(More photos to come)
The Argentina to Chile border ... It took 3 hours to get through!
Chile turned into a bit of a gastro tour ... partly because the food and wine was so good and reasonably priced, partly because we were churched and museumed out, and, in Pucon, because of the weather. Santiago was a great place ... it all started with a brilliant 4 hour free city walk by "Franco" (why haven't I done these excellent tours before?). This ended at Pablo Neruda's love nest which we did visit again the next day to view properly. Won't forget the tininess of the place nor its idiosyncrasies ... all original 60s stuff, ship themed, and personal. No surprise that one of his most famous poems is the ode to the onion. This was the home of a man who loved to live, wine and dine, and entertain. He was also an outspoken politician, was awarded the Nobel prize for literature, and was a friend as well as a foe of "Che". Only this year has the Chilean government released papers that suggest Neruda was killed by Pinochet. He certainly had a full and interesting life.
Sitting outside Neruda's house at end of tour
What else did I learn about Chile? The majority of the population live in Santiago. They like sugar. They love sugar! Everything is sweeter than in England, but, as I said, we did manage to find lots of palatable, cold, white wine. Most of their export money nowadays comes from copper. And it's a lot more developed than I ever imagined. If anyone comes here they should visit Valporaisa ... I didn't because I didn't fancy another bus journey but it is a cultural centre on the coast ... like Trancoso in Brazil .. full of quirky street art, painted houses and 15 vernacular railways/lifts. Wish I had been able to fit it in. Have to admit, I always thought Santiago was on the coast ...why on earth would a country the shape of Chile have its capital inland? Well, apparently, the Spaniards were hoping to conquer great swathes of land to the South and had plans for somewhere else to be the capital .. Santiago was only ever meant to be temporary. The Malpuchoes however managed to hold on to the southern parts. Over 50% of the population claim to have indigenous links .... in stark contrast to Argentina where almost everyone is descended from Europeans.
Pucon, in "the Lake District" was probably amazing, but most of the time we were there it was overcast and poured with rain. We did go for a 5 hour bicycle ride through the woods one day which made us feel virtuous. The rest of the time we drank a lot of wine! As I said before, so good to be back in the civilised world and the world of good wine. Thank you to Sarah Page for her company on these exploits!
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