SANTIAGO, CHILE: A CITY WITH A BRIGHT FUTURE.

     When you take a long tour of any city with an intense detail look, study its history, analyze its urban planning, look at its economy and look at its population and then making your decision becomes easy. It’s most likely and it’s guaranteed that you can tell so much about that city and you already have so many incredible ideas even if you knew what to expect. However, it may still boggle your mind. When I cycled the city of Santiago, Chile in and out so many times over and over, leaving no parts of the city untouched, I knew this city already had it all.

                                  Plaza De Armas- Santiago, Chile

             This is the Santiago metro (subway) University of Chile stop.

 Santiago has an amazing future! This city is situated between the Pacific Ocean and Andes mountains makes it everyone’s desire come through. On a same day, you can ski on the mountains and then come down head to the west to ocean for swimming. Since many years, its durable and constant growing economy brought many jobs and growth in population to the city of Santiago. This city has also built and has South America’s widest subway system.

                   Can you locate my bicycle in front of the museum?

             Bellas Artes Neighborhood not to far from the museum and Carlos' bicycle shop.

                    Museum of Bellas Artes.  Intriguing place indeed!

When it comes to architecture, Santiago has more European and American than Spanish build buildings. Both tradition and contemporary architecture gives this city an intense look.  And you can clearly see this both architecture types at Santiago’s business and financial center. I just loved watching and staring at this section while cycling between these beautiful buildings, streets and wide avenues. It gives you an incredible eye bathing that you really get an amazing pleasure. Once you step out of the financial center, some of the neighborhoods you enter you witness a French architecture in most of the mansions which were built in early 20 th Century. Santiago’s Yungay neighborhood near downtown area played and plays an important role in city’s past and contemporary architecture as some of the other areas of the city.

 Santiago, Chile from my headcam. While cycling the city.

           Plaza De Armas- Santiago, Chile. I filmed this on a lazy Sunday.

 And this video which I filmed at Carlos'Bicycle Shop in Santiago, Chile. My bicycle needed a few things. And he was there like an angel.

They’re pouring so much money into this city that they‘re constantly building, building and building. Motorway and highways which connects the city with its suburban areas clearly indicates how Chileans are looking ahead to the future. It was very entertaining and intriguing for me to visit, explore and cruise the Santiago’s neighborhoods. Chileans call neighborhoods as Barrio. Of course bicycle always makes this happen much better if you’d like to see everything closer up and visit most of the city’s neighborhoods.

  Right around and not too far from downtown, there is the neighborhood of Plaza de Armas which is the heartland of Santiago. It has historical buildings such as colonial city hall, neoclassic cathedral and the museum. This is the area where everything begins and from here anyone can begin moving to other directions and discovering this beautiful city. Barrio (neighborhood) Bellavista located in Northern Santiago, is a bohemian area great cafes, restaurants and bars. This barrio is also known with its fantastic night life. To the Eastern Santiago, I visited barrio La Reina Barrio and this district mostly quiet residential area with beautiful mansions and big houses. Another barrio to the east is one of the most popular and it is called Las Condes. Las Condes is mostly for upper class area with a great transportation system. This residential area is one of the biggest Barrio in Santiago and it also has office buildings, domestic and international companies. There are also many luxurious condominiums which makes Las Condes the most expensive area of this city. Barrio Brazil is located in western Santiago and it’s famous with many private universities. Downtown and central part of Santiago’s most attractive barrio is Bellas Artes. It just has beautiful streets, fabulous cafes, galleries, fascinating museums and friendly people. This is also the place where you can get so much pleasure from contemporary art exhibitions at the galleries. I really enjoyed discovering Bellas Artes area. Providencia has many expensive houses for Santiago’s elite class. There are also many high rise condominiums here in this area.  I was mainly using and cycling the Avenida Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins to find my direction around the city. This was right around the city center and mainly east to west. Some of the other Barrios worth mentioning Vitacura and Lastarria is really must see neighborhoods. Vitacura is a beautiful residential area with fabulous restaurants, cafes and great shopping places. I just wrote some of the must see neighborhoods in Santiago. But there are many other areas in Santiago must see. Of course I just don’t have an enough space to mention them all (hopefully in my book next year). 

    9:00 o'clock on a Monday morning Santiago, Chile is going to work

I’ve stayed total of 4 days in Santiago! And every day I learned many new things about this spectacular city. The more I learned the more I wanted to learn. One of my professors from my old school used to tell us “learning never ends” and he is right! Over the decades, as I travel around the world to new regions new countries and new continents I discover many new things about people, cultures, places and many other things. Just when you think you know it all, just when you think you’ve seen them all, all of a sudden, something new appears in your life. Hahaha, don’t be an arrogant!

