We’re off to Chile!
Here we are on the plane to Chile! We were leaving from JFK airport in New York. We had spent a few days on Long Island for Ben’s cousin’s wedding.
Santiago
Our first night was in Santiago. It was the 4th of July, so the hotel left us a little gift because they knew we were American.
We spent the day walking around the city and eating. The food in Chile has influences from many different places. There are big Spanish, Italian, Peruvian and Argentinian influences. There is also a lot of seafood, since you are never more than about two hours away from the ocean in Chile. There is even a small influence from Germany and Austria.
We had our first pisco sours of the trip at El Ancla (The Anchor) restaurant. (If you haven’t had a pisco sour, I would highly recommend it! It is the national drink of both Chile and Peru. Pisco is a brandy made out of grapes, but hard to find outside of Chile and Peru.) Later we had dinner at a wine bar and I had a flight of Chilean white wines. 😄
We came back to Santiago on two more occasions on our trip. Once day the road to Portillo was closed so we drove in to Santiago for a day. We explored Parque Met (the green lung of Santiago) and had lunch at a very cool speak-easy-esque restaurant. We later checked out another park that evening (Parque Araucano) where there was a concert going on and went rocking climbing at a bouldering gym.
We also spent the last day of our trip in Santiago before flying out. We did more walking and checked out yet another park in the city (Parque Bicentenario). We also checked out the historic district of the city. We stayed in what is called the Manhattan of Santiago (or Sanhattan) and had a beautiful view from the roof of our hotel. Unfortunately there is a layer of smog that covers Santiago which gets worse in the winter. It comes from the fact that Santiago is in a valley surrounded by two mountain ranges coupled with the high level of pollution from the large population in Santiago as well as wood burning that many people use to warm their homes. The government has tried to reduce the pollution and smog but has so far been unsuccessful.
Valle Nevado
Our first ski spot was north east of Santiago at Valle Nevado, which is a ski resort on our Icon Pass. (Don’t forget it’s winter in the southern hemisphere!) We stayed at Hotel Mirador del Inca in a cute little apartment with a view of the Andes Mountains.
The ski resort was beautiful, at ~10k feet overlooking the Andes Mountains. There was not as much snow as anticipated, but there were several lifts open. Because the resort is so high, it stays pretty cold and the snow does not go through freeze/thaw cycles, so it feels a lot fresher than it is. The ski resort is above tree line, so it was interesting to ski without any trees. Not something we are used to, being from Washington State. The visibility was bad at times but the surface was so smooth that it wasn’t a problem.
There were a heating outdoor pool with a view of the mountains. We got to see a few amazing sunsets while there and even saw a cute Andean fox!
One thing I noticed, especially at the ski resorts, is that many people assumed we were Brazilian at first. I would speak to them in Spanish and they could tell that we were foreign and not native Spanish speakers, but had trouble placing where we were from because not many Americans (or English speakers in general) vacation in Chile.
You may notice that some names have references to the Incas, such as Mirador del Inca. In the 1400 and 1500s the Incas inhabited the northern half of Chile so many names pay homage to this history. You can see in the map below that the shape of the Incan Empire (in yellow) looks very similar to that of present day Chile, although it is thicker and shifted northward.
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is an amazing city. It was a major port before the Panama Canal was created. It is a vibrant city that has become more of a tourist and artistic destination, for good reason. It seems like more of an international tourist destination rather than for Chileans. There is art everywhere, as well as hills, and views of the city and water. The city is built on 49 hills, or “cerros”, so there are great views to be had everywhere. We had a great time walking around the cerros, looking at the artwork and eating. Even though it’s getting touristy, there are endless views and pieces of artwork to see here, and if you come to Chile, I would definitely recommend coming to Valparaíso.
Viña del Mar
Viña del Mar was a beautiful location with sandy beaches and stunning ocean views. While Valparaíso seems to be an international tourist destination, Viña del Mar seems like the place wealthy Chileans come to vacation. There were lots of fancy apartments and hotels and a beautiful waterfront park that stretches almost the entire length of the city. On the north end of town there are some giant sand dunes which were pretty cool to check out.
We had a gorgeous view of the ocean from our hotel which honestly blew me away. It was a little too cold to hang out in that iconic pool, but it would be amazing in the summer time. I wish we had stayed more than one night here!
Ski Portillo
Skiing at Portillo was wonderful. We got some fresh powder and amazing views of the mountains and lake. We could even see what we thought was the Argentinean border customs. We stayed in a rustic cabin about 40 minutes away from the resort with a quirky and friendly Chilean host. The road to Portillo is a crazy place. It is a major highway for cargo trucks crossing the Chilean/Argentinean border, but it is a narrow and extremely windy road. At the resort there was a 5-person poma lift, nick-named “the slingshot” that was super steep and bumpy. One Yahoo review calls it “a truly terrifying way to get up a ski slope”. Most of the chairlifts were normal though, and not scary. The Andes Mountains as well as Laguna del Inca are stunning and made for some breathtaking views while skiing. I would love to go back to Portillo sometime when they have more snow. It was a wonderful way to end our trip.
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