Wednesday 4/15/15 -
Martyn, Noa, and I woke early, packed, and headed to the bus station via cab. By this time in my travels, if not a few cities earlier, I was very good at packing my bag. It wouldn’t take me much time at all and I would look around and think, “man, I already packed everything?” We had our sights set on making the 10:30am bus, but we knew that if it was full when we got there, we could just hang and hop on the 1:30. We got there at 10:15, and there was still space on the 10:30, so we purchased, rushed to the bathroom and to spend the rest of our Argentinean pesos on food and random stuff. We threw our stuff on the bus and boarded just before the bus pulled away at 10:29am.
It was a very scenic ride literally through the Andes mountains. A lot of stopping and starting and turning and swerving though, so I had to manage my motion sickness and the ride seemed pretty long to me. Probably ¾ of the way through, we hit the border and we had to get out of the bus, get our passports stamped, wait, get back on the bus, get back off the bus with our luggage, watch our luggage go through the scanner, put our hand bags through the scanner, and then get back on the bus. It was not a short process. Noa was worried about the patrol people taking her steak knife she bought as a gift for her dad, so when they pulled her bag aside and started looking through it, her already pessimistic approach grew exponentially. Turns out they confiscated the old fruits at the bottom of her bag that she completely forgot about and didn’t even sniff the knife. Chile doesn’t allow foods or some other simple, seemingly harmless items into the country because (we learned later on the walking tour) it is geographically secluded by the Andes mountains, so they simply cannot afford to put their agricultural advantages at risk via famine or other contagious threats.
We were supposed to arrive at 4:30pm, but we ended up getting in way late, like after 7pm and too late for Noa’s friend to pick her up. So she hung with Martyn and me as we chilled at the bus station for a bit, figuring out logistics and taking our time. Martyn snagged some McDonalds (I swear the guy was addicted), and we decided to try out the hostel that the Australians we had met on our bus had picked. At this point we knew almost nothing about Santiago, so anywhere with availability and decent hospitality was okay with us. The plan was to go to Valparaiso in the morning regardless. We hopped in a cab, dropped Noa off at her friend’s apartment (which happened to be very close to our hostel, Princesa Insolente), and then made it successfully to our final desitination. This may not sound like a big deal, but it kind of was, because the entire drive, the cab driver was watching TV on the dashboard. Not sure if I have mentioned this before but driving in South America is no easy task. People are constantly cutting people off and honking and if you’re not paying attention, your ride can end rather quickly. And every single car is manually driven. Adding a Chilean soap opera to this combo didn’t give good vibes when I first sat down in the front seat. But, like what seems to happen a lot, we made it there, so all was good. And the whole 20ish minute cab ride was something to the equivalent of like $8.
Martyn and I settled for a second and then we headed off to a restaurant recommended to us by the front desk called Buenos Muchachos. We didn’t know exactly what we were getting into, but I was hungry and we were told it was a good, cheapish local restaurant. So we walked the 10 blocks and were surprised when the place looked like a 4 star place for business men ready to splurge. But, the menu really wasn’t too pricey. So, we sat down and learned there was going to be some live Chilean music and dancing. Bingo. We both got beers, I ordered a large dinner salad, and we enjoyed the different presentations of latin music on the stage in front of us. The place reminded me of a venue where someone might host a smaller Bar Mitzvah party. Very open with a dance floor and many tables. We raved on about how happy we were to experience this authenticity on our first night, and when the dancers came around seeking temporary dance partners, you bet I accepted the offer and embarrassed myself. Not kidding though, Martyn video taped it, and I looked like I had no idea what I was doing (because I didn’t), especially when the native drape fell off my shoulders onto the floor. It was quite the show. Martyn had his turn next as I video taped him. It was only one night and one dinner in, and we were already basically Chilean citizens.
Also, at this point, I had no cash, and no ATM card to withdraw money. So, Martyn and I developed a pretty good system where I would pay for everything that accepted cards, and he would owe me money, but then he would just cover me when we had to pay in cash. So I paid the bill at the restaurant and stared the tab. We walked the quick 10 block walk home along Cummings street and called it a night.
