Chile - Norte Chico y Zona Central

Chile --- the long skinny country between the Andes and the Pacific - is 2,500 miles long and only 40-200 miles wide. It's divided into 5 zones: Norte Grande, Norte Chico, Zona Central, Zona Sur and Zona Austral. It's an incredibly varied and scenic country!

During our first 6-1/2 weeks in Chile, which included a trip to Easter Island (see previous blog), we've been in Zona Central and Norte Chico. We flew over the Andes from Argentina on September 6th and tomorrow, October 22 we will drive from Talca - where Chile's 1818 Declaration of Independence was signed - to Curacautín and into Zona Sur's mountains, lakes, hot springs and a visit to a Petaluma friend. On the last day of October we will board a ferry to Zona Austral and Patagonia!

To travel from Mendoza, Argentina to Santiago, Chile in early September we had tickets to take the bus over the Andes through the Paso Internacional Los Libertadores, but upon arrival at the bus station we learned that the pass was snowed in. It was a bummer not to take the scenic bus journey with the crazy 29 switchbacks down into Chile (not my photos)...

...but the upside was flying over the Andes! The photos below show us leaving the Mendoza valley, a view of the road, the road disappearing into the snow, and the green foothills heading down into Santiago.

Santiago isn't a particularly picturesque city, but it has GREAT energy. More stylish and modern than Buenos Aires - feels like a Madrid/LA hybrid with the South American je ne sais quoi laid back vibe. Sorry no photos of stylish people - oh wait, here's one:

Our visit coincided with the 50th anniversary of the military coup (September 11, 1973) in which Allende died and Pinochet took power. There were warnings in the news to stay off the streets on the 11th due to protests possibly becoming violent; we were on Easter Island that day and nothing happened there. We watched a documentary about the years leading up to the fall of Allende and the rise of Pinochet. Ugh it’s so hard to acknowledge America’s intervention.

There were many activities and events around Santiago commemorating the 50 year mark:

The Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos was particularly poignant, and was crowded with school groups learning about a dark time in their country's history.

This marvelous photo was blown up to huge poster size and visible when leaving the museum:

On October 5, 1988, Pinochet was voted out of office..... although with only 56% of the vote. And even today, apparently 20% of Chileans think he was fine.

A movie was released in theaters in early September - El Conde - a satire portraying Pinochet as a vampire.

It's been controversial - many people saying there's nothing to laugh about even in a black comedy.

I went to a small arthouse cinema and saw a free screening of a cinéma vérité documentary from 1974, filmed in Paris by Chilean director Raúl Ruiz, called Dialogue of Exiles, Diálogo de Exiliados. The theater was packed, mostly with 20-somethings. The film was a series of interviews with Chilean refugees trying to start new lives in France, and also trying to raise money to send back to Chile to bring over family and friends. There were a few scenes with French and international aide groups; very intense and poignant. I lived in Paris in 1974 (I was 23) and my consciousness was almost entirely of the Viet Nam War, not of Chile. Strange to think back on those years.

Pablo Neruda, poet, diplomat and politician, had three homes in Chile, one in the Bellavista neighborhood of Santiago, up on a hill. He died just a few days after the 1973 military coup; he had cancer and was in the hospital, was planning to leave the country, but apparently was poisoned, ordered by the army. His house was ransacked but was restored in the '90's and is now a museum. A few images; the gold medal in the center of the display case is his 1971 Nobel Prize for Literature:

There's a marvelous Pre-Columbian Art Museum in Santiago, with collections from all over South and Central America. I especially loved the ceramics and metalwork:

We were in Santiago for Chilean Independence Day, September 18. In 1810, they declared independence from Spain; the war lasted 8 years, part of the Spanish American Wars of Independence. Today, people celebrate mostly with fondas - outdoor parties - (if the late winter weather cooperates) and dancing the cuenca. This gaucho-inspired dance was taken from Argentina. Almost everything was closed for the holiday but we found a Peruvian restaurant for lunch, and noticed a small gathering next to the restaurant in front of a mini-market that was also open. The owner was in gaucho clothing and hat and kept breaking into dance. A group of his friends showed up with a little grill and sausages. We chatted with them, drank some delicious Patagonia lager, and also chatted with two nice young men, front desk employees at the hotel down the street where we first stayed in Santiago. They speak excellent English and are very well-traveled; the Chilean passport ranks 16th in the world with the ability to enter 174 countries without a visa. These two young men had both studied and lived abroad.

The tallest building in South America is about 6 blocks from our apartment in the Providencia neighborhood, with offices, condos, apartments and a huge shopping mall.

One thing about Santiago is the mountains - you go around a corner looking for a bus stop and see this:

Some nice neighborhoods -

Barrio Italia, Bellavista, Lastarria, parts of Centro:

This street band was GREAT!

One day we were having late lunch in a restaurant near one of the universities; they weren't letting anybody sit in the back room - "all reserved" - turns out it was reserved for a free concert by these cute kids:

The huge Mercado Central downtown:

On September 30 we packed up our belongings, took a 90-minute bus ride out to the coast and checked into our new home, an 18th floor apartment in Viña del Mar. The drive out from Santiago went through the wine regions of Casablanca and part of the Maipo Valley, looking so similar to home.

Our new abode had a great view of the sea from the master bedroom, and a tiny skinny little deck.

Viña, as it's called here, is a couple of miles north of Valparaíso along a large bay. Our little neighborhood in Viña was just what we like: small retail and restaurants mixed with residential, and just 4 blocks from the water; good Indian food at the next corner, very fresh seafood, and a rad little wine bar just down the street. And about a hundred bakeries and ice cream shops.

