As the trip to the north of Chile was not really part of our initial plan, we returned to Santiago to get back on track and continue south towards Patagonia. However, as we had not seen much of Santiago before heading north, we were also keen to see a bit of the city beyond our local supermarket and bakery. Unfortunately however Crystal was a bit crook so we kept our exploring to a minimum. Generally, we were quite impressed by Santiago though. Whilst there are not really any must see sights, it has a very livable feel to it, with wide boulevards, plenty of trees, friendly locals and a smattering of beautiful buildings.
While not to the south, our next stop after Santiago was Valparaiso. West of Santiago, Valparaiso is a port town built amongst steep coastal hills. Although the water front is marred by the port which stretches the length of the harbourside (think Auckland´s ports but worse), the views from the hillside neighbourhoods are fantastic. The real attraction of Valparaiso however is the vibe of the city. The streets are lined by amazing street art, there are cafes and bars everywhere and the pace of life is charmingly slow for a big city. While the best past time in Valparaiso ("Valpo" to the locals) seemed to be to simply wander the streets, we also visited the hillside home of Pablo Neruda (Chilean poet and politician) which not only provided some of the best views in the city but was also packed full of fantastic curios which we had collected throughout his life.
Whilst in Valpo, we had intended to do a day trip to Vina del Mar, a nearby beach side town, however were advised by the owner of our hostal (who happened to be the writer of the Footprint guide to Chile) to visit Quintay, a small beachside fishing village, instead. Not in any of the guidebooks we had seen, Quintay was also inaccessible by public transport however we had decent instructions on how to get there so decided to give it a go. We were very glad we did. We took a collectivo - like a taxi but they wait in specific taxi ranks until they are full of people that want to go to a given destination - and were dropped in the plaza in Quintay. After meandering though a few back streets trying to find our way to the water, we managed to find the harbour. The beach was unremarkable but the views were amazing and we were absolutely famished so we found a restaurant and sat out on the balcony and ordered lunch. We had been warned to expect big portions but I have never had so much food on a plate in front of me in my life. We each got a salmon fillet as long as my forearm, twice and wide and nearly as thick. We gave it a good crack but were defeated. We could barely walk as we left the restaurant but it was very satisfying. Post lunch we went in search of a better beach and after a 15 minute walk through the bush found Playa Chica, a small and stunning white sand beach nestled between two rocky outcrops made even better by the fact that there were only about 40 people on the beach and not a single westerner. A very pleasant beach break before heading south away from the coast and towards colder weather.
No comments:
Post a Comment