Martyn, Noa, and I woke early, packed, and headed to the bus station via cab. By this time in my travels, if not a few cities earlier, I was very good at packing my bag. It wouldn’t take me much time at all and I would look around and think, “man, I already packed everything?” We had our sights set on making the 10:30am bus, but we knew that if it was full when we got there, we could just hang and hop on the 1:30. We got there at 10:15, and there was still space on the 10:30, so we purchased, rushed to the bathroom and to spend the rest of our Argentinean pesos on food and random stuff. We threw our stuff on the bus and boarded just before the bus pulled away at 10:29am.
It was a very scenic ride literally through the Andes mountains. A lot of stopping and starting and turning and swerving though, so I had to manage my motion sickness and the ride seemed pretty long to me. Probably ¾ of the way through, we hit the border and we had to get out of the bus, get our passports stamped, wait, get back on the bus, get back off the bus with our luggage, watch our luggage go through the scanner, put our hand bags through the scanner, and then get back on the bus. It was not a short process. Noa was worried about the patrol people taking her steak knife she bought as a gift for her dad, so when they pulled her bag aside and started looking through it, her already pessimistic approach grew exponentially. Turns out they confiscated the old fruits at the bottom of her bag that she completely forgot about and didn’t even sniff the knife. Chile doesn’t allow foods or some other simple, seemingly harmless items into the country because (we learned later on the walking tour) it is geographically secluded by the Andes mountains, so they simply cannot afford to put their agricultural advantages at risk via famine or other contagious threats.
We were supposed to arrive at 4:30pm, but we ended up getting in way late, like after 7pm and too late for Noa’s friend to pick her up. So she hung with Martyn and me as we chilled at the bus station for a bit, figuring out logistics and taking our time. Martyn snagged some McDonalds (I swear the guy was addicted), and we decided to try out the hostel that the Australians we had met on our bus had picked. At this point we knew almost nothing about Santiago, so anywhere with availability and decent hospitality was okay with us. The plan was to go to Valparaiso in the morning regardless. We hopped in a cab, dropped Noa off at her friend’s apartment (which happened to be very close to our hostel, Princesa Insolente), and then made it successfully to our final desitination. This may not sound like a big deal, but it kind of was, because the entire drive, the cab driver was watching TV on the dashboard. Not sure if I have mentioned this before but driving in South America is no easy task. People are constantly cutting people off and honking and if you’re not paying attention, your ride can end rather quickly. And every single car is manually driven. Adding a Chilean soap opera to this combo didn’t give good vibes when I first sat down in the front seat. But, like what seems to happen a lot, we made it there, so all was good. And the whole 20ish minute cab ride was something to the equivalent of like $8.
Martyn and I settled for a second and then we headed off to a restaurant recommended to us by the front desk called Buenos Muchachos. We didn’t know exactly what we were getting into, but I was hungry and we were told it was a good, cheapish local restaurant. So we walked the 10 blocks and were surprised when the place looked like a 4 star place for business men ready to splurge. But, the menu really wasn’t too pricey. So, we sat down and learned there was going to be some live Chilean music and dancing. Bingo. We both got beers, I ordered a large dinner salad, and we enjoyed the different presentations of latin music on the stage in front of us. The place reminded me of a venue where someone might host a smaller Bar Mitzvah party. Very open with a dance floor and many tables. We raved on about how happy we were to experience this authenticity on our first night, and when the dancers came around seeking temporary dance partners, you bet I accepted the offer and embarrassed myself. Not kidding though, Martyn video taped it, and I looked like I had no idea what I was doing (because I didn’t), especially when the native drape fell off my shoulders onto the floor. It was quite the show. Martyn had his turn next as I video taped him. It was only one night and one dinner in, and we were already basically Chilean citizens.
Also, at this point, I had no cash, and no ATM card to withdraw money. So, Martyn and I developed a pretty good system where I would pay for everything that accepted cards, and he would owe me money, but then he would just cover me when we had to pay in cash. So I paid the bill at the restaurant and stared the tab. We walked the quick 10 block walk home along Cummings street and called it a night.
