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A week in Chile

Not a detailed report as Azunoman suggested in the other thread, but certainly a few observations. It is 5 years since I went to Chile and this trip was not so much for pleasure so I was not on the tourist trail.

1. SCL

Santiago Airport is very modern and airy but I always had a gripe about it, that being the number corrupt pirate taxi drivers on the make hitting on unsuspecting travellers. They seem to have sorted it out a bit, there are still lots of taxi drivers and they seem to be licensed, they wear big badges around their necks. That said there is no need whatsoever to get a taxi because Tur Bus offers numerous excellent services, TurBus Aeropuerto takes you straight to terminal Alameda for CLP1700, If you have a hotel of hostal booked then Tur Bus transfer will take you to the door in a shared minibus for about CLP7000. Simply no reason whatsoever to take a taxi.

Things have been reorganised at passport control, Yanks and Aussies must have pissed off the Chileans at some point and they still have to pay to get in, there is a wee desk and cash machine in the passport hall.

Immediately after passport control, it was possible to buy an Entel PCS chip for pocos pesos, this has now moved and they no longer sell chips, you can only rent one with a deposit of US$200 which is bloody ridiculous and completely hopeless if like me you were leaving from a different airport and couldn't take it back

2. Terminal Alameda

Terminal Alameda still does what it says on the tin, it is a fantastic bus terminal mainly operated by Tur Bus with departures as far north as Arica and as far south as Punta Arenas, here you can buy a cellphone chip, but apparently only from the girl in the basement that sells handbags. You can leave your suitcase here for CLP2000 if you have a night time departure from the terminal and have a few hours for a nose around Santi. The terminal is right next to Metro Station Universidad de Santiago which is on the same line as la moneda in the centre and Providencia where there are a few cute hostals. In terminal Alameda, you will get your first indication that Chileans eat a lot of hot dogs, they are feckin everywhere.

3. Tur Bus

Tur Bus is fab, I got an overnight departure in "salon cama" which is a nearly flat bed. 800km, nearly 12 hours and it cost CLP18000 with a snack in the morning aboard the bus. Stops in Temuco just long enough to have a smoke if you happen to be awake.

Tur Bus have however recently made it difficult to buy tickets in advance so for that they take the arepa of shame award http://bogdirectory.com/arepaofshame/index.html

4. Valdivia

I left my heart in Valdivia back in 2004, so had to go back as I was having some difficulties pumping blood to my extremities. Didn't see much of the city for personal reasons, but if there is a pleasure greater than opening the curtains on the bus, sitting upright, sipping on a shitty pot of jugo de durazno and taking in the view then I know not of it. The approach to Valdivia is beautiful, but probably a bit less beautiful than hiring a car and just having a drive around.

Valdivia lies on the confluence of the Bio Bio and Rio Valdivia, really it is simply delicious and slightly germanic. I sat in Cafe Palace in the city centre, wearing my greatcoat and sipping on a delicious doble cortado. Nothing has changed in there since 2004, even the faces, but looking at the decor, not much has changed since about 1970, and you can smoke there too.

Just outside of Valdivia is Torobayo, home of the German Kuntsmann brewery, so Valdivia is home to numerous great beers, cost about 600 pesos for half a litre in a nice cafe

5. Food

Chile is a bit like Britain, haven't really got a cuisine of their own to shout about but they are closet foodies. Certainly the food scene has improved in the last 5 years, you name it, they make it well. I had my first half decent chinese there that I have had in ages, cost about 3 mil pesos and didnt kill me

Cheese, say no more, you name it they got it. They also have bread that doesn't taste like fucking cake. Compared to Colombia the supermarkets are dirt cheap.

6. Iquique airport

Look guys, I know you are in the middle of the Atacama desert, but please do try to make an effort. What am I supposed to do but look at the sand during a 3 hour layover?

By johnny2009 on Aug 20, 2009, 21:07 in Chile forum.

johnny2009 says on Aug 20, 2009, 21:25:

Ah nuts, forgot a few things,

7. Taxis, I got a few taxis from the bus terminal in Valdivia to where I was staying (I had to go back because I bought the wrong pissing ticket) the cost for a trip of a couple of clicks in a taxi was about CLP700, very reasonable I thought.

8. Accommodation. I pitched up to see a friend as a surprise, as such I had no idea that she had half of Valparaiso staying with her and had to bomb out and find a room. First place I got to I found said room, cost me 5k pesos per night (about US$8) Basic it was, but homely. Moreover it was freezing, a huge colonial house without heating and Valdivia was 4 degrees C last week.

From previous experience, you can pitch up anywhere in chile and find a cheapo room, you can also drive around until you spot a nice cabin in someone's garden and ask them how much they want for it for the night.

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johnny2009 says on Aug 20, 2009, 22:30:

Oops got Valdivia's rivers wrong, it is on the Calle-Calle, Valdivia and Cau-Cau Rivers

And here is a pic (I believe it to be Calle Calle)

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johnny2009 says on Aug 21, 2009, 11:47:

I didnt take any photos, but i will google a few for yous.

This is the beach at niebla, 20 mins from Valdivia, it has black sand because it is Volcanic
fotos 738.jpg

Here are the lazy lardy assed sea lions that hang out in Valdivia
Chile Oct07 073b.jpg

This is Puerto Varas, the type of place you can easily drive to in Los Lagos, it is amazingly german, has a huge lake and Volcán Osorno (I think it is Osorno) I went there 5 years ago, bummed around for the night then the next day hired a car and drove up that volcano, there is a ski resort on top.

After Puerto Varas, you can take a drive through the lakes and then through the Andes to San Carlos de Bariloche in Argentina for dinner, I got denied entry, but I did get to stop by la Salta de Los Novios

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johnny2009 says on Aug 21, 2009, 11:48:

Kurious, yes it is very clean down there, I forgot that it is the only place I know where you cannot throw your cigarette butt in the street. You can, but you don't because it is so spotless and people frown at you if you do

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johnny2009 says on Aug 26, 2009, 23:13:

They use one currency in Chile, the Chilean peso. UK citizens do not have to pay to get into Chile, Bernado O'Higgins liberator of Chile is an honorary Londoner.

I got denied entry to Argentina for being in a rental car without the correct documents, you have to get a permission from the rental company and I didn't know.

I don't know whether prices are higher in Valdivia or Santiago, I think Valdivia is probably more expensive for property and eating out (on a like for like basis) it is a very fashionable little city. That said you certainly cannot get a room in the middle of Santiago for $5 Not sure about public transport.

I am going back next wednesday, I will try to come up with some more useful info

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johnny2009 says on Aug 27, 2009, 13:56:

Ah yes, I never worked out what UF is.

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whitewidow says on Aug 27, 2009, 17:50:

UF - it is a cost adjustment factor based on foreign exchange. it is a monetary stabilizer of sorts. i have never seen this b4 either.

I'm no doper! I just play one on TV.

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johnny2009 says on Aug 27, 2009, 23:53:

No

UF 1 = CLP $ 20939

Funny thing is I have only seen it applied to costly items, like properties and education, so it is somewhat irrelevant because it seems to take into account currency fluctuations for things you cannot take out of the country, it is not like you can wait until the chilean peso is weak, buy a house and then take the house and the land back to the USA with you

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whitewidow says on Aug 28, 2009, 09:04:

i saw it used with real estate. makes sense when you buy an apartment that is being built.

I'm no doper! I just play one on TV.

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