With our Bunniks trip over we
flew to Santiago to pick up on our Round World ticket again. Against picking up
exhausting connecting flights we had chosen to spend a few nights in Santiago
before the flight back to Australia.
Knowing we’d arrive in a new country on our own during the midnight
hours, we had booked a night in the Holiday Inn across the road from the airport and three nights in a city
hotel, over the internet many months before.
A problem travelling from one
South American country to another is the ever changing currency from Reals, to
Dollars, to Sols, to Pesos … The
differing exchange rates also create alarm when we are asked to pay 13 000 pesos for a taxi into the
city centre! Calm resumes once we’ve worked out it amounts to a fair price of $25.
George checked around the bus and taxi ranks in the morning refusing to listen
to a tout and in the end he gave us the best price so we cruised into the city
in a large limo. The drive from the airport into the metropolis of Santiago had
us quickly recognise Chile was a country with a lot more money in circulation. Despite
the fast flowing modern transportation system; the high rise buildings,
impressive universities, banks and offices – squatters living beside the
Mapocho River and the amount of urban wastes openly dumped on its banks were
just as obvious.
Hotel Galerias, was only a few
blocks away from the Plaza de Armas
in the city centre. Consequently, once safely ensconced in our room on the 10th
floor with its panoramic view of the streets below, and armed with a tour
brochure recommended by the concierge, we decided what we’d do over the
following three days. Booked them with our man in the lobby and before too long,
we were strolling along the large pedestrian mall (Ahumada Street) towards the
city’s main square; with Lea unable to resist browsing through the many
departmental stores, while George happily watched the street performers…
artists drawing in chalk on the pavement,
a 3 piece band consisting of a lady and her parrot playing an organ
grinder while two men with drums on their backs danced and spun around as they
drummed.
Even more interesting; when the
band moved on up the mall, one of the drummers forgot to take the hat full of
money. It was left in the middle of the pavement! We eyed the crowds walking
past the hat wondering when someone would take it. In due course the hat was
spotted by an unkempt old ruffian who, furtively looked around as he eyed it
in disbelief and waited the opportune moment to swoop. He left it too late as the
drummer returned to collect the hat and the old man’s prospect of a windfall
disappeared in the blink of an eye!
Stomachs growling we looked at a
few menus that made little sense to us and eventually resorted to using pictures
of food outside the entrance of a restaurant. Concerned she may unwittingly eat guinea pig,
Lea asked the waitress “cuy - weeck
weeck”? To which the waitress answered “No-no,
este moo moo”! Problem solved… We enjoyed a most tasty lunch of pork belly
on mash potato in the end. Ice-cream? Everywhere
we walked we’d find people eating or buying ice creams. Every ice cream parlour or outlet had queues, each
one busily doing a roaring trade… We
came to the conclusion Santiago was the “City of Ice-creams” Eventually, in an arcade humming with parlours
offering numerous types of ice creams
with all sorts of optional extras, we fell prey to temptation. Choices… a young girl offering healthy
yoghurt ice cream samples outside a self-service booth won our custom. She
spoke English too explaining the system… It was simply too delicious for words
and we hankered for it every day… Finally, in the last hour before departing
for the airport and Chile we returned for another taste sensation…
On December 1st, under
the direction of a guide named Sergio, we travelled by bus to the Port of
Valparaiso, 130 kms to the west of Santiago. Sergio had one of those voices
that puts you to sleep. Consequently, for much of the way, as he prattled away
about the weather, the vineyards and wines of the Casablanca valley, we nodded
off on occasions only waking up when we reached the Palacio Vergara in Vina del Mar, the so called “garden
city”, with baskets of petunias hanging from lamp-posts and colourful beds of
begonias in the centre of traffic circles.
The Palacio Vergara was a magnificent old building set among gardens
that contained a collection of trees from all over the world. Substantial damage had been done to this
beautiful old building when an earthquake (measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale
at its epicentre) had shaken Valparaiso at 3.30 am on 27 Feb. 2010. Very close
by, a purpose built concert venue, designed to be earthquake resistant had seated
15 000 people that particular night. Most fortunately, the concert ended an
hour beforehand and that building withstood the earthquake without significant
damage!
The Port of Valparaiso, declared
a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, dates back to 1536. What with its trolley
buses, old funicular elevators (dating back to 1902), murals and colourful
buildings clinging to the steep slopes above the harbour, it is a fascinating
place to wander through. Many of the houses have walls made from adobe that are
protected from the weather with sheets of corrugated iron. Elsewhere are
beautifully restored mansions from the colonial era, now used as offices or
hotels (e.g. belonging to the French owned Relais and Chateaux chain).
Our tour ended in Sotomaya Square down by the harbour
where it was interesting to see an old building that had collapsed after an
earthquake in 1985 having been replaced by an earthquake resistant building, made
from glass, inside it.
