[The Life of Shaun #589] Uno y listo

After I finished classes and my student placements, Sushil and I took a twice-delayed trip to Chile, Peru and Bolivia.  The original itinerary included Rapa Nui (Easter Island), but it was still closed to protect its isolated population from covid, so we added Machu Picchu instead.

This was not one of my favourite trips.  There was nothing bad about it, per se, but - and I feel almost ashamed for feeling this way - there was very little that was great about it for me.  I don't know how much was due to the destinations, and how much was due to an ongoing undercurrent of malaise, but I felt underwhelmed for most of the time we were there.  The language barrier was an issue, of course, and getting altitude sickness in Cusco certainly didn't help, but whatever it was, I was just not enthused to be there.

When you travel, some places will speak to you more than others, so it's fine.  I am always happy to see somewhere new, and there were some highlights, namely Valparaíso, the teleférico (cable cars) in La Paz and phenomenal ceviche.  I would still like to go to Rapa Nui, so I will hopefully be back in that part of the world again, but I expect I will be booking an airport hotel for that one.

No hasta luego,

Shaun

 

Santiago is not a quick charmer.  The impressive Andean setting is often obscured behind phalanxes of later-20th-century architecture, and the overall impression of the city is a place of work and economic opportunity rather than joy and beauty.  But with improved weather and choice of locations, the city began to reveal its gritty charm.  It won't be shouldering its way into the alpha cities anytime soon, but there is much to appeal to the modern urban hipster in its gentrifying central barrios.

 

Lima was a flight transfer on our original itinerary, but very glad we reshuffled to have a couple of days there.  The city has a streak of the energy and chaos of India, and a palpable civic pride.  Its mix of indigenous, European and Asian peoples influences the flavours of its streets and its proud food culture; nikkei hasn't taken the world by storm for nothin'.

 

Machu Picchu and Cusco.  When it comes to old stones, England, as with so much else, has a greatly inflated sense of its accomplishments and place in the world.

 
La Paz is one of the coolest cities that I’ve been to, geographically speaking.  It’s built in an Andean valley 3,625m above sea level. The city sprawls up the surrounding hills, and El Alto, its poorer twin, overlooks it from a plateau 500m above. To accommodate this geography, and give better access to the city for the poor, the public transit system includes the world’s most extensive cable car network. The city is chaotic and buzzy and fascinating.

 

Street art, refurbished vintage architecture, hills, seaside, galleries, bars and restaurants aplenty - Valparaíso has everything that makes a hipster(-adjacent) heart flutter with joy.  If we had started here rather than finished, it might've set a completely different tone for the trip.