Thursday 4/16 -
I set my alarm for like 7:45, but I couldn’t get up out of my top bunk bed (that wasn’t fully made because they didn’t put the sheets on the bed, I had to do that. Like, what was I even paying for?!?!?!?) because it was still dark. The sun hadn’t risen yet. Chile is on the same time zone as Argentina, and neither of them do daylight savings time. This was pretty recently after the USA had “sprung forward”, so the day already had a late start to it, but at the same time, Santiago was on the same time zone as Buenos Aires. And considering they’re on very similar longitudes, the fact that it is over a 25 hour bus ride between them does not bode well for the sunrise/sunset times. My body was confused as I lay in bed, looked at my watch, saw 8:15am, and it was still dark outside. But, don’t worry, I powered through, got up, packed my things and my overnight pack for Valpo, and headed downstairs. I ironically ran into Ben and Nate, the two guys we became pretty close with while trekking a glacier in El Calafate, in the lobby. We spent 10ish minutes catching up and talking about American sports, and then Martyn and I set off to Valpo. We walked to the subway, took the subway a couple of stops, got to the train station at 10:50. Buses go from Santiago to Valpo very often, so we found a deal for a bus that was scheduled to leave at 11:01, and an open return ticket to Santiago for 5.200 clp (about $8 USD). Pretty good for a flexible 1.5 hour trip one-way.
On our walk to the Valparaiso hostel, Licanantay, we passed a large governmental street protest. People of all ages had signs disputing political decisions, the street was blocked off, and people seemed to be in large groups chanting their specific sayings. Some groups would stop walking for a while to create space, and then all sprint together to cause commotion until they caught up to the next group of walkers. It was quite an entertaining welcome to the city. We dropped our stuff off at the hostel and then made our way to the start of the walking tour “Tours 4 Tips”. We snagged a quick lunch at the plaza and then found the group via the Waldo shirts the leaders were wearing. They actually said “Wally” because that’s how people in England know him, but they’re wrong, it’s Waldo.
The tour was fantastic. Our group leader’s name was something longer, but he told us we could call him Nacho, which was easy enough for me. Nacho had a lot to say and spoke very fast in his accented English, but he did a great job of keeping everyone engaged. He informed us about the large port, the fire stations, the hill elevators, the street art, some history, some famous people, and a ton more. It was not his first rodeo. Valparaiso is a small city on very steep hills, so English engineers built elevators to take people up the steeper slants of the hills, and they are still working great today. And there is street art absolutely everywhere and it was by far the best I have ever seen. Only pictures will do it justice. The town is as colorful as they come. We also got some free, local alfajores along the way. We ended by taking the public bus/rail line back to the starting point, and in an old palace after he served us an interesting Chilean drink, Nacho reviewed on a map what we did and where we went. He also recommended restaurants and activities to do/see around the city. One of them being watching the sunset from the sand dunes across town, which I knew was going to happen as soon as he said it. It was a very well done walking tour.
It was pretty easy for Martyn and I to make friends during the tour as well. soon after the tour, we had a group of 9 of us enjoying happy hour and sharing stories at a local bar called “Barmacia” (mimicking Farmacia – the logo was a pharmacy sign). We had Tash (England), Mike (Kenya), Farhan (Australia), Greg (Germany), Anne-Sophie (Germany), a Dutch girl, and Martyn (England) and me (who knows) getting along perfectly in a small city in Chile. Just an indescribable experience. On the way to switching bars, we stopped at a local hole in the wall place for some dinner of great, quick Milanesa sandwiches. At the next place we got jugs of “Terremottos” – the signature drink (literally means Earthquake in Spanish) which tasted a lot like Bourbon Street to me, very sugary and strong. The banter was just irreplaceable as we compared cultures, constantly laughing and making fun of each other. We hopped to another bar where we got more super cheap beers, and then called it a night at around 12ish. Such a great day, Valpo was an awesome city.