When the time came to pay for our
trip (on the way back to Santiago) Sergio could not get our ANZ debit card to
work in his credit card machine. Consequently George had to draw the sum
involved in cash at the Banque de Chile near our hotel and settle up with him
the next day when we took the tour to
the seaside town of Isla Negra where
Pablo Neruda, a well-known Chilean poet had lived. Lea (who always remembers the weirdest things)
was keen to learn more about this Nobel Literature prize winner. Knowing nothing about Pablo Neruda, George
was reminded of a 1984 visit Lea insisted on making to Anne Frank’s house in
Amsterdam where, on arrival he could not help wonder why on earth we’d come so
far to see a virtually empty house! In this case Pablo Neruda home turned out
to be a most eclectic and fascinating ramble of a home with superb views. He
was awarded the Nobel Prize for his contribution to literature and the art of
writing in 1971..
It was a cold foggy day so, while
our group waited for its turn to enter Pablo’s house, we had some hot chocolate
on a balcony overlooking the sea. On the menu was one of Pablo’s poems which
read:
Here
surrounding the island
There’s sea
but what sea, it’s always overflowing
Says yes,
then no, then no again,
and no, says
yes, in blue
In sea spray
raging, says no and no again.
It can’t be
still, it stammers
My name is
sea …
Considering it was written by a
Nobel Prize winner, it left George stone cold … but by the time we had finished
walking around his intriguing house, he had become a great Pablo Neruda fan!
Over the period 1938 – 1965 Pablo
had constantly rebuilt and modified his house in order to incorporate the
extraordinary number of things he liked to have around him, feeling pleased his
house was “growing just as people and
trees do ...” and as the length of the house grew longer and longer, he
liked to think it was beginning to resemble Chile! Every room - from the entrance hall to the
living room; from dining room to bedroom; from his study to his library; to the
“horse” room and more – were furnished and decorated in his own unique manner.
Sadly, no photos were allowed … but the whole experience was unforgettable.
Outside in the garden, overlooking his beloved ocean, his grave with his wife
Matilde beside him.
Such was our enthusiasm for this man and his home, our
guide Sergio slipped in a visit to look
over a protected tract of land, Canteloa
el sueno de Poeta, where Pablo had built a small wooden shack. A replica of
which stands overlooking the ocean and surrounded by wild flowers as a memorial
to this famous Chilean.
From there we drove to Algorobbo
for a delightful lunch at a restaurant
called Cava Fe – its surrounds, in contrast to those from where we had just
come, spoilt by huge, ugly blocks of seaside apartments. And on our return to Santiago an afternoon
stop at the Vinamar Winery in the Casablanca Valley. In spite of our
disinterest in wines, by the time we’d been shown around the vineyards; the
huge stainless steel tanks in which the wine is fermented; learnt how sparkling
wine is made and bottled; and learnt about how the oak used for the barrels in
which wine is stored, effects its aroma and taste – we actually found the tour
highly informative. Needless to say, we let the side down when the time came to
taste some of the wines the estate produces, but the fact that most Chileans
don’t like wine, preferring beer or Pisco and rum, made us feel a lot better!
Before leaving for the airport
the next day we had a little more time to spend walking around the streets of
Santiago and George was desperate for a haircut. Although we tried spending all our remaining
pesos in the airport before leaving for New Zealand (our next destination) it
was irritating to see how much extra one pays. Example: a 500ml bottle of water in the city cost 250
pesos; the same amount of water bought in the airport cost 1800 pesos!
As we all know … “all good things
have to come to an end”. Whether we
liked it or not, our trip to South America was over and, after what we regarded
as the most incredible, unforgettable voyage, it was time to head for home.
Perhaps Lea’s letter to our travel agent (extract below) says it all?
“Never in our wildest imagination did
we think our dream South American tour would surpass all expectations - and
that is not gross exaggeration! From the moment we landed in Lima and
received a late night phone call [due to our hour of landing and the time it
took to relocate our luggage that had inadvertently been forwarded on to
Guayaquil in readiness for Galapagos by the airline] - from the Bunnik’s
representative welcoming us into the country and ensuring their paperwork
awaiting us at reception had indeed been handed over - an excellent package -
and like kids with a 'lucky packet' it set the tone.
From thereon we were looked after
royally... never did we expect such personal attention, carefree travel from
here to there with Guides that looked after our every need. SUPERB is all we
can say. Even when our vehicle was rear ended at the end of a long day of
excitement in Machu Picchu, followed by a 4 hour train trip and then the peak
hour traffic back to Cuzco in the dark - frightening as it was - Abbilardo and
Myra's first instinct was to look after us and ensure we were collected
speedily by another vehicle - impressive indeed.
Accommodation - the high standard and
in particular, their amazing variety never faltered throughout and, there
were occasions when we thought- 'where are we going to stay…
and miraculously, we'd be blown away by what was just around the corner. Every
place we stayed required highly recommended for excellence....
Our main Guides – every one of them
were first class and went out of their way to ensure our comfort and security
as well as make each day as memorable as possible. Often going the extra mile
with something unexpected for our enjoyment and interest. They certainly
succeeded!
Now
that we have experienced the South American travel experience with such a
personal touch I doubt any other will match accordingly - We have travelled
widely but that was second to none....”
No comments:
Post a Comment