Santiago, Chile - far less glamorous than I could have expected

DAY 6 - WEDN OCT 15 - SANTIAGO, CHILE

I went for a long walk in the morning, stopped at a salon to get my hair washed and styled - met a few great people along the way. Packed up and headed to the airport, where I saw many people I had already met in my few short days here.

I have been allowing myself the luxury of watching movies on the flights - something I would say I almost never do. It has been a real treat.

Upon arrival in Santiago, I knew I needed to find an Uber because apparently the Taxi’s do not accept VISA and I have not yet exchanged any currency. I had been given a few warnings about the safety aspect of Santiago but I didn’t think it was too severe. I was in for an awakening.

My cab driver announced himself as William. He invited himself to ask me if I was single… in Spanish. I translated it and immediately said ‘no soltera! no soltera!’ I am not single! not single! Then he asked if I would go out tonight, I said NO.. I will be going to sleep. At this point I was feeling uneasy, from the things I had heard about Santiago. I started to watch my map to make sure we were going to the right place. By the time we arrived, he pulled out his phone and gave me his WhatsApp phone number. I kindly entered it into my WhatsApp and said Gracias - and booked it into my hostel.

I go to say, ‘Hello, I am checking in’ - the guy speaks zero English. There was an Asian guy sitting beside him and he started to translate. I said, ‘oh, do you speak Spanish? Do you work here?’ He says, I speak a little bit but I am just using their computer, I was robbed by 3 guys last night who stole my phone, my wallet, my laptop, my passport, my backpack - everything. I only have my toothbrush and a couple of pieces of clothing so I am trying to figure everything out. I said, Huh?? Where are you from? Antonio lives in Toronto but is from China.

WELCOME TO SANTIAGO, CHILE!!

I went to sleep, I was the only person in my room of a 4-female room. This is a massive hostel so there was a lot of noise in the hallway and my room is next to the male and female washrooms. Excellent.

DAY 7 - THURS OCT 16 - SANTIAGO, CHILE

My intention was to be up by 7:30am, but I allowed myself to doze until 8:30. I got myself together, chatted with a few people, and walked about 20 minutes to The White House (La Moneda Palace). I had no idea it was The White House until later. It is located in the public square called the Plaza de la Constitution. Tho, there was a protest happening and based on everything I had heard at this point, I didn’t look too carefully at the protestors to assess what they were protesting. There were so many police men around. I asked someone from the Gendarmerie De Chile (which I just googled right now and is the Chile Prison Service,… nice) for directions to the Hop On Hop Off bus.

Annia and I were finally meeting today at 2pm at Constanera Center, which is the tallest building in all of South America. Due to my anxieties rising, I decided a Hop On Hop Off would be my best option. It is safe, and a great way to see the whole city.

It seemed impossible to find the stop, I eventually found it and realized the bus was going to be here any minute. I had not had a coffee and there was a Starbucks about half a block away. I was chatting with a guy and he said, go quick I think you can make it. I grabbed a Starbucks, came back to the stop just in time to find 2 older ladies waiting. I asked them if they had purchased their pass. They said, yes but it takes a long time to process, do you have your passport? Oh my.. I proceeded to download the app and scrambled to register… I could see the bus in the distance. Long story short, they let me on the bus - where I purchased the ticket. I rode around the city a full circuit, and again a few stops which brought me to the meeting place with Annie at precisely 2pm.

I tell that story to say that I have learned that often, things just work out. They do. It took me all of the walking around, asking for help, getting lost, buying coffee, no ticket, and in the end I landed at Constanera Center at 2pm, exactly the time I was meant to arrive. I find it interesting how life is like that. Not to mention, I got the best seat on the bus. Traveling alone really does have that benefit. There is always one best seat on every bus and on every boat. I am usually the only single, everyone is with someone else - so I almost always get that best seat. In many ways, I love traveling SOLO.

Spending about 6 hours with Annia was nice. We walked, talked, shopped, ate, and went to the top of the tall building. Had red wine, and listened to live music. Fun to share stories with someone from other memories we had made the year before.

