Valparaiso: a Colourful City for the Arty and Fit

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On the Pacific coast a few hours from Santiago, Valparaiso is famous for its incredible street art. The town is also very hilly. Valparaiso residents would have to be some of the artiest and fittest people around as I found out in April.

Valparaiso has an excellent produce market and one morning I met up again with Cami and Sara to wonder around both the permanent market and nearby street market.

Valparaiso, Chile

A green vegetable stall at Valparaiso’s produce market with outer leaves and husks discarded on the street Continue reading →

A Rainy, Flooding and Sunny Santiago, Chile

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Santiago de Chile is a big city, several times larger than Chile’s next largest and thus dominates the country’s discourse. Although not a must-see tourist attraction in its own right, the city has enough culture and sites to entertain one for many days. In April Santiago hosted me for two weeks, with a trip to Valparaiso in the middle.

With a semi-arid climate, Santiago usually receives little to no April rainfall. 2016 was different. Substantial precipitation fell during my first days in the city causing significant consequences. Businesses and homes flooded and most of the city lost their water supply after it was contaminated by catchment area landslides.

Santiago, Chile

The fast-flowing Mapocho River in front of a mural depicting people attempting to cross a water course Continue reading →

Chile’s Home of Pisco – Pisco Elqui and the Elqui Valley

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From La Serena, on the 10th of April I travelled 100km west to Pisco Elqui in the Elqui Valley. The Elqui Valley has a desert climate with steep mountain sides and is watered by the Elqui River. The Elqui Valley is famous in Chile for producing Pisco, a type of brandy and the key ingredient in the cocktail Pisco Sour. Pisco, like many topics in South America, is subject to dispute with both Chile and Peru claiming rights to it. In fact, in 1936 the town’s name was changed from La Union to Pisco Elqui to reinforce Chile’s rights.

Pisco Elqui and the Elqui Valley

A German shepherd posing in front of my accommodation’s swimming pool with mountains in the background Continue reading →

The Chile Adventure Begins – La Serena and Coquimbo

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Following the Salar de Uyuni tour, in early April I crossed the Bolivian border and took a bus down to San Pedro de Atacama. Chilean border procedures are conducted in San Pedro, not at the isolated border itself.

Chile’s quarantine regulations reminded me of Australia’s with no fresh fruit, vegetables, meat or plant products allowed in. After immigration formalities, incoming passenger bags were lined up for a quarantine dog to enter and sniff. On this occasion the dog didn’t find anything suspicious although it did pick out a bag planted later by the customs officer.

Desert town San Pedro de Atacama is a major backpacker destination and outdoor activity base. After seeing many amazing landscapes on the Salar de Uyuni tour, I wanted a change of scenery and travelled onto La Serena via Calama. On the overnight Calama-La Serena bus I slept my best in four days as previous nights were spent at sleep-disrupting high altitude (~4,000 metres).

Founded in 1544 La Serena is Chile’s second oldest city (after Santiago). The existing buildings are however newer as the original city was destroyed by a 1730 earthquake.

Chile is noticeably wealthier, tidier and more organised than Bolivia. Chile also has some of Bolivia’s former coastline, won in a 19th century war between the two nations. The lack of coastline is controversial in Bolivia and subject to dispute. After being landlocked for two months, I was ready for seafood!

One evening I visited Jack Fish, a Peruvian inspired ceviche and sushi restaurant with fellow hostel guest and Pearl Jam fan Natalia. The restaurant owner was also a rock music fan, naming different menu combinations after bands and that night playing music from Touring Band 2000.

La Serena and Coquimbo, Chile

Rocking on with pisco sours and ceviche at Jack Fish, La Serena Continue reading →

The Uyuni Salt Flats and Other Amazing South-Western Bolivian Scenery

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Unlike the journey to Potosi, travelling to Uyuni was a straightforward bus ride. Uyuni the town is a dusty place with little to note except for one thing – it is a major starting point for tours to the giant Uyuni Salt Flats (Salar de Uyuni). Salar de Uyuni and other landscapes in Bolivia’s south west are must-sees on the South American tourist trail.

