Aelfgifu Travels

Hi Aelf Crew,

This is my first of two posts on my time in Chile, specifically Santiago.

You will have already read about my ordeal to get to Santiago via the overnight bus – read here for more information.

Once I had arrived, I stayed at Hostal Providencia, which hosted social events almost every evening. While it was lively at night, it was noticeably quiet during the day and for the number of guests, the kitchens were rather small so I often had to wait to be able to cook a meal.

For the first day, I walked to The Sanctuary of the Immaculate Conception on San Cristóbal Hill. This was about a 25 minute walk from my hostel, so the location was ideal. I went in Chilean spring, so the temperatures were around 25°C, which was comfortable for my English skin (with a hat and sunscreen of course!)

One point to note from Aelfgifu – on this 25 minute walk, I crossed a bridge over the Mapocho River and had an immediate sense of unease. I looked down and could see what looked like sleeping bags. I always trust my instincts: took out my headphones, checked my pockets were zipped up and kept my wits about me. Whilst nothing happened, please remember this for later on in this post.

I took the funicular up to the top of the hill and my ticket allowed use of the cable cars around Metropolitan Park. I would highly recommend the cable cars, there were outstanding views of the city and the Andes Mountains. For the short journey one gets, the small price tag is worth it.

That evening, my hostel put on a ticketed club night, including an hour of unlimited drinks. I have mentioned in previous posts about being careful when drinking – read here for more information. 

This warning actually comes from this night, where individuals seemed to not only be aiming to ‘get their money’s worth’ but also to compete with each other on how many glasses of the traditional Chilean cocktail provided, Pisco Sour, they could drink.

Whilst ‘getting your money’s worth’ seems wise, do remember that if you are alone – nobody has the obligation to look after you if you overdo it, so you are relying on pure human kindness. Top Tip from Aelfgifu: the price tags are never enough to compromise your safety – be sensible of your surroundings and your limits.

Whilst in the club, I had many Chileans come up to me to stroke my hair – they were incredibly friendly, but it was apparent I did not blend in quite like I did in Buenos Aires. This is largely due to Chile receiving far less of the European immigration flow to Latin America compared to Argentina during the late 19th century and early 20th century. It is estimated 0.5% of the European immigration went to Chile (about 200,000 people), compared to 46% to Argentina (around 5 million).

When trying to leave the club to walk back to the hostel (about a 20-minute journey), both my new Chilean friends and the hostel event organiser told me that walking home at night was not an option, particularly as my route included walking over the same bridge from earlier in this story. They advised me that at night, gangs often hide underneath and come up to rob lone pedestrians at knifepoint. I really hope what I saw earlier were just sleeping bags… but my gut told me otherwise, and I now believe it was more than that.

In fact, I was not allowed to leave the club until the organiser saw me get into a taxi with two other males from the hostel. This was not a shock to me given the feel I had earlier in the day!

In the daytime to explore Santiago further, I walked around the centre to see the Chamber of Deputies of Chile and Plaza de la Constitución.

I didn’t get the same sense of security and safety as I did in Buenos Aires, purely because I stood out more and the extra attention naturally makes anyone uncomfortable. 

If I’d had more time, I would’ve taken a day trip to Valparaíso, which is easily bookable by FlixBus – about a 2 hour bus from Santiago, with a return journey costing around £5.50 at time of writing.

I was only in Santiago for a few days so did not have the time to go but did have it on my radar to get away from city life for a day trip out. As I understand it, there are colourful houses to see and steep funiculars – and I love a good funicular! So if you have a spare few days in Santiago, this may be worth considering (although I cannot comment myself)!

Tips to Learn from Aelfgifu:

• Applicable everywhere in the world, but always trust your gut feel – in the modern world we are encouraged to trust facts and computer logic but the natural human instinct is so powerful that it would be foolish to ignore it. Worst case scenario, if I was wrong in my walk, I would have walked along a street more cautiously than previously – no harm done!

Let me know below if you made it to Valparaíso and if you think worth visiting?

As the crow flies,

Aelfgifu