I set my alarm for like 7:45, but I couldn’t get up out of my top bunk bed (that wasn’t fully made because they didn’t put the sheets on the bed, I had to do that. Like, what was I even paying for?!?!?!?) because it was still dark. The sun hadn’t risen yet. Chile is on the same time zone as Argentina, and neither of them do daylight savings time. This was pretty recently after the USA had “sprung forward”, so the day already had a late start to it, but at the same time, Santiago was on the same time zone as Buenos Aires. And considering they’re on very similar longitudes, the fact that it is over a 25 hour bus ride between them does not bode well for the sunrise/sunset times. My body was confused as I lay in bed, looked at my watch, saw 8:15am, and it was still dark outside. But, don’t worry, I powered through, got up, packed my things and my overnight pack for Valpo, and headed downstairs. I ironically ran into Ben and Nate, the two guys we became pretty close with while trekking a glacier in El Calafate, in the lobby. We spent 10ish minutes catching up and talking about American sports, and then Martyn and I set off to Valpo. We walked to the subway, took the subway a couple of stops, got to the train station at 10:50. Buses go from Santiago to Valpo very often, so we found a deal for a bus that was scheduled to leave at 11:01, and an open return ticket to Santiago for 5.200 clp (about $8 USD). Pretty good for a flexible 1.5 hour trip one-way.
On our walk to the Valparaiso hostel, Licanantay, we passed a large governmental street protest. People of all ages had signs disputing political decisions, the street was blocked off, and people seemed to be in large groups chanting their specific sayings. Some groups would stop walking for a while to create space, and then all sprint together to cause commotion until they caught up to the next group of walkers. It was quite an entertaining welcome to the city. We dropped our stuff off at the hostel and then made our way to the start of the walking tour “Tours 4 Tips”. We snagged a quick lunch at the plaza and then found the group via the Waldo shirts the leaders were wearing. They actually said “Wally” because that’s how people in England know him, but they’re wrong, it’s Waldo.
The tour was fantastic. Our group leader’s name was something longer, but he told us we could call him Nacho, which was easy enough for me. Nacho had a lot to say and spoke very fast in his accented English, but he did a great job of keeping everyone engaged. He informed us about the large port, the fire stations, the hill elevators, the street art, some history, some famous people, and a ton more. It was not his first rodeo. Valparaiso is a small city on very steep hills, so English engineers built elevators to take people up the steeper slants of the hills, and they are still working great today. And there is street art absolutely everywhere and it was by far the best I have ever seen. Only pictures will do it justice. The town is as colorful as they come. We also got some free, local alfajores along the way. We ended by taking the public bus/rail line back to the starting point, and in an old palace after he served us an interesting Chilean drink, Nacho reviewed on a map what we did and where we went. He also recommended restaurants and activities to do/see around the city. One of them being watching the sunset from the sand dunes across town, which I knew was going to happen as soon as he said it. It was a very well done walking tour.
It was pretty easy for Martyn and I to make friends during the tour as well. soon after the tour, we had a group of 9 of us enjoying happy hour and sharing stories at a local bar called “Barmacia” (mimicking Farmacia – the logo was a pharmacy sign). We had Tash (England), Mike (Kenya), Farhan (Australia), Greg (Germany), Anne-Sophie (Germany), a Dutch girl, and Martyn (England) and me (who knows) getting along perfectly in a small city in Chile. Just an indescribable experience. On the way to switching bars, we stopped at a local hole in the wall place for some dinner of great, quick Milanesa sandwiches. At the next place we got jugs of “Terremottos” – the signature drink (literally means Earthquake in Spanish) which tasted a lot like Bourbon Street to me, very sugary and strong. The banter was just irreplaceable as we compared cultures, constantly laughing and making fun of each other. We hopped to another bar where we got more super cheap beers, and then called it a night at around 12ish. Such a great day, Valpo was an awesome city.
