About an hour and a half west from Santiago are the coastal towns of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar (pronounced Vinya). There were 18 people from other tours in the van from many countries. A man from Indonesia, a woman from the Netherlands, a shoe buyer from Bogota, Colombia, a Mexican woman living in San Antonio, TX, and many more. It was the UN of tours!
Half way there, we stopped at a touristy rest stop in Casablanca, where dozens of vans off-loaded passengers. The valley is known for its wines because most days it is socked in with fog that provides the moisture the vines need. Supposedly, it burns off in the afternoon but the low clouds were a bit depressing.
The rest stop was the size of a football field, with different foods, wines, jewelry (mainly lapus lazuli pieces, which is famous in this area), and a resale shop where people who didn’t realize that going to Patagonia could be very cold! It seems that people buy a heavy jacket, then return it to the shop on their way back. Several of the folks in our van were going to Patagonia afterward. They offered a tasting of the wines prevalent in this area. One is very odd in that it is made with white wine and blueberries, giving it the color of Gatorade. You don’t taste the fruit, only the wine but it is a little disconcerting to see this blue liquid.
Our guide, Loreto, was very knowledgeable and chatty. We really enjoyed her. She said that Chile is actually a part of three different areas. It is a part of Oceana, America, and Antarctica. Who knew?? Also, Chile has jurisdiction over Easter Island (Isla de Pasqua), known for its carved stone heads that have been there for centuries. No one knows exactly how they got there but there is one head in the museum here, and several in other countries. The island is over 2,000 miles away from the continent and was evacuated during the pandemic. They have to receive food, gas, almost everything, which cannot be easy.
In Chile, they say that there are only five continents, not seven as we do in the US. They are America (not North and South), Europe, Africa, Oceana, and Asia. It was quite interesting.
Once in Valparaiso, we walked all around the hilly streets to mainly view the painted murals that are everywhere. Sadly, the buildings are mainly dilapidated and most are sheathed in corregated painted metal to avoid having to repair the exterior stucco that needed constant attention.
Our next stop was Vina del Mar, just down the road from Valparaiso. This town is totally different in feeling. Filled with condominiums that overlook the sea, this is a very upscale town, where many people in Santiago have second homes, especially in the summer when the temps can reach 52C. Being by the water is heaven comparatively. Some even commute into Santiago during the week for work and then return to the coast every weekend. There are interesting restaurants and activities.
FYI, the IVA (sales tax) is 19% on everything, although it is usually included as a part of the pricing. For this reason, public medical care, museums, musical events, and many other activities are all free to the public. There is private medical care for those who do not want to wait for non-threatening services, similar to what is available in other countries.
We visited the local museum to see the Easter Island head and saw vendors selling alpaca shawls from Bolivia. They were stunning and only $10 US each but we were told that when we go to Bolivia, the same shawls will be about $1.00 each. Too bad that I have dozens of rebozos (shawls) already. I guess you can’t have too many!
We returned to Santiago and were dropped off at the mall to see about getting photos for our Bolivia visa. The shop couldn’t do black and white photos, so we will wait until we get to Calama, our next stop tomorrow. The all on a Saturday evening was unbelievable. There were thousands of people, mainly young, to spend the time visiting their friends and congregating. Obviously, it must be the place to be.
We returned to our hotel to have a “small” bite and a drink. The restaurant in our hotel is always busy, indicating that it must be well-liked by the locals. We ordered an appetizer fish and chips platter to share, thinking that it will be a little nibble. Well… When it arrived, it could have fed six people. We hardly made a dent and offered it to the staff to eat. Taking it up to our room would have been a waste, since there was no way to heat it up and no fridge. We offered it to the staff and they seemed pleased.
Tomorrow, we fly from Santiago to Calama. More adventure…