I wanted to take the same Red Planet 3 day tour as Aubrey (and her friend Jenn), one of several friends I met at the wonderful Beehive Hostel in Sucre. I arrived to Uyuni on the evening of the 1st of April and, after checking in to my accommodation, looked for a restaurant. At a chicken restaurant, upon asking for a menu, I was told in Spanish, we have fried chicken. Obviously no menu was needed. Every local in the restaurant (all other patrons were locals) ate their chicken, chips and fried plantain with knives and forks – no finger-licking-good here.

The next morning I visited the immigration office to receive my post-dated Bolivian exit stamp, saving the need to queue at the border. Checking in at Red Planet’s office, I was delighted to be placed in the same vehicle as Jenn and Aubrey, along with a British couple. We travelled together in convoys of two Landcruisers. The five of us along with six women in the other car made for a great tour group.

The first tour stop was the Uyuni train cemetery, where trains built in the late 19th century lay abandoned.

Uyuni Salt Flats Tour, Bolivia

Posing on one of the old locomotives at Uyuni’s train cemetery Continue reading →

The Silver Mine and Colonial City that Funded an Empire – Potosi, Bolivia

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In late March I arrived to Potosi from Sucre. Founded in 1545, Potosi, Bolivia is famous for its world heritage listed colonial city centre and its mine. The silver production from Potosi’s mine was so prolific that it financed a large part of the Spanish empire.

During Spanish colonial times, Potosi’s silver was mined by a combination of paid and slave labour. Local indigenous and imported African slaves performed much of the most dangerous work. One estimate has 8,000,000 people dying from mining or related work over the centuries.

The Potosi Mint was first established in 1572. Although the current mint museum is based in a later building, it tells a very impressive and depressing story.

Potosi, Bolivia

A display in the Potosi Mint Museum showing indigenous and African labour working in dangerous conditions to process silver ore Continue reading →

Travelling from Sucre to Potosi, Bolivia by Taxi, Train, Minibus, Foot and Bus

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From Sucre in late March I wanted to visit Potosi, home of the silver mine that financed an empire. My original plan was to take the ‘train’. The train between Sucre and Potosi more closely resembled a bus-on-tracks. People asked why I wanted to take the train instead of the bus or shared taxi as the train is slower and runs less regularly (three times per week versus several departures per day). I’ve always enjoyed train travel and views from rail are generally better than from road. The novelty of the single-carriage Sucre-Potosi train also attracted me.

The service to Potosi, Sucre’s only train, departs from El Tejar Terminal. I wished to catch the Wednesday, 30 March train, scheduled to depart at 8am. Waking up early, I farewelled the wonderful Beehive Hostel and hailed a taxi to what I hoped would be El Tejar Terminal. Instead, the driver left me in front of a semi-grand building that was formerly another train station. Realising I was in the wrong place, I took a second taxi. The second driver also didn’t know where El Tejar Terminal was, needing to ask other people. Eventually, I made it to the station, only to be confronted with an empty railway siding.

Sucre to Potosi, Bolivia

El Tejar train station building, Sucre, Bolivia Continue reading →

Pujillay Festival 2016 in Tarabuco, Bolivia

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I was lucky enough to be in Sucre for the third weekend of March. On this weekend, Tarabuco hosts the Pujllay Festival commemorating the defeat of the Spanish in the 12 March, 2016 Battle of Cumbate. Tarabuco is a town located 65 kilometres from Sucre, making a very pleasant day trip.

On Sunday the 20th of March I caught a bus from Sucre’s Plaza 25 de Maya to Tarabuco for the 2016 Pujllay Festival. In Tarabuco groups of locals, many wearing outrageous costumes, paraded from the town centre to an open field for further celebrations.

Pujllay Festival, Tarabuco, Bolivia

The 2016 Pujllay Festival parade in Tarabuco’s main square (the multicoloured flag is Bolivia’s second national flag and represents Bolivia’s indigenous) Continue reading →