Friday 4/17 -
I was pretty set on going to the sand dunes and Farhan and I had agreed to meet and go that afternoon, but Martyn decided he would rather venture the city some more and meet up with Noa when she arrived for her afternoon venture of Valpo. So we set 8:30pm as the time to meet at the bus station to head back to Santiago. Communicating via Facebook chat, a small sand dune group developed, and Farhan, Greg, Anne-Sophie, and I met at 2pm to head out there. The city featuring the dunes (which were very easily visible from Valpo, even though they were clearly far), Concon, was around the bay, about a 45 minute public bus ride from the heart of Valparaiso. I did most of the communicating in Spanish as we asked locals the best way to get there. Their bus system was very hectic (or should I say normal for SA), so it wasn’t easy, but we eventually got on the correct bus. These buses were small, tight quartered, and old-fashioned. The drivers were impressively talented, master multi-taskers. Just driving a stick shift mini-bus through Chilean traffic is not easy, and having to look for walkers flagging the bus down adds a challenge. Then, when passengers got on, they tell the driver where they are going and the driver calculates the fee. Passenger pays in cash to the driver who counts it and gives change (if necessary) from his organized coin bank to the driver’s right. The driver also gives the appropriate ticket to the passenger from the ticket rolls situated in the mix with the coins and the stick shift. The crazy part is that the driver starts driving before any of this happens. As soon as the last passenger steps up (before they pay), the driver takes off. So they’re driving stick, while playing cashier, and after everyone has paid, he reorganizes his coins as he swerves in and out of lanes, cutting people off left and right. This driver was abnormally aggressive too. I was standing and I found it a challenge to hold on a not fall because we were being thrown all over the place. The whole thing was quite a show.
Through talking to a few very nice locals, we figured out where to get off (blatantly right next to the sand dunes), and we stopped by the grocery store and subway to load up before the tackled the dunes. We wanted to sand board, but apparently the boards are only for rent on the weekends, and even more apparently, Friday afternoon isn’t considered the weekend. But the dunes were still amazing. A very large challenge to walk up, but an incredible change of scenery and very beautiful right next to the ocean. We hung out for the afternoon, walked up and down a few times, relaxed, took pictures, and enjoyed a tremendous sunset. The highlight for me was taking action jumping shots into the sunset, and the other guys were having great fun doing that as well.
Greg and I left basically right when the sun set so that we could get to the bus station on time. We actually saw Mike and Tash on the bus back, coincidentally. They were trying to find us to join us, but they couldn’t. So they enjoyed their own sunset and we told them stories. We got to the station at about 8:45, only a few minutes before Martyn and Noa arrived. We bought the next bus ticket, hopped on, and we were off back to Santiago. We were back at the hostel by 11ish, where we hung out for a few hours. The special was 2 Liter beers for 3.000 clp ($5), so Martyn got me one, and I had a fun conversation with a couple of loud Canadians in the little middle yard of the hostel, sharing some beer, and that was the extent of the night.
I was pretty set on going to the sand dunes and Farhan and I had agreed to meet and go that afternoon, but Martyn decided he would rather venture the city some more and meet up with Noa when she arrived for her afternoon venture of Valpo. So we set 8:30pm as the time to meet at the bus station to head back to Santiago. Communicating via Facebook chat, a small sand dune group developed, and Farhan, Greg, Anne-Sophie, and I met at 2pm to head out there. The city featuring the dunes (which were very easily visible from Valpo, even though they were clearly far), Concon, was around the bay, about a 45 minute public bus ride from the heart of Valparaiso. I did most of the communicating in Spanish as we asked locals the best way to get there. Their bus system was very hectic (or should I say normal for SA), so it wasn’t easy, but we eventually got on the correct bus. These buses were small, tight quartered, and old-fashioned. The drivers were impressively talented, master multi-taskers. Just driving a stick shift mini-bus through Chilean traffic is not easy, and having to look for walkers flagging the bus down adds a challenge. Then, when passengers got on, they tell the driver where they are going and the driver calculates the fee. Passenger pays in cash to the driver who counts it and gives change (if necessary) from his organized coin bank to the driver’s right. The driver also gives the appropriate ticket to the passenger from the ticket rolls situated in the mix with the coins and the stick shift. The crazy part is that the driver starts driving before any of this happens. As soon as the last passenger steps up (before they pay), the driver takes off. So they’re driving stick, while playing cashier, and after everyone has paid, he reorganizes his coins as he swerves in and out of lanes, cutting people off left and right. This driver was abnormally aggressive too. I was standing and I found it a challenge to hold on a not fall because we were being thrown all over the place. The whole thing was quite a show.
