I arrived in San Pedro de Atacama tired but eager to find out what Chile holds for me. The little town is different, there is something about it that I can’t pin point. The buildings are rusty looking; pictures cannot capture this town- you simply have to see it yourself. It is a very small town so it is possible to run into people you met while in Bolivia. That’s exactly what I happened to me, I ran into a few of the folks I met during my 3 days tour of the Salt Lake in Uyuni, Bolivia. It was great to see familiar faces, so we hung out for dinner and drinks before going our separate ways the next day.

The weather is okay in Atacama, during the day it’s sunny but pretty cold at night. Lots of tourist in town and everything is Expensive. It is advisable to have extra foreign currency (Dollars/Euros/Pounds) with you because there is a high probability the 2 ATMs in town might not work or run out of money. There are possibilities of all sorts of tours here – from sand boarding to star watching. You wouldn’t be bored in Atacama.

 

I did not do any of the tours, way too tired from the Salt Lake tour so I hung out for a day and left for Santiago.

The buses are so expensive in Chile; I paid $80 for my bus ride to Santiago. Santiago is nice but cold; it was an average of 12C/52F during the day and 7C/44F at night. The problem is that, there’s no heating so the hostel was freezing. Had just 2 days in Santiago, apart from the Plaza de armas, I visited the Mercado de Pescado (Fish Market) and Cerro San Cristóbal. The fish market also known as Mercado central have lots of restaurants that served a wide range of sea food. Shop around as some of the restaurants are overpriced. The Cerro San Cristóbal gives you a panoramic view of Santiago.

One thing I really disliked about Chile is the manners of some of their men. I know it is common in a lot of countries for men to pass comment to females walking on the street. In Santiago, I got a lot of comments like ‘Ven conmigo amor negrita’ (come with me black lover), hola morena guapa (hello pretty black girl), ay negra (hi black girl) & so on. Also, I got a lot of stares. Very uncomfortable! 

Here there are 2 banks, but the ATM in one of the banks is out of service making this the only functioning one. There is always a long line. On this day, money ran out of the ATM. So be safe, have some dollars/euros/pounds/pesos with youI took the 16hours bus ride with Tur Bus to Cordoba, Argentina. Tur Bus is very professional and cool. They serve you food, I guess the USD$50 I paid was worth it. The ride to the border was very beautiful. Looking forward to Argentina, before this, I’ve met really cool folks from Argentina on the trip.

As for the title, apparently Peruvians and Chileans always argue on which countries invented the Pisco and who have the best Pisco. Pisco is an alcoholic drink typical in Peru and Chile. I’ve tried both the Pisco from Peru and that from Chile. If you ask me who have the best Pisco, I’ll happily say PERU!!!!!!! Well whenever you are in Peru and/or Chile, make sure to try Pisco or Pisco Sour