3 Chilean Cities and a Feeling of Familiarity

My travel partner (who asked to be referred to as Eduardo even though that is nothing like her name) and I spent a week in the middle part of Chile. Specifically we saw the cities of  Valparaiso (the port city), Viña del Mar (a wealthy commercial city) and Santiago(the capital). 

Valparaiso was an important port city before the opening of the Panama Canal. It is currently in a rebuilding phase and has become a sort of hipster artist city that reminded me a lot of Portland or Seattle. The city is built up on cerros (hills) many of which have short rail lines to help ease access. 

Valpo's history of decadence lives into today's posh cafés and upscale restaurants, all of which offer delicious high quality food and great service. Since entering Chile  it has been hard not to contrast it to the other South American countries and Chile always stands out as feeling more modern, more like home, or perhaps more European.  In Bolivia we couldn't get decent bread to save our lives, in Chile delicious fluffy French and Italian bread was offered by the goat load.

 Even when it comes to the very South American street dogs, Chile stands out.

In most of Chile the streets are packed with very large, very friendly and very smelly dogs. These dogs are part of Chilean culture, not quite owned by anyone but definitely fed by everyone. All of South America has stray dogs but these ones are the fattest. It is estimated that there are over a million stray dogs in Chile.  While on a tour in Santiago, we were sitting down outside of the presidential office and a stray dog came up to us greeting each person by placing his dirty paw on our legs and asking to be petted. The stray dogs of Chile follow you around and protect you(same in Argentina), they will wait for you when you stop and escort you to your next destination. We had an escort of about 6 smelly dogs on a tour in Valparaiso, they took it in shifts. 

The best part about Valparaiso specifically though is the art. The streets are basically covered in graffiti and murals, quality varies but it is lovely to behold and offers a new sensation around each corner. Even the stairs and the electrical poles are covered in art.

I have so many pictures of street art I can't post them all.

Valparaiso was definitely a lovely city to see though I feel bad for anyone who had to climb all those hills.

We only spent a little bit of time in Vina del Mar because we walked there along the coast from Valparaiso. The rather wealthy area reminded me of American suburbs. Big houses, an abundance of stores and American restaurants such as McDonalds  and TGI fridays. 

The highlight other than the walk and some french fries was the museum where we got to learn about Easter Island and Chilean wildlife. 

Also a German guy built a castle there...

Santiago is a massive sprawling city of millions and yet while there we found the city center very walkable. Familiar comforts like Starbucks beckoned but so did the thousands of Japanese restaurants (Eduardo ate sushi 3-4 times in the 3 days we were there).  Though very much a modern city, Santiago is sprinkled with little hints of the past like a fortress on a hill, and government buildings in classical styles. 

The highlight of the visit for me was the Museo de la Memoria y Los Direchos Humanos. The museum is dedicated to the Chilean history under the military junta and Pinochet.  The museum has displays thoroughly documenting human rights abuses, and the political and social life at the time. It also documents the struggle to return the country to democracy.  Moving exhibits included letters and gifts sent home from political prisoners to their families, children's drawings of life at the time, stories from torture survivors and news clips describing the attempts to organize resistance.  I really enjoyed the museum and it was a perfect compliment to the walking tour guides explanation of the events of Sept 11th 1973 when the coup occurred.  

For me growing up after these events I had never really understood the magnitude of the dictators of South America - that is until seeing the pictures, quotes and physical history of the time period on the streets and in the museum.

It was also interesting to compare the devastating time period under military rule to the modern day image of Chile as a prosperous and free nation, perhaps the most prosperous in South America.Today it is hard to imagine the types of repression faced by the population just a few decades ago, when today the educated, cultured, monied people of Chile take life in stride, freely express themselves on walls and in fashion. 

Presidential Office, site of the Military Coup of 1973

A former symbolic building of socialism, then the Junta, now a cultural art center

Modern Buildings of the financial sector (according to our guide this sector was based on Manhattan)

Art depicting the influences on modern Chilean life

Group Travel

Up until recently I have traveled primarily solo on this trip. Recently however I have had the experience of traveling with a group or with a partner and that has changed several aspects of travel. 

