Apr 9 Last week in Chile

It’s good to be welcomed back to the small Intiwasi hotel by our lovely hostess Victoria and Rodrigo. We sit outside our main floor room with French doors to the patio and plan a few things for the rest of the week. Off on the efficient metro to what is a lively area Bellevue during the day and a bit of a hellhole at night. We plan a trip up to the top of Cerro Santiago with the huge white Virgin Mary statue on top for a view of this city of 13 million people. 

   There are some gorgeous old houses in this area, some converted to hotels now. We take the ancient but efficient funicular up part way and slog up many steps to the top. The view of the Andes is marred by a mass of pollution. Apparently January is about the only month when you can really see them. Photos show snow capped mountains behind the cityscape but I rather think they have been doctored.

  Back down to the bottom, we head to one of the nice little restos we spotted earlier and where they promised us free pisco sours. Ted has a last crack at the Chilean specialty pastel de choclo, a boring casserole of meat, chicken in a mass of corn. The accompanying salad is more interesting...but he’s happy with another beer he hasn’t yet tried.

  After that we do some serious shopping for Chilean goods. We find all the things on my list, Ted even finds a nice lapis on a leather thong necklace for $7, and she throws in a second one for $10 total. Deal! In a busy artisan market, competition is pretty fierce so they are willing to make the odd allowance for cash. The sellers. At textile stalls are all Peruvian, and that’s where all the good stuff comes from. Baby alpacas sacrificing their hair for us.

  I’m looking for serape fasteners that I saw early on in our travels in Chile. I find copper and leather ones in the upscale stores for 15K (about C$30). Later I find interesting wooden ones with fabric balls on top for 1K ($2) each. Shopping around is good!

  By 5:30 Ted has had more than enough shopping. We head back on metro in the rush hour but its not that bad and again a young man jumps up to give me his seat when we board. 

  I’m through with travels for the day but Ted heads out for another walk to check out local beer purveyors!