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Posts tagged ‘Santiago’

Feb 12

Santiago, Chile

Chile is our final South American country in the itinerary 🙁 Personally I’ve really enjoyed Rio, which was unexpected, and my impression of Brazil has definitely changed for the better! Nevertheless, I’ve been looking forward to visiting Chile after hearing all the positive reviews of the country.

Santiago, Chile feels comfortable and easy to navigate. In contrast to the previous 3 countries in Latin America, Santiago seems developed and logical. The airport is modern (Rio’s international airport sucked btw; only 3 shops and 2 cafes!) and immigration and customs procedures are quite straight forward – they have stringent regulations, similar to that of Australians, on bringing in any dairy- and farm-related products.

It’s summer in Santiago and the weather is in 30s Celcius but didn’t feel as warm as Rio due to the lower humidity.

Reading paper while having his shoes polished

We booked our 3-night accommodation @ Hostal Amazonas, which included a booking for airport transfer for US$12/person. The van transfer was smooth; upon check-out, we found the counter (thanks to a fellow driver) and were ushered to the designated vehicle. It took less than an hour to reach city centre and the hostel.

Carolyn, who checked us into the hostel on Friday evening, was very helpful in giving us an introduction to the city’s orientation. She pointed us to places to eat and sights to check out. The hostel is strategically located – less than 10 minutes walk to the nearest metro station and about 15 minutes walk to Barrio Bellavista, the Bohemian area.

After putting down our stuff, we walked towards Bellavista and had our first Chilean meal. Finally I tried cerviche and pisco sour after missing them in Guatemala and Peru respectively. They both tasted quite good, much better than expected. After some bland Brazilian cuisine, I’m glad to finally enjoy a meal 🙂

Seafood is recommended in Chile – apparently it has one of the most diverse seafood in the world. On Saturday, after making all the bookings for our visit to Puerto Montt next week, we headed to Mercado Central for some seafood. It turned out to be our most expensive meal so far! We had Alaskan king crab plus 3 other dishes including scallops, baby eel and seafood soup with 3 bottles of beer. It’s worth the money spent as I’ve not had such good seafood for a real long time 🙂

Abundance of seafood at Mercado Central

Similar to the US, there’s a 10% tip included in the bill. While not many restaurants have English menu, waiters have always try to explain the cuisine.

Santiago streets are clean and they feel quite safe although we were cautioned at Bellavista not to leave our camera on the table as snatch thieves were rampant. The metro has 3 pricing depending on timing of the day. Peak period is more expensive than off-peak and there’s a normal rate, which cost about US$1.20/ride (US$1 = 480 Chilean peso).

One of the highlights is to take the funicular up to San Cristobal Hill for an overview of the city. Unfortunately the day was misty so we barely saw the Amazonas mountains 🙁 But Santiago looked huge and vast from up here and it’s quite a contrast from the view we had in Rio.

Santiago City

Locals we’ve encountered so far have been pleasant and helpful. We were looking for the airline office and couldn’t find it, and while trying to communicate with a building guard who didn’t speak English, a stranger came up to us and asked if he could help. He spoke English and understood where we were trying to go and guided us to the right place. How kind!

We were hoping to visit the southern most point of Chile, ie. Cape Horn but Jan/Feb are peak months and flights are expensive. Overland transport takes days to arrive; a luxury that we do not have, hence we’ve settled for the lake district of Chile for our adventure. Regardless of how it turns out, we have a feeling that Chile’s gonna be quite memorable 🙂

Jan 16

Guatemalan road trip

We took Daniel’s recommendation and headed to Lake Atitlan for a three-day getaway. There were several options on how to get there but we decided to take the most expensive one ie. rent a driver so we can have stops along the way and see some places. It cost us US$100 (it should have been US$95 but our driver didn’t have change), which is equivalent to our 2 nights stay at Posada de Santiago.

Local woman praying to San Simon

Our first stop was San Andes, the permanent home of San Simon, or also known as Maximon by the locals, a deity that reflects a combination of Maya gods,Pedro de Alvarado (the Spanish conquistador of Guatemala) and Judas in the Bible. And oh man, what a strange looking god he is! He wears a cowboy hat and smokes a cigar while sitting on his altar. The walls were decorated with plagues of worshippers giving thanks to San Simon for answering their prayers and granting their wishes. It’s quite an unusual scene for me.

After the strange encounter, we left for Iximche, the Mayan ruins where the indigenous people once lived. The archaeological area features palaces, plazas where people gathered and had various ceremonies, as well as ball courts, where people played their version of football. Apparently, the losing team had to sacrifice (literally) one of their members. Human sacrifices were not uncommon then.

I find it amazing that the places we’ve been to in Guatemala have always been clean, since not everywhere in Malaysia is considered clean, even in major cities. I’m particularly grateful that public toilets that I’ve visited so far have been clean and there’s always toilet paper (again I’m afraid not common in Malaysia). I’m sort of a clean freak (clutter and messiness makes me queasy) so you can imagine my relief that I didn’t have to hold my breath when I visit the toilet.

We had a pretty good start of the day as by the time we finished walking around Iximche, it was not even 11am yet. There’s still ample of time before our check-in at 3pm so we headed to Chichicastenango, as it’s popular for its market day on Thursday. The town was crowded when we arrived. Roads are narrower than Antigua and less well maintained to a certain extend. Still there’s a Guatemalan feel to it – the rustiness, the people, the colour, the sound. We took a quick lunch (it cost Q150 for 3 persons) at a cafe at the edge of the market and started roaming around.

Items at the market are pretty similar; handicrafts in the form of bags, table runners, table mats, scarfs, belts and clothes; pottery, wooden masks and wooden instruments. There are also fruits, vegetables and fisheries on sale. Prices of souvenirs and handicrafts could be slashed by at least 20%. I bought a handmade belt for Q70; the boy had asked for Q90. It was interesting in some ways to negotiate and bargain, and watch how they react.

Shoe polish boys working outside the Church of Santo Tomas

There’s a famous church called Church of Santo Tomas, which is about 400 years old, in the middle of the marketplace. There are many people at the footsteps of the church, selling flowers, incense and candles. Sort of reminded me of Hindu temple back home. As we walked in, I found worshippers along the stairs burning a strange smell of incense and there were many burnt candles found within the church compound. I read later that K’iche’ Maya priests still use the church for their rituals, hence the incense burning and candles. We weren’t allowed to take photos of the church but the interior seems darker than any church I’ve visited before. There was a mother and son walking on their knees on the ground towards the altar. The mother was praying fervently while the son looked a bit bored. The holy place, it seems, is a contradiction between Christian beliefs and pagan worships, and yet it fits the locals just as well.

Lake Atitlan

After Chichi, we went on our way to Posada de Santiago. The journey wasn’t memorable as we fell asleep along the way. We woke up when the view of the huge lake opened up before us and we quickly asked Angel, our driver, if he could stop and let us take a breather (also to take pix!). The lake stood gorgeously before us, even with the misty and clouds, it looked magnificent. The short road trip has been fun and the arrival of the lake is very much welcomed. Think we’re all ready for some quiet days ahead.

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