The group of folks I hung out with in Bolivia and Chile were all solo travelers who grouped together for the Solar de Uyuni, I had a chance to chat about the differences when traveling alone vs with a group with a couple of the others and here are some of the things we noticed.

Group Travel Positives

Fun: when traveling alone you have a lot of downtime that can get a little boring. I've shared how I tend to overthink, and have to push myself to stay positive during the down times, well when traveling with a group- there is less downtime because it automatically becomes conversation or game time. With the group I was hanging with, we got into routines of playing celebrity heads (guess the celeb), card games and sharing jokes and stories. The long car rides became times for singalongs, the coffee shop turned into trivial pursuit time.  I spent far less time on social media because I was having fun and being social. Having live conversations about the past, present and future instead of virtual conversations that take a week and a good wifi connection to continue. 

Another aspect of this is that you can joke with someone about the irritating situations.  A cold shower becomes a shared joke. Bad service in a restaurant or a hostel becomes a shared joke. That annoying stomach bug that keeps coming back becomes a shared joke. Jokes make travel much easier.

All that shared time together let's you make close friends quick. The process of cathecting through shared experiences - life long friends? Who knows, but I will certainly smile when I think of my time with these folks. 

Relaxing: another nice piece of group travel is that generally you get to relax more. Someone else will likely know the plan and make the decision. Someone else will have expertise at Spanish and ask the question you aren't quite sure how to phrase... Someone else will have a phone charger handy, or correct change at the restaurant, perhaps best of all someone else will watch your bag while you run to the bathroom!  It's nice to be able to rely on someone else, especially when you've had to be self reliant for week after week. Give your brain a chance to relax, drop your guard just a touch and enjoy the experience of traveling.

Perhaps it is the decrease in negatives that makes group travel so nice. All the little things that you didn't have to feel or notice because they just didn't come up. For instance the social anxiety of having to make new friends in every location-didn't even come up. The feeling of loneliness that usually arises when you see something awesome and don't have someone to share it- didn't even come up.   The doubt that arises when you don't know what to share in a conversation because no one really knows you... Well that doesn't come up because these people know you.

All of this combined leads to a feeling of belonging, a sort of home away from home. That word came up a lot while I was traveling with the group... "I'll see you at home."  And we sort of mean it.

Negatives of group travel

Oddly enough the majority of the negatives are the same things only tweaked.

For instance the increase in in-group fun, leads a person to stop seeking out new friends. After a week of hanging out with one group I realized I hadn't met anyone new in awhile. The positive of a group is it gets you through the downtimes, but the negative is that you can overrely on the people you know. Why make new friends when you've got friends who know you, know your jokes, your routines etc?

Then of course there are those routines... If you always let someone else ask the questions, you stop practicing your Spanish. If you let others figure out the directions, you stop being aware of your surroundings.  

In Potosi I realized I hadn't done any of my research, didn't know where we were staying, didn't know how to get to the next spot. When I left I felt like I hadn't seen the city because I hadn't put any intention into it. 

Worse though is when everyone does it at the same time... Groups trying to figure out where to eat, stay, etc when no one knows anything or cares all that much = a group of people wandering with no one happy.  This gets aggravating pretty quick and sometimes leaves you stuck in routines that are mostly just lazy (Sure we all like that restaurant but only because we haven't been to any others in 3 days). 

So you can become sort of lazy when traveling with a group... And this was one thing I realized I was struggling with. I hadn't journaled or blogged or drawn or read in weeks, it made me feel unproductive and a little lost even though I was surrounded by homies. Balance is really important when traveling and too much group time can throw you off your game...

Finally what happens when there is an imbalance? Normal social dynamics are intensified while traveling so of course you are going to have your crabby day. There is going to be one day when everyone annoys you, but you are part of a group now so you can't just be the loner you've been... What to do?

Similarly what if one person is constantly being a pain, or a mooch, or totally negative all the time? They are part of the group and you don't want to throw off the dynamic by starting a conflict...

