Now that I’ve got some distance between me and the Chile trip, I thought I’d offer a few reflections on things. I didn’t necessarily have time or energy to write about these things along the way, and felt they should be mentioned. So, without further adieu, here’s my “South to Santiago” wrap-up and some random notes as well as a few bonus photos:
-- The City. It’s difficult to make a full judgment on the city. Literally, my time was split between the middle of downtown (in an area called Providencia) and the airport with FIDAE and Newen. So, I saw some of the inside of a major metropolitan city. Traffic jams. Smog. Lots of smog. And that’s too bad. The city is stuffed in between a series of mountains. If I could have seen them, I would tell you that they are lovely. :) Admittedly, one day (a Sunday) the skies were fairly clear. Probably because no one was on the road.
There are a number of town homes, condos and hotels. Facilities are mostly modern – in the center of the city. Along the highway we traveled to get to the airport, a huge aqueduct snakes alongside the road. On the edges of the aqueduct live people in tin houses and ramshackle lean-tos. Lots of poor people and piles of garbage. As you get out of the city toward the airport, the neighborhoods are crowded and there’s graffiti everywhere. In any case, I viewed most of this from a van to and from. Mostly, the city reminded me of Los Angeles in both sprawl, climate and surrounding vistas.
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