's "just another big city." And to be honest... I agree.

One of our days in Santiago we did a walking tour and the other we walked up San Cristobal hill (which turned out to be more of an intense hike than a walk)

Though the 'sights' weren't anything impressive, some of the info on the walking tour was interesting. We learnt that there are millions of stray dogs in Chile, but they're all generally very healthy (some even a bit fat!) because they're so loved and well looked-after by the Chileans. Restaurants leave out left over food for the dogs, so much food that the dogs have become picky about what they eat! 

Another interesting discovery was the tradition of 'coffee with legs' - a style of coffee shop unique to Santiago. Tea is the most popular drink in Chile, and when the first coffee shop opened it wasn't very successful. So to entice customers, the coffee shop had all their waitresses dress provocatively, which back in the day meant a short, tight skirt. All of a sudden the coffee shop was a hit and very quickly more 'coffee with legs' shops started opening. Nowadays you can tell just how provocatively the waitresses dress, depending on how dark the windows are: the darker the windows, the less clothes the ladies are wearing! But these coffee shops only serve coffee and are only open in business hours.

One of the highlights in terms of actual 'sights' on the walking tour was a pair of murals painted by an artist who, of course, was from Valpairiso. The murals represent many aspects of Chile's history and culture.

The walk up San Cristobal was not at all what we were expected. I had imagined a casual stroll along a marked path. Instead, we were walking along questionable paths through the hills, sometimes so steep that we were practically rock climbing.

Needless to say it was a good workout. And luckily we picked a really clear day, so the views were worth it!

Once we were at the top, with Virgin Mary, you could see the whole city with the snow-capped mountains in the background.

On my last night in Santiago, which was infact my last night in all of Latin America we ate traditional Chilean food. I had Pastel de Choclo - a dish traditionally layered with meat & onions, chicken and corn puree...however I opted for the veggie version to avoid the onion. Tasty! Afterwards, we sat around at the hostel drinking Flor de Caña... What better way to end my Latin American journey than with my favourite drink of the trip, and with four friends I'd met at various stages of the trip - one from back in Guatemala, another from Nicaragua, one from Argentina and the last one a friend just made recently in Chile!

So... It's all over... Twelve incredible countries in five and a half months. No more rice & beans and no more struggles with Spanglish! For now, at least...

Hasta luego, Latin America. I'll be back :)

The journey through South: Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay & Chile.

Valpairiso, Chile

Oct 17-19

Valpairiso is a magical city...there is no other word for it. I love love love it.

The hostel we stayed at was cute and artsy, with a nice view.

That said, everything in Valpairiso was cute and artsy!

And just about everywhere offered a nice view.

The buildings were all kinds of bright colours, the streets were often decorated with bunting and just about every surface was covered in murals and street art.

Even the (many many) staircases were nicely decorated.

Despite the fact that the city is covered in artwork, graffiti/street art is infact still illegal. Apparently the guy who painted the piano staircase got half way through and was arrested. He spent a night in jail and as soon as he was released he went back to finish it off!

My favourite mural was one that showed Valpairiso's colourful streets and dock area. It just captured everything I love about this city.

There were two other murals I really loved, both also colourful and quirky.

Wherever there wasn't a huge mural, there were little pieces of artwork.

One piece had mirrors in it, just begging us to become a "part of the art!"

Given my love for the street art, I spent the vast majority of my time in Valpairiso just roaming the streets. However I did also visit Pablo Neruda's house. He was a famous Chilean poet and diplomat who won a nobel prize for literature. He was a "collector" which meant that his house was full of interesting bits and bobs acquired from all over the world. A really unique little place.

And a really unique little town. Everywhere needs to be this colourful!

Mendoza, Argentina

Oct 13-17

Mendoza: wine town! As someone who doesn't generally drink wine, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from Mendoza... But it certainly did not disappoint.

Sebastian and I arrived in the morning, having survived yet another overnight bus. The long walk to the hostel was well worth it when we discovered the pool (we're back in warm-ish weather! Yay!) It was also located in a really nice area.

Not wanting to waste our day, we showered, ate and set off for the wineries. We didn't have as much time as we would've liked, arriving to Maipu (the wine region) at about 2.30, with all the wineries closing up about 5.30/6ish. We hired bikes from Mr Hugo and set off for La Rural, which came highly recommended by both the hostel and the bike rental. However, it was more of a museum than a winery, so not really our favourite spot. We had a little look around and tried a Savvy B! Not too bad.

Next stop was the La Botella, a gorgeous little shop run by the friendliest man in the world. We were treated to a tasting of 5 different wines, all Malbec, and recieved a bottle each to take away with us...all for less than AU$5!! This might be the first time I've ever enjoyed red wine! Not bad at all.

The last place we managed to squeeze in was Mevi, an actual winery. It was stunning. We sat out on the patio, in the sun, tasting a variety of wines until they began closing up shop, at which point we raced our bikes back to Mr Hugo. We were a good half an hour later than they had requested, but they didn't seem to care, just offered us pineapple juice and asked us about our day.

In the evening, still a little drunk from all the vino, we explored a couple of the nearby bars, but couldn't find much going on.

We had a lazy, yet somewhat productive, day the next day. Between long naps, we booked buses and hostels and activities for the coming days. I had wanted to go roam around a local park, where there is apparently a view over the town, but the grey skies scared me away.

Mendoza is situated just near the Andes, which divide Argentina from Chile, so we hopped on a bus the next day to go and explore the mountains. The drive was stunning, even before we got properly into the mountains. 

As it turns out, we took the exact same road a few days later to get to Chile..but doing this little tour meant we got various stops to explore and take some snaps.

The ski season has just recently finished, but there was still plenty of snow on the mountains. 

A few condors flew by, not far above us, as we were driving. They're massive!

At one point we could see the highest peak of the Andes, which is the highest mountain in the world outside of the Himalayas.

We also made a stop at Puente del Inca, a natural arch that formed over a hot-water river. Scientists are not even entirely sure how it formed but it is thought to have something to do with the hot water interacting with the icy cold climate... A mystery!

The following morning we met up with Tim, an Aussie guy I met briefly way back in Guatemala. Having decided that one day at the wineries wasn't enough, we spent our last day back on Mr Hugo's bikes, exploring the Maipu wine region. As it turns out, none of us were really big wine drinkers...so we started the day at a beer garden. Beautiful little spot.

Just around the corner we stopped at Trapiche, where we sampled a delicious sweet white wine and split a bottle of Rose. The view there was stunning. A nice place to relax in the sun with a glass of vino! 

While we were there we met Nessi, who joined us when we set off for the distillery. At Tierra de Lobo Distillery we were greeted by a very chatty Swiss man who showed us around, explaining how he makes various kinds of liquor. We each sampled three different liquors, one of course being dulce de leche! Tasty!

Before we knew it, we'd run out of time and had to return our bikes. 

We discovered that La Botella was still open and stopped by again to sample a few more vinos! This time he chucked in a white wine...thankfully. I can only handle so much red wine...

I don't think I'll ever be a red wine drinker (sorry to disappoint you, Dad!) but it's safe to say that Mendoza has given me an appreciation for white wine. 

One more snap from the beautiful drive through the Andes, into Chile: 

Adios Argentina!