Ocean and Mountains

We took two trips out of the city whilst staying in Santiago to try and see some of Chile, though a country that is over 3000km long (though less than 200 wide) is not going to be easy to see on a day trip! However, both trips were just brilliant.
On Sunday we got up early and were picked up by a lovely lady, who was to be our guide for the day and a driver. We headed out on the coast road and soon left the city behind, heading through a 3km tunnel through the coastal mountains and into countryside which looked very like California. We stopped once to taste some local liquor – a sweet grape based drink which was very like Floc and some equally sweet pastries. We also admired the resident llama at the roadside cafe. Then it was on to the Casablanca valley, Chile’s newest wine region, which looked remarkably like the Napa valley. We tasted some delicious wines at Emiliana, the fresh and fruity Sauvignon Blanc was particularly impressive and consoled ourselves that although it was 10.30am and therefore well ahead of yard arm time, it would be 13.30 at home and it was Sunday! The winery also had a herd of Alpacas who seemed to be enjoying their run in the middle of the vineyards.
We went on to Valparaiso, a picturesque port town which has played a pivotal role in the history of Chile and is home to the navy (an important organisation in the country with so much coastline!) We walked around the steep hillsides, admiring Pablo Neruda’s home – a famous Chilean poet and Nobel Prize winner and the pastel coloured houses. In the past Valpo has had huge expat European populations and we admired the ‘Brighton’ hotel, the German and Spanish churches and visited the Anglican church. This was exactly like a church at home which felt strange and had a magnificent organ which Queen Victoria had given to the English in Chile. We were lucky enough to hear it as they were just starting a concert when we arrived. After heading down to the port in an even more rickety funicular than the one in Santiago (there used to 11 of these though only 3 are still in working order, to save the citizens from climbing all those hills) we headed up along the Pacific coast to have lunch in Vina del Mar. The ocean didn’t live up to its name with huge waves breaking on the beach but it was very impressive to sit and enjoy a Pisco sour and eat lunch watching the surf. Our guide was wonderful and told us a great deal about life in Chile as well as its history – interesting to know that Sir Francis Drake is very much still public enemy number one out here!
Having admired the ocean and the historic coast we felt we had to take a closer look at the mountains which loom over the town. Even in the height of summer you can see the ice covered peaks from city centre. We booked a half day tour with a local bus company which involved another early start to ensure we caught our bus. Apparently Chile is viewed as the Great Britain of South America because they are always on time and the bus actually left 10 minutes early so it wouldn’t have been good to be working on Arab time! The journey up was incredibly and the scenery amazing. The road actually numbers the hairpin bends but I lost count in the late thirties and the ground dropped away very steeply. It was a bumpy bus and a bit hair raising but the driver seemed to be on top of it. The road leads to the main ski resorts so, far from being blocked in winter, it is much busier with a one way system in place to cope with the traffic – up the mountain in the morning and down in the evening!
The glacier covered peaks rose above us and the mountain scenery was just brilliant, it was really sunny and clear so we could see the city far below and the Andes stretching away into the distance. We stopped on the way to watch a group of Condors taking off and soaring into the sky. We were really fortunate as normally you only ever see them high above you but rarely on the ground or on take off. They have 3m wing spans so once they’re airborne they don’t need to do much but glide. We arrived at the highest ski resort at 9000 feet where the air felt quite thin and had an hour to walk round admiring the vistas and the scenery, as well as the cows perched on their summer pastures. It was an incredible experience.
I would love to see more of Chile some time after these two tastes of the country outside Santiago.