Through talking to a few very nice locals, we figured out where to get off (blatantly right next to the sand dunes), and we stopped by the grocery store and subway to load up before the tackled the dunes. We wanted to sand board, but apparently the boards are only for rent on the weekends, and even more apparently, Friday afternoon isn’t considered the weekend. But the dunes were still amazing. A very large challenge to walk up, but an incredible change of scenery and very beautiful right next to the ocean. We hung out for the afternoon, walked up and down a few times, relaxed, took pictures, and enjoyed a tremendous sunset. The highlight for me was taking action jumping shots into the sunset, and the other guys were having great fun doing that as well.
Greg and I left basically right when the sun set so that we could get to the bus station on time. We actually saw Mike and Tash on the bus back, coincidentally. They were trying to find us to join us, but they couldn’t. So they enjoyed their own sunset and we told them stories. We got to the station at about 8:45, only a few minutes before Martyn and Noa arrived. We bought the next bus ticket, hopped on, and we were off back to Santiago. We were back at the hostel by 11ish, where we hung out for a few hours. The special was 2 Liter beers for 3.000 clp ($5), so Martyn got me one, and I had a fun conversation with a couple of loud Canadians in the little middle yard of the hostel, sharing some beer, and that was the extent of the night.
Saturday 4/18 -
One of my friends from college at UT, Jenni P, did me the huge favor of messaging me on Facebook when she heard I was coming to SA because she lives in Santiago and has lived there for almost 3 years now. So we had chatted fairly consistently about my plans for a while, and today I was meeting up with her for a personalized city tour and a day in the life. We met at 10:30am at a park near my hostel and started the day. First we went to “Café con Piernas” – coffee with legs. It’s an interesting concept where the tables are standing tables outside the shop in the walking street, and the waitresses wear skimpy clothing. So the concept is guys (or girls, I guess) come to the coffee shop to get their coffee, but really to flirt with these girls, and who knows what the conversation can lead to. Apparently it is a big deal in Santiago, so we checked it out. Jenni took me to a “fake” Café con Piernas because there were not actually secondary actions after getting coffee here, but we still had a liberally dressed waitress and watched her exclusively talk with a few older men a couple of tables away. Also, the hot chocolate was great.
Then we walked around a bit to the large market area where Jenni and a ton of other locals get their fruits and vegetables. It was very crowded and busy making it hard to walk through the skinny walkways. It reminded me a lot of a farmers market as it was outside and there were just vendors lined up covering a lot of square feet. Hilariously, we ran into Martyn and Noa on the Tours 4 Tips walking tour as they happened to be walking directly passed us in this huge market in this huge city. That also confirmed that Jenni was taking me to the vintage places if the free walking tour was going to the same spot. Jenni got her handful of fruits and veggies as she prepared to make her food for the week, and we got out of there. It was a really stressful atmosphere. We then headed to a view point and little festival, but first we dropped off Jenni’s rolling market bag at a local little street shop. Her apartment was too far out of the way. We walked up some stairs to a little food truck festival that was very fun and unique. Not sure the occasion but there was all kinds of foods and some other vendors as well as a stage set up for some presentations on how to make different dishes. We went straight for the food, I snagged a fresh, $3 USD, choripan (sausage cut down the middle on a hamburger bun), and it hit the spot. Then we went up to check out the view point over the humongous city, which was fantastic. I mean it was just buildings on buildings, but we were definitely high enough to see as far as the smog would let us. Santiago is a huge city and very modern compared to the rest of South America. It felt like I was looking over downtown Chicago with some mountains in the background. I also had to spend like 10 minutes deleting pictures and things from my phone so I would have space for more. I cleared my phone of almost everything before the trip and I was already out of space with like 2.5 weeks of traveling left. Great.