        Chileans just like Peruvians are very honest people. Mostly you can trust them. They’re friendly and they like helping others. Santiago is a very safe city both day and night. Sure, you will hear a few petty crimes here and there, but mostly there is hardly any crime here. Of course this has a lot to do with culture, how you were raised and how you grow up. But most of the time it is all respect and manners which is a part of some of the nations’ customs and culture as well as their way of life. It doesn’t matter how educated you are! If you haven’t learned anything about respect and manners, you’re bound to commit crime. There are many poor but less homeless people in some of these third world countries which they do not commit any crimes. Hardly any! And no, they do not! It’s because their culture thought them so much in regards to how important to respect to others. Because I know here in Western world, many think that if a person is poor and uneducated they’re bound to commit crime, but that saying is completely wrong. And you can’t compare this with other nations. Yes, they do have crimes in third world countries, but just take a look at the numbers and statistics how low this rate is. And which you’ll find how cultures have impacts on people. And this can vary regions to regions. One thing we know globally is; Cultural differences influences interaction. There is no doubt about it some of South America’s and Chile’s cultural ways have some similarity to most of those Mediterranean countries. Having a background from that region, I was able to understand and see this with my own eyes in South America. I wouldn’t say the entire culture is similar, but rather a few things. I was able to adapt myself easily and very quickly to the South America’s culture. Many Europeans and Americans think Central America’s countries and the Hispanic population’s culture in the United States of America same as in South America. No, it is not! South Americans are very different compare to the Central Americans. I think this is enough about cultures right now, but I will get back to this subject extensively in the future.

       Main Road or avenue in Central Santiago: Avenida Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins on the right.

 I can never forget the friendship, closeness, warmth, and hospitality was shown to me by the people of Santiago city. I mean Chileans over all are very helpful people and they welcome anyone to their country with an open arm. And this is all over in Chile. I’ve experienced this in every part of Chile. But Santiago is really a special place for me. It takes about 3500 km between Lima, Peru and Santiago, Chile to cycle your bicycle. By the time I got to Santiago, I wanted to look at my bicycle closely before I moved on down south to Patagonia. A few months before I arrived to Santiago, I met hundreds of bicyclists in face book and we usually kept in touch. One of those face book friend was Carlos who has a bicycle shop (Carlos Touring Bike Rental Carvolla) in Santiago right by the city center.  Carlos knew I was on my way down to Santiago and he was following my bicycle tour on face book. While I was in Santiago, I wanted to stop by visit him and also visit his bicycle shop to repair a few things as well as purchase a new saddle or a new bicycle seat. I had his address and sure enough, one morning around 11:00 I stopped by his shop and met him personally. Carlos was a great guy we sat down and talk for a long time. And then without for me to mention anything about my bicycle, Carlos took my bicycle and he worked on it more than an hour to fix and upgrade a few things. I also mentioned him about the seat which he had a spare one. And he also replaced my seat with a new one. I couldn’t help but give Carlos one of my polar jackets as a present. Carlos had many bicycles for rent for touring and for the city. But his bicycle repair shop also had everything. He knew so much about bicycles and he was kind a like a bicycle doctor. Up to this date we still keep in touch and I will visit him again in Santiago. There were many more people I met in Santiago and I still keep in touch with them and I can’t go further without mentioning this clean hearted people. They were all nice and amazing people.

 Of course this was after the city of La Serena on the way to Santiago, but right after Santiago, Puerto Montt was my destination which brings you much closer to Chilean Patagonia.

    Carlos working on my Surly bicycle which needed a few things. It completely gave me a boost before I began the Patagonia adventure.

          Santiago is really an intense city with so many things to offer. Earlier I said that this city has an amazing future and so much potential. When I look ahead in 7 years time, I see Santiago will become one of the most popular destinations. Basically it will take Buenos Aires’s place. Yes, at the moment Buenos Aires is the most visited city in South American continent, however, from what I’ve seen so far in Santiago, this city will take over the number one spot. The amount of money they’re pouring into this city is enormous, the extent of development of Santiago that is taking place is incredible and the modernization as well as building and extending some of the suburbs is unheard of. At the end, the entire world will witness how this city became phenomenal. Meanwhile, I know I will return back to Santiago soon enough after my Silk Road Tour in Asia. I know I just can’t stay away from South America. I just love that continent