Chile - www.jennathan.com

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Photo Albums

Torres del Paine

Lake District

Easter Island

Santiago and Valparaiso

San Pedro de Atacama

Links relating to
my trip

Accommodations:

Patagonia Adventure - A
great place in Puerto Natales
with very helpful staff. They
were great with offering advice
for my trek and an itinerary
for the Lakes District.

Nuevo Mundo - A great place
that I stayed at on Chiloe
Island: included a great
breakfast.

Compass del Sur - The B&B
I stayed at in Puerto Varas
where I watched the Oscars.
Oh-so-homey!

Casa Roja - A converted
mansion that is a hostel in
Santiago. Excellent!

Ana Rapu - My
accomodation in Easter
Island. $30 for my own room,
bathroom (inc. breakfast)

Other Sites:

Orca - The company I used for
diving in Easter Island.

Aku Aku - The company I
used for my tour in Easter
Island.

Como Agua Para Chocolate -
An excellent dining experience
in Santiago!

Milagro - Restaurant in San
Pedro de Atacama where
Cesar kept loading us up with
wine.

Cafe Turri - Restaurant with a
great view in Valparaiso.

Vicki Johnson - By far, the
BEST alfajores I had in South
America were from this shop
in Puerto Varas. The
chocolates were excellent, too!

Platipus - Great tapas and
sushi restaurant in Barrio
Brazil in Santiago. Some really
fun/unique sushi rolls.

Cafe Raa - Nice cafe in Easter
Island.

Chile Facts

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My Chilean Experience...

Highs: Trekking in Torres del Paine; wandering around Santiago and stumbling upon great
neighborhoods; upper Valparaiso; Puerto Varas and roaming around on the lake; dulce de leche
soft-serve at McDonald's; array of food options in Santiago; the hills of Valparaiso; getting my Brazil
visa so easily; San Pedro de Atacama.

Lows: Getting robbed in Santiago; a 35-hour bus ride; stray dogs.

Best Moment: Coming across moai galore on Easter Island. Also being able to have loads of
'tranquilo' time while out there.

Craziest Moment: Coming face-to-face with a sidewalk after trying to save my ipod from the
thief that ran off with it.

Smells: Seafood by the pier in Ancud on Chiloe Island.

Sounds: Lots of 'hola's when passing people while trekking; 80's music; 'Ciao' when saying
good-bye; stray dogs barking at night; 'street performers' playing horrible music on the bus.

Sights: Torres del Paine; Punta Arenas; Puerto Natales; Chiloe Island; Puerto Varas; Frutillar;
Petrohue; Peulla (via the Andean Lake Crossing); Santiago; stray dogs galore; Moais in Easter Island;
trumpet fish and puffer fish while scuba diving at Easter Island; Museo de Bellas Artes in Santiago;
Los Dominicos in Santiago; the Virgin Mary atop of Cerro San Cristobal in Santiago.

Tastes: Pisco sours; vegetable empanada; grilled salmon; German pastries in Puerto Varas; ceviche;
alfajores in different flavors; empanada de manzana (apple); seafood empanadas; tuna and onion
empanadas; sushi with queso, steak and salmon (excellent!); suspiro de limeña (a custard-type thing
made with manjar); a fruit called 'tuna' which is actually from a cactus; a tomato, mozzarella and basil
empanada.

Purchases: A knit cap (that I lost two days after buying it); chocolate (duh!); earrings (a few
different pairs); a copper and silver ring; a cool hat (hopefully I won't lose this one!); since I did end
up losing the other hat, I ended up buying yet another hat in San Pedro.

Street Food: Empanadas; little ham sandwiches; popcorn; 'Italianos' (basically, hot dogs).

Fun Food Finds: Quatro Light (a pomelo soda); manjar (i.e. dulce de leche) soft-serve at
McDonald's; alfajores with dark chocolate and raspberry ganache; Kellogg's Chocolate Frosted Flakes
- i.e. Zucosos Chocolate - (if anybody who works for Kellogg's is reading this, "Bring these to the
U.S.!!!".

Other Fun Facts: While you can't flush toilet paper down the toilet (instead you throw it in a bin)
in many parts of the country, I am able to find my favorite deodorant (Lady Speed Stick in Orchard
Blossom) and Tampax tampons at the grocery store (this sounds like TMI...but this is important
stuff!).

Western Companies Out Here: In Santiago: McDonald's, Subway, Burger King, KFC, Dunkin'
Donuts, Lush, Benetton; Starbucks, Blockbuster, Pizza Hut.

Other General Info...

Visa needed? Not for Americans.

Type of currency? Chilean Pesos. $1 US is equal to about 550 Chilean pesos.

Wallet-Friendly? While it is not 'expensive', it is definitely more costly than its neighboring
countries. I thought it was going to be much cheaper but I was wrong. The best way of putting it is
that it is cheaper than Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Things Chile Is Known For: Wine; Easter Island; Patagonia (Torres del Paine, et al); Andes;
lapis lazuli; pisco sours.

Religion: Catholic.

Costs: $2,100 (so far, including Easter Island)

Chile...

February 14 - March 14, 2007

Moai at the quarry on Easter Island.

Colorful 'street art' in Valparaiso.

Torres del Paine.