The name Viña del Mar comes from a famous vineyard near the sea, established by the Spaniards, that was destroyed by an earthquake in the early 1800's.

There's a nice archeological and natural history museum down the street where I was surprised by this guy standing in front! He came to Viña in 1951 as a gift from Rapa Nui. He's the only Moai on the Chilean mainland.

A condor.

Viña Del Mar is a big vacation/resort spot. Hundreds of apartments and condos, lots of beach activities.

Viña downtown:

Up on the mountainside is the Quinta Vergara Amphitheater, an open-air amphitheater and the site of the Viña del Mar International Song Festival held yearly in February. It was started in 1960, the oldest and largest music festival in Latin America and one of the longest running music festivals in the world. Apparently the audience of this festival is famous - or infamous - and is called 'El Monstruo'.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viña_del_Mar_International_Song_Festival - artists who "tame the monster" achieve instant fame.

On the north end of the bay is the newer town of Concón, with its gigantic sand dunes and surfing beaches. It's a quick ride up there on a city bus. The hills going up from the beach are so steep that there are funiculars to get up to the top:

Lots of vacation apartments/condos.

Sandboarding on the dunes (not my photo):

Valparaíso, locally known as Valpo, is a UNESCO world heritage site. It's one of the most picturesque places I've ever been! It was the most important merchant port on the Pacific coast of South America, as part of the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via the Strait of Magellan before the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914.

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/959/

It has two main sections: the low, flat plano including the port, the main markets and public squares and government buildings, and los cerros. the hills.

There are many buildings with corrugated metal exteriors, most painted bright colors. It's a function of being an earthquake-prone area, also inexpensive, and they say that the bright colors are a holdover from the days when many ships came through Valpo and while in port were repainted. Unused paint was left behind and used on houses.

Here are some pictures taken by Abram and me of buildings, los cerros, street art and the plano - you could spend months here and not see it all! At the end is a fun little video taken at the fish market.

A parade by Escuela de Samba in La

Plaza de la Victoria in downtown Valpo:

The city buses are smaller than usual big city buses and there are so many of them! Very inexpensive to ride them and they take cash, which makes it easy - some play loud fun music. It takes about 15 minutes to ride between Viña and Valpo; on the way you pass by this castle-style building.

A few sample bus rides:

There are 16 historical elevators on Valpo's 45 hills. They're over 100 years old. Actually, most of them are funiculars, but there are one or two actual elevators.

On October 18 we rented a car for the 250-mile drive north up the coast from Viña to Coquimbo/La Serena and into the Elqui Valley. It was the beginning of a month-long car/boat/bus/plane trip around Chile and Argentina, ending in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. We've been waiting for spring to go south... and now it's time! But first a side trip north.

La Serena is Chile’s second-oldest city and a university town; Coquimbo adjoins it to the south on a large bay. We found a great old-school motel on the border between the two cities, right across the street from the beach. With its linoleum floors, tiny kitchenette, Naugahyde couch - all materials that aren't affected by the sand that will inevitably be tracked in - it reminded me of little places we stayed when Sarah and Phoebe were little or further back, with my brother and sisters and parents, in Santa Cruz or Half Moon Bay in days long ago. Driving up the coast was a very California-like experience and I may or may not have blubbered a bit, having been gone from home for 6 months.

The next day we drove a couple of hours inland to the Valle del Elqui, which is known for its many observatories and for being one of five designated locations in Chile to grow grapes for pisco and distill them.

(Not my photo) of observatories:

The Valle del Elqui has at least 320 sunny days a year and is a major astro-tourism destination. However, that leaves about 45 cloudy days each year and guess when we were there?

The valley is very very dry except for where it's irrigated. It's only a few hundred miles south of Chile's Atacama Desert, considered the driest place on earth.

We couldn't view the stars but we did visit a charming small pisquera and I took a tour.

Pisco: Perú or Chile? Both! We already knew that the two countries argue over the origins of ceviche - along with Ecuador and Mexico - they also argue about pisco. It's considered the national spirit of both countries: Peruvian pisco is made from 8 specific grape varieties while Chilean pisco can be made from a wider variety of grapes. Similar to Champagne, it can only be called pisco if it's made in one of Perú's five coastal valleys or in Chile's Copiapó, Huasco, Limarí, Choapa or Elqui valleys. It's actually an unaged brandy. Here's some info about the pisco rivalry:

https://thecraftycask.com/craft-spirits-liqueurs/pisco-rivalry/#:~:text=Chile%20wins%20the%20battle%

Aba is a 102-year-old artisanal family-owned pisco distillery. They own about 100 acres of land and grow several varietals of grapes to make the white wine that is the base for pisco. It's distilled like whiskey or brandy.

After leaving the Elqui Valley we drove south down Ruta 5 - the Pan American Highway! Made a couple of stops and today drove through the beautiful Maule Valley, one of Chile's largest and most important wine-growing regions, and which reminded us of the Napa Valley.

An afternoon and overnight in Talca, capital of the Maule region. Below, the wrecked-out and abandoned Mercado from 1898 and the new one down the street:

The signing of the Declaration of Independence:

When we walked downtown this evening to find dinner, we found a Halloween parade. Like Petaluma's Butter/Eggs Parade, it felt like half the town was in the parade and the other half was watching!

After that we did find a delicious pollo asado and BBQ dinner.

Mañana we head south - Zona Sur, Zona Austral, and Patagonia!