CHILE (by Emarg)

[EMArg]

Route CH-68: Santiago-Valparaíso












Cities: Santiago de Chile & Valparaíso
Place: Route CH-68







Similar to the Route 2 in Argentina and the Interbalnearia Highway in Uruguay, the CH68 is the most important route of Chile. It unites the urban sprawls of the many regions of Santiago (the capital city) and Valparaíso/Viña del Mar, especially in the summer season, when the flow of vehicles rises considerably.

[EMArg]

^^


In HD:


• Video Link

[EMArg]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

yes i have been to argentina and uruguay and certainly chile feels very different. i loved it. we went to santiago, cajon del maipo in the andes, isla de pascua, valpo y isla negra (all 3 casas de pablo neruda). so i will make photo threads when i can. the people were always very nice and helpful. i would love to go back and visit patagonia & atacama sometime. there is so much to see and do in chile. i read an article in the santiago newspaper that said tourism is booming this year.

of course i need to go back to argentina soon too. i have only been to BsAs and there is so much more to do there as well.

Thast's great to hear (or read). Next time you travel back to Chile, you may also wanna check the Torres del Paine mountains, who is pretty famous for the argentine tourists going to the country.

[IMBY]

Awesome tour! But I was disappointed when I clicked Chile, hoping you'd also cover some of the outlying cities in Chile, like Antofagasta, Copiapo, Iquique, Arica, Rancagua, Concepcion.

I was there in 2007, and curious about non-Santiago Chile, I jetted up to Arica, and bussed it south from there all the way to Concepcion and beyond. Way, way back in 1986, I did Santiago by itself, and, as expected, much has changed.

I loved Rancagua!

I'm sure it would be a big challenge to take a picture of Mt. Ancongua looming over Santiago at 22,600 feet, due to the persistent smog's that only inevitable in that city. The climate there is identical to Southern California, Mediterranean!

At the Airport I did see a glimpse of the white capped mountain up above a brown layer of smog. Quite thrilling to see! A better view of it is on the other side in Mendoza!

[mrnyc]

yep - i read the climate in valpo is similar to california between sf and santa barbara. seemed about right to me. santi of course is nestled in a flat bowl surrounded by mountains, so it holds city smog in. they have days where you can't drive based on your license plate when it gets bad.

we had no traffic problems on route 68 in late july. i would imagine it being winter keeps traffic down a bit, although it was a school holiday while we were there and families were taking the kids to touristic sites. chile has an impressive bus system. all the inter-city busses we saw and made use of were new and comfortable.

[IMBY]

What's really remarkable about a bus trip from the Peruvian border @ Arica and heading south, is you start out in the driest desert in the world, the Atacama, 100% sandscape, with an average of .01 (yes, I'll repeat it: .01) precip. a year, and as you head south it gets greener and greener and greener and by the time you're south of Concepcion, you're in the wet British Columbia area of Chile, with their lake country. What a contrast for one country!

Living in the Mojave desert here in Las Vegas, it seems like a jungle in comparison to the Atacama Desert. But as a desert lover, I loved it, the complete absence of one single cacti or desert shrub. Pure, unadulterated desert!

[EMArg]

Pretty interesting experiences

And yes, I'll be adding more cities soon. The next one is Valparaíso:

[EMArg]

Valparaíso: Quick City Overview












City: Valparaíso
Place: Quick City Overview






Valparaíso transcended on the region because of its Port. The city grew around it and it developed its residential area mostly on the mountains. At the same time, very interesting urban examples appeared throughout the city, such as the Sotomayor Square, surrounded by palaces of many styles and periods, or the district of banks, who has as its icon the tower of the Turri Clock. Valparaíso is probably the weirdest city of the Americas. Among this bohemian culture and urban originality, also emerged new transportation systems like the elevators from the sea level to the neighborhoods of the mountains, the stairs amongst the houses of the hills, and the passageways (called “Paseos”) of Gervasoni, Yugoslavo and Atkinson. Lastly, the most curious detail: the huge population of cats.

[EMArg]

[EMArg]

[EMArg]

^^


In HD:


• Video Link

[IMBY]

They must not have a lot of Nimby's down there as I see high rises built up into the hills there. I like seeing that!

[EMArg]

Valparaíso: Metro












City: Valparaíso
Place: Metro






The most relevant transportation system in Valparaíso is the Metro, who connects the “comunas” of Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, Quilpué, Villa Alemana and Limache. Within the city itself, it surrounds the port and the coast. The fleet of this Metro has 27 X’Trapolis 100 and 8 X’Trapolis Modular.

[EMArg]

^^


In HD:


• Video Link