Luckily these things didn't come up much. I had one day I woke up super crabby and assumed I would be irritated all day but within an hour I was laughing and joking again, and it made me realize how much I enjoyed the people around me. I wanted them around to cheer me up, and they were there to do it... Super convenient.

In all I don't think you can say solo or group travel is better... But it's nice to experience both on a trip. 

The Last Few Weeks (Bolivia and Chile)

Hey everyone, it's been quite a while since I updated and this has been for three reasons

A) Lack of internet in Bolivia 

B) Too much social life 

C) Cruising through Chile...

So this will be a quick update with some pictures of the last 2-3 weeks and a little bit about the places I've seen and the stuff I have been doing. 

Sucre is the official capital of Bolivia but for the most part it is just a nice colonial city without a lot going on. I spent way too much time there because I was staying at a fun hostel with some folks I had met and just really enjoyed the company.

Travelers go to sucre for the beautiful architecture and the abundance of cheap Spanish schools. But it is kind of a quiet town that celebrates a lot of public holidays- for instance I went to a museum 4 times(or rather attempted), because the first three times it was closed.

I stayed at a really cool hostel that served the best breakfast buffet in South America, and had a lot of parties at night.  

It was called kulturberlin and just like the city had a bear as it's symbol. 

While in Sucre I played wallyball for the first time, learned about 3 new card games, watched a great documentary about Potosi Silver mines and generally had a lot of fun. 

This is some of the crew I hung out with, mostly just so that they would chill with me on the salt flats...

(New post about traveling alone vs traveling with company coming soon).

Potosi

I originally planned to spend a few days in this historic city at the top of the world, but because my friends were keen on getting to the salt flats we rushed through in just a day. 

I also didn't get to see some of the main sites because they were closed (sad). Instead a friend of mine and I just wandered around and took a few photos.

This is the mountain that made Potosi famous and the world rich. It's silver basically launched the Spanish Empire as well as hundreds of years of war in Europe. 

Uyuni

The small town of Uyuni is thejump off point to the salt flats of southeastern Bolivia. The area that tourists stay in is roughly a 2 block area with nothing but pizza places, hostels, souvenir shops and tour agencies. 

The Salar de Uyuni and more...

For most travelers to Bolivia the highlight of the trip is the natural wonder of the Bolivian salt flats. The salt flats provide salt for the whole country, but beyond that they provide a goat load of enjoyment for anyone with a camera. 

The three day tour usually includes geysers, hot springs, volcanic rocks, dried up coral islands, a train grave yard, lagoons of various colors and of course the salt.  The temperatures range from freezing cold to over hot, and the speedometers on the vehicles are purposely broken so you can freak out at how fast the drivers are going. 

With a handful of friends it's a great time.

Here are some pics in no particular order.

San Pedro de Atacama

After the rush of the dry dry Bolivian desert, we decided to spend a few days in the dry dry heat of the Chilean desert... You know to compare. 

This is the man made oasis in the desert. The town of San Pedro is basically a few thousand people catering to tourists and selling them cold drinks and delicious food.  The atmosphere of the town is very laid back and seems a lot like the southwest of the US complete with one story high adobe craft and art stores and scenic views of the mountains behind. 

Outside of town are a number of valleys you can bike to such as the valley of the dead and the valley of the moon. 

There are also ruins overlooking the valleys, left by a one powerful pre inca civilization that dominated the area.

Calama

We only had a few hours in Calama but got to meander through it's commercial downtown. 

La Serena

When we got to te beach in La Serena I realized I hadn't seen the ocean since Lima (way back in the middle of August). We strolled into town on a Sunday and nothing opened till around 11am so we hung out in a park and then went to the mall.  There we found a bowling alley... And being from the Midwest I had to get my game on. 

Other highlights of La Serena were the anthropology museum and the birds cracking crabs on the beach. 

Anywho....

Headed to Mendoza Argentina tomorrow hopefully. Posts soon on the rest of Chile (Valparaiso, Vina del Mar, Santiago) as well as about traveling alone vs with others.  

About two months left... With 4 countries to go (Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil).