Chile - December 2017

Atacama Desert

We had the idea to head to Mendoza, Argentina for a wine tasting holiday.  We collaborated with Rak and Sim to outline the trip....which resulted in us spending our whole time in Chile....resulting in "The Trip Formerly Known as Mendoza".  Our itinerary included spending time in the Santiago area, Easter Island (incredibly interesting) and the Atacama Desert (spectacular scenery).  The trip was a week later than we'd normally take because Ria's school holiday was a week later.

Easter Island

Accommodation:

Hotel Casa Sur: A charming boutique hotel in the Barrio Italia district of Santiago.  Rak, Sim, and Ria had the room right off the patio and we had room 4 which was very clean and modern with a very comfy bed.  The staff were incredibly friendly.  

Hare Noi: When we booked the hotel, it was part of the Noi hotel chain, but a couple of months before the trip started, we found out that they were no longer part of the chain.  We never found out why, though that did not stop us from trying to guess!  The hotel is only a couple of miles from the airport, with only 10 or so rooms.  Our rooms were in a building of four rooms, all separated by a huge common space.  There is a boardwalk to the room, and it was a short walk to the pool area and the dining area.  The room was clean and comfortable and the hotel was located in a nice setting along a hillside.

Hare Noi Hotel

Hilton Garden Inn Santiago: This hotel exceeded our expectations.  The rooms were better than we'd expect from a HGI.  It was a quick stay here - arriving late and departing the next morning - a very functional hotel right next to the airport.  

Tierra Atacama:  Definitely the splurge of the trip.  The hotel group has a couple of other hotels in Chile, including a famous one in Torres Del Paine.  We were in rooms 7 and 8.  The main lobby included the dining area and bar.  The pool is small but has a beautiful view of one of the volcanoes as did our rooms.  The rooms were very nice and comfy with indoor and outdoor showers and an outside patio for relaxing. The entire hotel staff (particularly the guides and dining room teams) were incredibly friendly.

Pool at Tierra Atacama

MM450 Valparaiso: In the older part of town, the hotel was a hostel only a year earlier.  It was a great location for seeing this part of Valparaiso.  The rooms were large with large bathrooms.  

Noi Blend Colchagua: Just outside the town of Santa Cruz.  The rooms were a bit lower grade than we had expected, but still clean and nice.  The hotel had nice common areas, including a pool and a country style dining room.  Breakfast was included but a bit boring.

Pool at Noi Blend Colchagua

W Santiago: We used this hotel for our last night in the city before flying out.  It is in the main business district so not particularly special but the beds were super comfy.  

Activities:

Santiago

Keith had to go to work in the morning so we both met at the airport a couple of hours before the flight.  The first leg to Miami was 30 minutes late, but we had enough time to easily get to the next gate.  We had requested an upgrade using points and cash and were lucky enough to get that for the Miami-Santiago leg of 9 hours - so we had a lay-flat bed for the overnight flight.  We watched Dunkirk, had dinner and a couple of glasses of wine, and slept much of the way.  We carried on our luggage, so after a quick money change at the airport, we jumped in a cab and arrived at the hotel.  Rak, Sim, and Ria were eating breakfast on the patio so we saw them immediately (they had arrived the day before).  The room was actually ready for us (great news!) so we settled in, freshened up, and headed out.

Santiago Market

First stop of the day was a couple of markets: La Vega Central and Mercado Central.  They were both heaving with people and fresh meats, fish, and veggies.  The produce was amazing with corn bigger than we have ever seen!  While in Mercado Central, we ate at a couple of outlets (yes, 2 lunches!).  We were pooped so headed back to the hotel for a 3 hour nap while the others did a walking tour in the afternoon.  Dinner was at La Mar and then to bed at a reasonable time because we had an early morning flight!

Colchagua Valley

Easter Island (Rapa Nui)

We had to get up at 6am to go to the airport to catch our 5 hour flight to Easter Island.  The island is known as one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world: 2,000 kms from the Pitcairn Island (the next nearest inhabited island) and 3700 kms from the coast of Chile.  It was settled sometime between 700 and 1100AD by Polynesians, who then created the culture that build the Ahu (platforms) and carved the Moai.  The Moai were all eventually toppled over, so any that are standing have been restored.    

Tahai - Easter Island

The hotel picked us up from the airport - our luggage was some of the last off the plane.  It was a quick jaunt to the hotel where we checked in, settled in, and then all piled in a taxi to head "downtown" where we grabbed lunch and a couple of beers.  We then wandered around the main street and down to the harbor.  We bought some wine and beer and then went back to the hotel to relax and read.  We also played a game of Monopoly Deal before dinner.

Rano Raraku - Easter Island

The next couple of days were all sightseeing: the first day on a private tour led by Amos, a Kiwi working for Green Island Tours who was excellent.  The second day we rented our own car and self-drove after already having the lay of the land from Amos.  Between the two days we saw:

Tongariki - Easter Island

• Tahai: Saw a few Moai and also learned about the alters, villages and house styles, including a house shaped like a boat. Also learned about the “man bun" which is the red knot that was used on top of some of the Moai.
• Akahanga: Saw our first Moai toppled over. Beautiful location.
• Tongariki:  The famous 15 Moai. Saw the traveling one that allowed them to make money for further restoration. Great location.  Went back there for sunrise our last morning which was well worth it.
• Rano Raraku:  The quarry where the Moai were carved. There are ~400 still in some state of carving as well as buried on the hillside. The largest one is almost 70 feet long. 
• Te Pito Kura: Magnetic rock said to heal people.
• Anakena:  Beautiful beach with palm trees and more Moai.
• Hanga Kioe:  Moai commissioned by wife who mourned her dead husband with a mouse in her mouth.
• Puna Pau:  Quarry for the topknots (pukao).
• Vinapu:  Platform (ahu) where a few Moai were toppled. Impressive stone architecture.
• Rano Kau:  Gorgeous crater - we walked around this to Orongo.
• Orongo: A ceremonial village from where the Bird Man competition was held: a feat to prove athleticism and the winner got a year of the best crops.
• Ana Kai Tangata:  Cave with waves crashing and cool volcanic rock.
• Ahu Akivi - Seven Moai facing ocean.

Tongariki - Easter Island

In addition to the Moai tours, we drove along the coast, walked to see one of the caves, visited an old sheep farm, and tried to have lunch at Explora - though we were rejected there!  Rak went to the museum the last day as he dropped off the rental car and said it was super-disappointing.  

Rano Kau - Easter Island

The names for each of us on this leg of the trip were:

• Ria - Hani Hani and Lunch Set
• Keith - Guapo
• Simran - Mifake
• Shawna - Kuki and Muy Caliente
• Rakesh - Big Gulp and Mottu Hava

It was then another 5 hour flight back to Santiago, where we got to the HGI at 11pm.  

Ahu Akiva - Easter Island

Atacama

The flight from Santiago to Calama was 2 hours, with another one hour drive from the airport to San Pedro Atacama. The Atacama Desert is known for being the driest place on earth outside the polar icecaps, with the landscape resembling Mars or the moon. The town is at 8,000 feet and is only ~50 miles from both Bolivia and Argentina. The town is dominated by the Licancabur volcano that straddles Chile and Boliva and is an almost perfect cone at 19,409 feet. We went straight to the hotel to check in and get settled. We had 5 days in the desert which was a perfect amount of time. The hotel is all-inclusive for food and alcohol as well as the activities. The place ran like a machine. The first thing we had to do when arriving was plan the agenda - with no restrictions. Most of the activities were private for the 5 of us.

Atacama Desert

Death Valley Walk: Started off walking a rim, looking down on the amazing landscape. Then we were able to run down the sand dunes which was quite similar to running them in Namibia. We ran the dunes barefoot, then walked through the bottom of the valley where the van was waiting.

Death Valley - Atacama

Stargazing: We loaded in a van for the (maybe) 4 minute drive to the telescope. There was an inside telescope, an outside telescope, and a presentation giving an overview of the universe. This was one of the better stargazing events we have done - mostly because the guy speaking was terrific.  In addition to a few stars, we saw a black hole and got to take a picture of the moon through the telescope.  

Moon Valley - Easier walk where we learned about the geology of the area.

Moon Valley - Atacama

Devils Canyon - Shawna and Ria hiked this, while Keith and Rak mountain biked it.  The hike was not hard but the first half was in full sun.  The canyon was beautiful!

Devils Canyon - Atacama

Hot springs - Hiked 3 hours up a canyon to the hot springs, where Sim met us. On the way, we saw a peregrine falcon as well as ancient shelters for the old Inca Trail. At the springs, we soaked in 5 of the 7 hot pools - they were quite crowded. We wrapped up with snacks at the pools and then drove back to the hotel.

Hot Springs - Atacama

Salar de Atacama - These are the famous salt flats with thousands of flamingos where we also watched the sunset.

Salar de Atacama - Atacama

Lagunas Altiplanicas - A full day drive, stopping by Sociare and two salt flats: Tuyajito and Aguas Calientes at 13K feet, where we had a fantastic picnic overlooking the lake and mountains.  We also saw more flamingos.

Lagunas Altiplanicas - Atacama

Tatio Geysers - Left at 5am to see the geysers at 13,200 feet before sunrise. Was below freezing when we arrived though that makes the steam coming from the 100 geysers more impressive. Had breakfast right after sunrise, then drove back seeing Vicunya (like a deer + alpaca), Viscacha (like a rabbit with a long tail), and walked around a village of 10 families where we tried (what was sold as) grilled llama. 

Tatio Geyers - Atacama

In addition to the excursions, we also did the following:

• Pool time - relaxed at the pool a couple of different times.
• Monopoly Deal and Jenga - played these games a couple of times.
• New Years Eve - had dinner at the hotel and then adjourned to the pool for the DJ and dancing until after midnight!
• Town - walked around the main street of town.
• NYE Competition - held our annual New Years singing competition. Teams were Shawna/Ria and Keith/Rak, with Sim judging.  Ria and Shawna won performing a rendition of the Bird Man Challenge!

San Pedro de Atacama

The last morning at the hotel, we just ate breakfast and relaxed, with our ride to the airport leaving at noon. It was only an hour to the airport, then a 2 hour flight until the next leg of the trip!

New Year's Eve - Atacama

Valparaiso

Arriving in Santiago from Calama, we rented a SUV (originally a minivan but upgraded) and immediately drove to Valparaiso on the coast.  It was about a 2 hour drive, with Rak at the wheel and Keith navigating.  Of course we had to stop at McDonalds along the way as Ria said she was hungry (a theme of the trip)!  Valparaiso was much, much larger than we anticipated - and reminded us a bit of San Francisco if the entire city was the Haight.  Prior to the Panama Canal, it was one of the most important sea ports in the south pacific.  Valparaiso is famous for colorful street murals, which is a generous name for the most massive amount of graffiti we had ever seen..  Our hotel was in the older part of the town built into the steep hillside with minimal building code. 

Valparaiso

Highlights of the city:

• Buses: We took a couple of local buses, which while cheap were terrifying.  They speed though the narrow, winding roads in a suicidal manner.
• La Sebastiana: The home of Pablo Neruda, a famous Chilean poet.  It is a 5-story house on the hill overlooking the city.  There is an audio tour of the house, which was packed with tourists - fortunately we were some of the first to the house in the morning.  
• Murals:  We walked around the "open air museum" to see the graffiti / street art.  Some were really impressive, others were just destruction.
• Walking tour: We tried a walking tour but the guide did not have any interesting stories so we bailed out less than half way through.
• Funicular: With the steep hills of the city, there were originally 26 funicular railways.  Today only 3-5 are working so we rode one of them.  

La Sebastiana - Valparaiso

Valparaiso

Wine Country

After one full day in Valparaiso, we headed out to wine country.  We started by driving north to see the rich part of town - to Vina Del Mar, Renaca, and Concon.  There are huge condo developments all up the coast for Santiago residents to get out of the city for the weekend.  We then drove to the Casablanca Valley for lunch at Vina Casas del Bosque (beautiful winery with great seating areas) and wine tasting at Veramonte (industrial looking winery) where we tried their Savignon Blanc, Pinot, Camenere, and Blend.  

Vina Casas del Bosque

We then drove another couple of hours down to Santa Cruz, each of selecting songs for Keith to play.  We checked in to the hotel where there was a bit of a bed drama (Ria's rollaway was not in the room and they finally got it in there but it was a tight squeeze).  We left the hotel for dinner.

Neyen Vineyard

The next day was our only full day in wine country.  Breakfast was at the hotel, then we headed to Clos Apalta winery.  This is the high-end brand of Lapastolle.  It was one of the more interesting winery tours that we have every seen.  It is a gravity-fed vineyard, 6 stories tall.  They start with hand-separating the grapes on the top floor, manually crushing the grapes, fermenting them in 2 different levels, and then finally bottling on the bottom floor.  The ground floor was a fantastic room with access to the family wine cellar - incredible.  We tasted the sauvignon blanc, merlot and a blend - the blend was very good.  

Vina Montes

We were a bit early for lunch so made an impromptu stop at Neyen Vineyard, the oldest in the region built in the late 1800s.  We tasted two wines which were the same blends from two different years (2012 and 2013).  The wine was excellent and the person pouring the wine was very friendly.  After the tasting, we had lunch at the Francis Mellman restaurant, the best meal of the trip.  That lunch required a nap after, followed by some pool time, monopoly deal, and a light dinner at the hotel.

Lapastolle

Santiago

After breakfast at the Noi, we drove around the (not) exciting town of Santa Cruz and then back to Santiago.  We continued with the plan of each person picking a song for Keith to play, with Keith choosing the best song of the round using stunning arbitrary rules.  Simran won by pandering to the judge (playing songs Keith would enjoy like "Baby Got Back"). We checked into the hotel and made a quick turnaround to Indian food for lunch.  Then had a nap before having a goodbye drink with Rak at the pool - as he was flying home a day before we did.  Sim tried to rally us for a night out but we bagged - settling on a scoop of ice cream.

For the last morning, Keith grabbed Starbucks for us (only 1 block from the hotel) before we left for an "off the beaten path" walking tour of Santiago.  It was a pretty good tour - though started off with Batman (the street dog) being protective and almost killing another stray.  We went through four markets, two of which we had already seen.  We also saw the city cemetery which was interesting, and wrapped up with a bit of a political history of the last 50 years from the guide.  We grabbed lunch, went back to the hotel, showered, and relaxed at the hotel until our late checkout was up at 5pm.  We Ubered to the airport at 7pm for our flight - sadly no upgrade.

Restaurants:

Mercado Central (Santiago): primarily a seafood market, it won an award for one of the top 5 markets in the world.  We had empanadas at San Antonio and a rice seafood dish at another restaurant.

La Mar (Santiago): We ate here as the manager is the cousin (and best friend) of a client of Rak's. It is a very open space and appears quite trendy. We shared a 4-part ceviche tasting (huge portions), potatoes with toppings, beef, fish, and grilled octopus (which was a bit rubbery). We also splurged on dessert with rice pudding, churros, chocolate lava, and pudding. The manager comped the dessert and some wine. It was an excellent dinner to kick off the trip!

Club Sandwich (Easter Island): Sandwiches here are enormous. We ordered at the counter...3 of us having empanadas with Rak and Ria ordering sandwiches.

Tataku Vave (Easter Island): On the water, had ceviche and grilled fish with mango sauce.  Food was average.  

Hare Noi (Easter Island): While on Easter Island we ate breakfasts and dinners at the hotel.  Breakfasts were reasonably good buffets where we could also order eggs.  Dinners were OK, with painfully slow service.  One of the nights we had Japanese as there was a Japanese guest chef for a few months.  Had the "lunch set" which was soup, raw fish appetizer, and a protein of choice with veggies and rice.  We tried the fish with miso and pork with ginger.  All the food was tasty - once we got it!  The wine was poured "big gulp" style.

Restaurant Dominican (Easter Island) shared fish with rice. Food OK.

Tierra Atacama (Atacama): All meals were included so we either ate at the hotel or had picnic lunches.  The breakfast buffet was extensive and fantastic, though the same for every meal.  We usually had muesli, yogurt, toast/avocado/cheese, and coffee.  Lunches and dinners were always 3 courses (appetizer, main, and dessert), always served with wine.  We usually split each course.  It always seemed that lunches were the best meals.  A highlight of the meals was Alejandro, the restaurant manager.  He was super-friendly, engaging, and joked around with Ria a lot.  

Samsara (Valparaiso): A Thai restaurant near our hotel. Shared Nasi Goring.  Tried Enedit Damm beer, an amazing lager/wheat beer developed by Ferran Andria.

El Internado (Valparaiso): Shared several tapas.

El Apice (Valpariso): Number one on Trip Advisor, had just moved to new location on the same block as our hotel. Only offer 2 appetizers, 2 mains, and 2 desserts. Food was very good.  The restaurant had a great view of the city and the bay.  That night was the full, blood moon which was gorgeous from the balcony outside the restaurant.