We casually made our way down, stopped by a smoothie shop, snagged Jenni’s bag, and headed to her apartment so she could help me get some cash and help me prepare for my flight to La Paz the next day. I used the world savior app Venmo to pay her back, and Jenni gave me a bunch of Chilean pesos to hopefully get me through 2.5 more weeks without a way of getting cash. La Paz is at altitude, and I had heard that Americans needed some kind of visa in order to get in, so we sat down and did some research. We didn’t really conclude much, just that I would figure it out when I got there and hope not to be sent back out of the country, which considering that Bolivia is arguably the most unorganized and poor country in SA, was highly unlikely. Jenni and I decided on a bar (she picked on called Harvard, my only request was that it had the capability of showing the Mavs/Rockets game 1 of their playoff series, and she said it would) and time to meet later in the night so that I could be social with some of her friends, and I took the subway back to the hostel.
At this point, Martyn had left to go stay with his friend and it was the first time I was truly traveling solo since Buenos Aires. But, maybe 5 minutes after I walked into the hostel, I ran into the Australians who we met on the bus from Mendoza, and they were headed to La Paz the next morning as well… on the same exact flight. Hostels are magical places, it is literally too easy to meet and connect with people. So we figured out our taxi situation for the morning, showered, and they came with me to get some food before we all met up with Jenni and her friends. We figured we would just eat somewhere near Harvard.
We took the subway and found Harvard, and right across the street was a little schwarma option. The aussies had never even heard of schwarma so I was pretty insistent that they try it, and it turned out to be a huge hit. We got massive plates of schwarma and rice and it was fantastic. It absolutely hit the spot as it was something different than the hamburger, pizza, and meat options that flood every other restaurant’s menu. Afterwards, we simply walked across the street to Harvard and were there by 8:33, right as Jenni was walking up.
But, could have seen this one coming, the place didn’t have any TVs. Jenni shrugged. (and she is from Houston and claims to be a Rockets fan – tisk). I wasn’t excited by that, but what could I do, I had one night to enjoy Santiago night life, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise that I wasn’t going to be glued to a tv to watch the Mavs drop game 1 anyway. The bar was a little dirty, but definitely a live atmosphere. Jenni’s friends were from North Carolina and New York and they worked with Jenni teaching as well. Some locals also came with them and that was a blast talking and joking around with them. They spoke a little English, but most of the banter was in Spanish as we talked about soccer and other big deal items. After a while, half of the group went to a club and half of the group went to a different bar on the same street. Being that it was already about 1:30 and we had a flight in the morning going to altitude, I chose to go to the other bar with the aussies and Jenni. We had a round of pisco sours and then said our byes before the cab ride back to the hostel.
One of my friends from college at UT, Jenni P, did me the huge favor of messaging me on Facebook when she heard I was coming to SA because she lives in Santiago and has lived there for almost 3 years now. So we had chatted fairly consistently about my plans for a while, and today I was meeting up with her for a personalized city tour and a day in the life. We met at 10:30am at a park near my hostel and started the day. First we went to “Café con Piernas” – coffee with legs. It’s an interesting concept where the tables are standing tables outside the shop in the walking street, and the waitresses wear skimpy clothing. So the concept is guys (or girls, I guess) come to the coffee shop to get their coffee, but really to flirt with these girls, and who knows what the conversation can lead to. Apparently it is a big deal in Santiago, so we checked it out. Jenni took me to a “fake” Café con Piernas because there were not actually secondary actions after getting coffee here, but we still had a liberally dressed waitress and watched her exclusively talk with a few older men a couple of tables away. Also, the hot chocolate was great.
