Great Surf in Santiago!
Trip Start
Aug 01, 2011
1
50
57
Trip End
Apr 04, 2012
Santiago, Chile
Friday, March 2, 2012
For a start, it was great to leave behind the wet and windy towns further south - when you're living out of a backpack it is better not so be trudging around with a bag full of wet and smelly clothes! We could even feel the heat at 9am so we knew we'd soon be back to shorts and flip flops. To give an idea of quite how dry Santiago is, our host Ravi said that he has seen it rain a mere 5 times in the past 14 months!
We headed into town to see the sights, with the first being the central food indoor markets, which were humongous. Not just the markets, but even the vegetables were oversized, with peppers as big as your head. There were also kittens strewn about the place, making themselves at home in the baskets (see kitten with onions!).
A walk to the main square was worthwhile too, the stunning cathedral being one of the most beautiful we have seen in South American. Also whilst having a drink (rehydrating from the powerful sun) in the plaza we were entertained by a typical Santiago busker, a one man band who spins rapidly whilst drumming, very impressive.
Another great thing about couchsurfing is the hosts tend to know the ins and outs of a city far better than any travel guide and this was true for the next thing that Ravi introduced us too. He suggested that we went for a coffee, but this is no ordinary coffee, this is 'Cafe con Piernas' - coffee with legs. This is a Santiago phenomena. In a dark, curtained shop off a busy downtown street, customers (mostly men) stand at a bar where they're greeted and served espresso by a curvy, seductively dressed women standing on a platform ( which ensures the customer's eye level is at the waitress' chest level). It sounds seedy and we were both pretty wide-eyed when we entered. However our waitress was really chatty and friendly and it was an enjoyable coffee (probably more for Ravi and Tom!). Amutha did ask our waitress if there was a male equivalent (i.e bare-chested six pack waiters who serve coffee), but unfortunately there isn't - a definite gap in the market - she thinks!
The ride up the funicular of Santiago is not to be missed. Once transported to the top by the antique elevator, we enjoyed a great panoramic view of the city, with the snow-capped Andes to the west. It seemed weird to have that view of the white-topped mountains whilst we were enjoying the 30+ degree heat and dryness in the city. We topped of a great day by having a lovely meal in a typical Chilean restaurant with our hosts, who introduced us to borgona, a Chilean version of sangria. After a jam-packed first day, we spent our second day wandering the great markets of Los Domingos, cooling down in the park with a peach barley drink called moté con huesillo and going to the cinema. We watched The Artist - Oscar winning silent film, so thankfully we didn't need to worry about the language barrier!
We almost didn't bother with the trip out to Valparaiso, some two and a half hours ride each way from our accommodation (maybe we were getting travel weary?), however our get-up-and-go was rewarded once we arrived at the seaside town. It really is quite dramatic, with all of its colourful houses on the steep hillside and yet more antique funiculars to get you to the top and allow you to take in the views across town. As with much of our travel, we'll probably remember our trip to Valparaiso best for the food. Our couch surf hosts had recommended this particular seafood restaurant 'Porteños', whose defining characteristics we soon found out were it's down to earth prices and out of this world portion sizes! Amutha became a bit of a spectacle with the locals as she ended up ordering the biggest dish on the menu, a seafood paella. The restaurant had a great vibe, with the local musicians playing folk songs and the diners joining in with the sing-a-long.
Santiago has a really relaxed, fun vibe. A huge thanks goes to our hosts and new friends Ravi and Ellie, as they made our stay so great and massive congratulations as their family has just been extended by five new kittens!
