Only a couple of hours after our exhilarating hike up Volcán Villarrica
we boarded an overnight bus to Chile’s capital Santiago, where I was finally
going to see my Chilean brother Diego again. Diego had lived with my family for
one year in 1994/95 and I hadn’t seen him since. I was very excited to reunite
with my big brother after nearly 17 years.
So this part of our journey was not about walking your heels
bloody, riding away from dogs or taking way too many photos of something
amazing. In Santiago we wanted to step out of our travellers’ world, spend time
with Diego and get a bit of an insight into the real Chilean life. Unlike me,
Diego hasn’t changed much in 17 years and he made sure that we got all this and
more.
We met Diego’s friends and family, he showed us the beautiful city
Santiago and he even took a couple of days off to take us to Viña del Mar and Valparaiso –
including a stop at an amazing winery where we drank the best white wine that I’ve
ever had…
In Valparaiso – a port city with a lot of charisma but some unsafe
areas – Diego taught us his method to keep dodgy people away. Ritchie and I
have been following Diego’s advice and so far nothing bad has happened to us,
so we can definitely recommend Diego’s security system with the following
ingredients:
- Walk like you have bowlegs (showing you’ve got big balls),
- Push forward your lower jaw (showing you can look like a monkey) and
- Spit every second step (showing you can act like a monkey).
Ritchie is currently trying to improve the system by adding a
forth ingredient: Grow a big beard and collect food-scraps in it when you spit….
This seems to be working too.
Anyway, as mentioned we were not mugged in Valparaiso and had a
fantastic time walking through the rough looking but super interesting streets, inspecting power lines
and catching 100-year old ascendors (little cabins similar to an elevator) up the
cerros (this usually means mountains but in Valparaiso the different areas are
called cerros, since the city is built into a big valley next to the Pacific).
Diego even organised some interesting weather. Santiago was nice
and sunny the day we arrived and then covered in thick fog the next (both photos are taken from Diego's balcony).
For our time in Viña del Mar and Valparaiso he had organised beautiful weather.
Only when he left us for one day to go back to work the sky cried with us.
Our last day with Diego was his birthday which we celebrated with
all his friends, who inspired me to try the many different versions of Pisco. What
a night…
When we left Santiago - and therefore Diego - I promised myself that it wouldn’t
be 17 years again until I see my big brother! And Diego has just made Rich and
me very happy by telling us, that he’ll be coming up to Arica in early August,
where we are going to visit Diego’s parents. We can’t wait!
But for now: Muchas gracias por días increíbles en Santiago y
Valparaiso, Diego! Hasta luego!
Rich & Charly
A few more photos incl. football excitement and German Feuerwehr trucks: https://picasaweb.google.com/109362659982164453049/SantiagoValparaiso?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNe-95m7meizSA&feat=directlink
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