Then we walked around a bit to the large market area where Jenni and a ton of other locals get their fruits and vegetables. It was very crowded and busy making it hard to walk through the skinny walkways. It reminded me a lot of a farmers market as it was outside and there were just vendors lined up covering a lot of square feet. Hilariously, we ran into Martyn and Noa on the Tours 4 Tips walking tour as they happened to be walking directly passed us in this huge market in this huge city. That also confirmed that Jenni was taking me to the vintage places if the free walking tour was going to the same spot. Jenni got her handful of fruits and veggies as she prepared to make her food for the week, and we got out of there. It was a really stressful atmosphere. We then headed to a view point and little festival, but first we dropped off Jenni’s rolling market bag at a local little street shop. Her apartment was too far out of the way. We walked up some stairs to a little food truck festival that was very fun and unique. Not sure the occasion but there was all kinds of foods and some other vendors as well as a stage set up for some presentations on how to make different dishes. We went straight for the food, I snagged a fresh, $3 USD, choripan (sausage cut down the middle on a hamburger bun), and it hit the spot. Then we went up to check out the view point over the humongous city, which was fantastic. I mean it was just buildings on buildings, but we were definitely high enough to see as far as the smog would let us. Santiago is a huge city and very modern compared to the rest of South America. It felt like I was looking over downtown Chicago with some mountains in the background. I also had to spend like 10 minutes deleting pictures and things from my phone so I would have space for more. I cleared my phone of almost everything before the trip and I was already out of space with like 2.5 weeks of traveling left. Great.
We casually made our way down, stopped by a smoothie shop, snagged Jenni’s bag, and headed to her apartment so she could help me get some cash and help me prepare for my flight to La Paz the next day. I used the world savior app Venmo to pay her back, and Jenni gave me a bunch of Chilean pesos to hopefully get me through 2.5 more weeks without a way of getting cash. La Paz is at altitude, and I had heard that Americans needed some kind of visa in order to get in, so we sat down and did some research. We didn’t really conclude much, just that I would figure it out when I got there and hope not to be sent back out of the country, which considering that Bolivia is arguably the most unorganized and poor country in SA, was highly unlikely. Jenni and I decided on a bar (she picked on called Harvard, my only request was that it had the capability of showing the Mavs/Rockets game 1 of their playoff series, and she said it would) and time to meet later in the night so that I could be social with some of her friends, and I took the subway back to the hostel.
At this point, Martyn had left to go stay with his friend and it was the first time I was truly traveling solo since Buenos Aires. But, maybe 5 minutes after I walked into the hostel, I ran into the Australians who we met on the bus from Mendoza, and they were headed to La Paz the next morning as well… on the same exact flight. Hostels are magical places, it is literally too easy to meet and connect with people. So we figured out our taxi situation for the morning, showered, and they came with me to get some food before we all met up with Jenni and her friends. We figured we would just eat somewhere near Harvard.
We took the subway and found Harvard, and right across the street was a little schwarma option. The aussies had never even heard of schwarma so I was pretty insistent that they try it, and it turned out to be a huge hit. We got massive plates of schwarma and rice and it was fantastic. It absolutely hit the spot as it was something different than the hamburger, pizza, and meat options that flood every other restaurant’s menu. Afterwards, we simply walked across the street to Harvard and were there by 8:33, right as Jenni was walking up.
But, could have seen this one coming, the place didn’t have any TVs. Jenni shrugged. (and she is from Houston and claims to be a Rockets fan – tisk). I wasn’t excited by that, but what could I do, I had one night to enjoy Santiago night life, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise that I wasn’t going to be glued to a tv to watch the Mavs drop game 1 anyway. The bar was a little dirty, but definitely a live atmosphere. Jenni’s friends were from North Carolina and New York and they worked with Jenni teaching as well. Some locals also came with them and that was a blast talking and joking around with them. They spoke a little English, but most of the banter was in Spanish as we talked about soccer and other big deal items. After a while, half of the group went to a club and half of the group went to a different bar on the same street. Being that it was already about 1:30 and we had a flight in the morning going to altitude, I chose to go to the other bar with the aussies and Jenni. We had a round of pisco sours and then said our byes before the cab ride back to the hostel.