Annia really opened my eyes to the reality of Santiago. She is terrified of this city and does not go anywhere alone. She told me that people are killed all the time for $5… or for a cell phone. I’m starting to get paranoid. She said I am a walking target I look like a tourist, and to never take my cell phone out of my pocket when I’m on the street. We were eating lunch at a small table and I had my phone out, she said, you should never have your phone out like that. We really were not accessible at all to anyone.

Her boyfriend was kind enough to drive me home, the opposite direction from his place. He is a big muscular guy and is from Chile, and refuses to drive at night. He says cars get stopped all the time by 2 or 3 other cars and hijacked. (Antonio’s friend also got hi-jacked this week.. they stabbed his tires.. then when he pulled over, they pretended to help him but instead took all his things, ran and left him there with no car and no belongings) They would not even get out of the car to give me a hug - they were too afraid and just wanted to get out of the city. Her boyfriend said that the moment it turns dark, the city turns into another world here. Uber drivers go off course and rape women. Oh my, I really don’t like this city.

It was great to see Annia and good to connect again, but even the whole Hop On Hop Off was pretty unimpressive. Meaning, this city is not coastal and knowing all the crime - I did not find it beautiful. Annia hates this city and she is from here. Interesting to travel and learn about cities as I would have never known any of this.

I came home to 3 roommates who are here from Argentina for a Korean boy band concert this Saturday night. I did not feel comfortable and did not sleep a single wink all night.

DAY 8 - FRI OCT 17 - SANTIAGO, CHILE

Today was a real let down of a day. I had a tour planned to Valparaiso to see a coastal city. I was sent a text stating that my tour was canceled due to an accident the van had - which turned out to be a lie.

I upgraded my room to a solo room off a courtyard and it was heaven. I went for a few walks in the neighbourhood, I worked on GP stuff, I had a few facetime calls, I bought a fermented dough pizza oven authentic pastrami arugula parmesan pizza w a Chilean cab sav and enjoyed my time in my new room…. got a great sleep.

DAY 9 - SAT OCT 18 - SANTIAGO, CHILE

My ride was late to pick me up, but what a day this turned out to be. My tour today took me to Cajun del Maipo. I canceled this tour in order to rebook my Valparaiso tour - then in the end decided to stay with this one. Couldn’t be happier that i kept this one.

I met Tia from Sydney, Australia - also traveling solo. She is much younger than I, but we had many great laughs and will most likely meet up again in our travels. She is with a friend now until Nov 8, I am with my kids until later in November - but we are looking to meet again in the next month or 2.

We drove into the Andes mountains, which reminded me much of the Lake Louise area, among others in the Rockies. Breathtaking beauty we took in all day.

I very quickly felt a connection with our tour guide, as he reminded me of all my Paraguayan cousins and family, his name was Edison. He also took an interest in me - and so I felt I made a new friend on this tour.

Our tour ended, Edison offered to take me to a Santiago beach - but we ran out of time and I didn’t feel totally comfortable, but I agreed to a glass of wine. We had the most fantastic evening - thank you Edison for saving the day since I really did not have the best of luck in this city.

RECAP - SANTIAGO, CHILE

Santiago has a population of 9 million people, and 10K people per square km, while Rapa Nui had only 47 people per square km. Chile has 20 million people, so almost half are in Santiago. Santiago is land locked, no beaches. It is a dangerous city. Santiago has 32 districts. 85% of their water source comes from the Maipo region, where I visited. 14% of the country GDP is from minerals, 65% of that is from copper. The copper mines here are some of the biggest in the world.

The economy in Chile currently seems stronger than most in South America. People are paid here per week, regardless of the number of hours worked but have an expectation of 40 hours minimum per week. The average weekly salary is approximately $450 U.S. so it seems pretty high compared to other countries. The majority of the population live in small apartments as houses are out of reach for most people in terms of cost. A house may cost up to $500K U.S., rent is approximately $800 U.S. per month.

