Chile – Santiago, Valle Nevado, Valparaiso

by Sophie · 23rd August 2013

Santiago was a required stop on our trip as it is where you fly across to New Zealand. We hadn’t thought there would be too much to do, but we were happily surprised.

The city itself is very pleasant. We stayed in quite a lively area of town, close to the camp of the ongoing postal strike which had a celebratory mood with dancers stopping the traffic, and postmen singing Elvis on karaoke. Every bridge crossing the river has a different design, and the old market has an impressive structure which was actually made in Birmingham. The centre felt European, with streets named after London and Paris, and a Spanish-style square with obligatory cathedral. It is also a stepping stone to many sights which are easily reached on day trips. We took two.

Valle Nevado was a great day’s skiing in the Andes. It felt like we had the pistes to ourselves a lot of the time!

Valparaiso was a brightly painted port town, with fantastic street art, old lifts to climb up the steep hills and some delicious ice cream.

We were very happy to flat share with Chirag here too, and it was sad to say goodbye to him, and also of course to South America as we headed to the airport!