Tanino (Vina Casas del Bosque): This is a restaurant as part of a vineyard.  The lunch was very tasty - we shared plates (steak titake, salads, lamb and crab ravioli, and a dessert tray) as well as wines (Sauvignon Blanc Gran Reserva, Chardonnay Gran Reserva, Pinot Noir Pequenos Producciones, Carmernere Reserva, Icono Grand Estate Selection (Syrah, Pinot blend).

Vino Bella (Santa Cruz): An Italian restaurant near the hotel, the food exceeded our expectations.  We shared grilled veggies, pizza, and pasta puttanesca.  

Fuegos de Apalta at Vina Montes (Santa Cruz): This is the Chilean restaurant of Chef Francis Mallman.  It is located in an open space in a vineyard - breathtaking views and fantastic food.  We shared sashimi, scallops, and salad for apps.  Had the grilled fish with salad and carrots and 7 hour cooked lamb with potatoes.  We also tired a few of the wines of the Montes vineyard: a chilled Pinot, Syrah, and Blend.  Also had a bottle of cab.  Shared flan, grilled pineapple, and chocolate for dessert.  By far the best meal of the trip.  

Noi Blend: Ate two breakfasts and one dinner here.  A bit of a farmhouse feel, we had a few appetizers since we were still full from lunch.  

Jewel of India (Santiago): Rak, Ria, and Sim needed their Indian fix so we had a very late lunch here.  Solid execution.  

Galindo (Santiago): In the Bellavista neighborhood, this came recommended by several people and it fell sadly short.  Mostly tasteless.

Ruby Tuesday (Santiago Airport): Sadly, quality restaurants have not hit Santiago airport yet,  This was the best option before the flight.  Ugh.  

New Year Songs:

Boys - Sung to “Despacito”

Come around to a story we’re tellin’
Of some chicas who aren’t quite gellin’
On a trip out to Chile-in’

Girls really like to come in our direction
Because we’re really a piece of heaven
Chicas thank us because we’re a blessin’

We are guapos
Dumb girls think we’re muchachos
That’s OK cuz we know we’re guapos

To get back to the story we’re tellin’
We’re on our way to Chile-in’
In donkey class Ria was sittin’

Lost their underwear-o
Have to go commando
Thank god crisis averto

In Rapa Nui was sellin’
Same sauce as different dishin
Moi looked like they were constipatin'

From the airport we were bussin’
And this chica was fussin’
Cuz too many people they were stuffin’

Learning Spanish Chicas were discussin’
Alejandro was overhearin’
Ria get a boyfriend he was suggestin’

We drove out to see the flamingo
They’re pink because they eat the shrimp
But they admit they aren’t as guapo …as we-oooo

We are guapos
Dumb girls think we’re muchachos
That’s OK cuz we know we’re guapos

Girls - Sung rap style to music composed by Ria
Here was a young girl from Rapa Nui
Who was not allowed to play in the Bird Man Games
She thought this was really pooey
So she went anyway and took some names
She climbed down the cliffs of Rano Kau
And swam to the islet to fetch an egg
She beat all the men who wondered how
She won the prize with only one leg!
She became quite famous across the land
As she won many years after that
She could beat any man
Didn’t matter if they were thin or fat
They carved a Moai of her when she died
It was the best one ever so they said
And for years to come people wondered why
This statue of a woman had two heads!

Songs - Santiago Shuffle:
I Believe - Cowboy Mouth
Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash
Freedom 90 - George Michael
It’s My Life - Bon Jovi (Ria won)

If I Ever Leave This World Alive - Flogging Molly
I’m Coming Out - Diana Ross (Rakesh Won)
Kiss - Prince
ABC - Jackson Five

Toes - Zac Brown (Shawna Won)
Tainted Love - Soft Cell
Missing - Everything but the Girl
Return to Sender - Elvis

I Feel For You - Chaka Chan
If You Could Only See - Tonic
Volare - Gypsy Kings (Simran won)
Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond

We Are Family - Sister Sledge
Rumors - Club Nouveau
Baby got back - Sir Mix A Lot (Simran won)
Mr Brightside - the Killers

Lovin’ Touchin’ squeezin’ - Journey
The Gambler - Kenny Rogers
Whenever, whenever - Shakira (Simran won)
Bye Bye Bye - NSYNC