From everything I heard regarding this city, I felt paranoid almost the entire time. My nature as a person regarding life adventure is the opposite, I am not a person of fear with life experiences. Safety does not occur to me most times. I will say I had my spidey sense up for my entire time in Santiago. Everywhere I walked, I watched my back, I hid my phone, I carried minimal on my body. I didn’t venture too far in terms of street walking, instead I took an Uber or a tour, etc..

The best part about this city was the people.. seeing Annia and then my last day in Santiago was by far my favourite. Meeting Tia, whom I will most likely meet again - and Edison was the hilight of local Santiago for me. He was kind and hospitable and had I met him earlier in my time, he offered to show me much of the local culture. He has asked me to return for him to show it to me, tho I do not see myself ever coming back here.

I will say that I did not see myself going on a date in Chile, as I rarely say yes to any dates in life lol.. this was a date worth going on. I dedicate a portion of my Chile blog to this date. Edison is an auditor / accountant.. he was with Price Waterhouse Coopers and Deloitte. Then worked at Nestle, where he was offered the CEO position for Santiago. He felt done with that career, and helped his friend out short term with a tour company, ended up liking the pace and the people he met, and now works at a tour company, and manages his investments. He still has his own company clients not as an auditor, but as an accountant. He took me to a swanky cultural area called Barrio Las Listarria (neighborhood in Santiago) and an ultra cool restaurant called Bocanariz known for an all local Chilean wine bar. He insisted I try local Carmenere wines, tho my favorite is a cab sav, which Chile is known for. We ordered a charcuterie board - Carmenere tasters, and eventually, a glass of cab sav as well.

His English is excellent, he lived in California for 8 years, in Florida for a year, and some time in Texas and traveled most of the hot spots in the U.S. He went to use the restroom, and then when we got up to leave, we just walked out. I insisted to help with the bill, knowing that they don’t earn so much in Chile. In true gentleman fashion, he refused. I asked if I could tip the services of the tour, and he refused. His favorite activity is to have ASADO at a friend’s home, which is exactly what I grew up having and still have regularly. ASADO being meat cooked over a fire, usually beef steak or ribs. He said I must come back so he could cook me an ASADO, I must admit I would love to try this cooked by a local that I know.

I grew up in a an old fashioned home where the role of the male is strong and masculine, a provider type mentality. I find myself attracted to that type of situation as this was instilled in me. I am obviously not a stay at home type woman, but I enjoy the strong masculine type of man, not easy to find. Though I will most likely never see Edison again in my lifetime, I am grateful for this impressing memory that the men in this culture still live the way I was raised. I felt like a lady, he made me feel beautiful and protected. Maybe a feeling most women secretly enjoy. I will admit, tho I am not open to dating - it was a great way to experience and feel on my last night in Chile. Thank you Edison (Eddie - which is also my dad’s name and Jado’s middle name) - for leaving me with a smile as I move on to Argentina.

I rate Santiago a 5/10. I feel like my rating would be higher if I had been able to experience more of this country. I ventured out less due to the cancelation of one of my tours, and all of the stories I was told regarding danger. I think the lack of trust in this country really takes from the warm fuzzies. The people seem pretty warm, but I think I was not in the right spot until the last day. My last day was more like a 10/10 day. If I had spent my entire time with locals (Annia in Rapa Nui, and locals such as Edison in Santiago, etc.. ) - I do believe my rating would have been higher. As it stands, I leave here as a 5/10.

PICS BELOW

Me spending time with Annia at Castenara Center, South America’s tallest building, a huge mall in same building so I bought warm sweats I have been so cold here.. I do not have space for them but bought them anyway.. Me with Antonio, from China - living in Toronto - who lost literally everything to 3 robbers - a big surprise to see my reel hit 147K views lol - Christmas already in Chile - all the flowers I saw everywhere in Chile -Jorg sending me pics of her going out with her friends - My tour with Tia - and Edison - and pics of our date - he knows wine so he chose our wines - local Chillean wines - so yummy!