Chile

Highlights

                    Atacama
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Easter Island  ---  Santiago
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                    Patagonia

• Santiago: in the middle of the country; wine regions; Valparaiso
• Atacama: desert; fly 2 hours from Santiago to Calama.
• Patagonia: fly 3.5 hours from Santiago to Punta Arenas.
• Easter Island: fly 5 hours from Santiago to Easter Island.

Transportation

Airlines

LATAM Chile:

• narrow body all A320
• wide body 767/787 (LATAM Brazil has 777-300ER)
  • 787-8 in 2-2-2
  • 787-9 in 1-2-1 or 2-2-2

Sky: Ultra Low-cost, all 320.

JetSmart: Ultra Low-cost, all 320. Code share with American Airlines.

Intercity Buses

Bus companies:

• Tur Bus
• Pullman Bus
• Condor Bus
• Andesmar

4 seat types: Clasico, Semi Cama, Salon Cama, Premium

• Clasico: 2-2, economic seat, normal
• Semi Cama: 2-2, seat similar to Clasico but with footrest and may have a higher degree of recline and/or more space between seats
• Salon Cama: 1-2, greater recline, some double-decker buses have Salon Cama on the first floor while Semi Cama on the second floor
• Cama Premium / Cama Suite: fie flat

(seat = asiento)

Food and Drink

• Cherry 11 月到三月成熟
• 智利第二大三文鱼出口国
• 藤壶
• Pisco, Chile's most popular liquor

Wine Regions

• Colchagua: Syrah and Carménere

• Casablanca Valley: Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs

• The Maipo Valley 中央山谷 Carmenere

• Bordeaux grape varieties (primarily Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot)

• The Colchagua Valley similar to Napa valley

Easter Island

Navel of the World.

Only LATAM fly between Easter Island (IPC) and Santiago (SCL).

Patagonia

• Punta Arenas: base to explore the tierra del fuego archipelago and torres del paine national park
• Chiloé Island

North

• Lauca National Park
• Antofagasta: the mining capital

Education

The University of Santiago (Usach) is one of the oldest public universities in Chile.

The highest-ranked public university in Chile, the Universidad de Chile (ranking higher than USACH)

Others

• 奎卡舞
• CMPC: the biggest worldwide pulp and paper company.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMPC_(company)
• Mapuche: a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia.
• SQM: is the world’s biggest lithium producer.

Santiago

Local Markets

Mercado Vega Central: fruit, vegetables, seafood, meat & hot snacks.

Ski

To reach the ski resorts, Ski Total offers transport from their office or pick-up service from your accommodation.

Cerro San Cristobal

Hike up Cerro San Cristobal for a 360-degree view of the city.

Bellavista

The bohemian neighborhood for food, carft shops, street art.

Vineyard

For access to vineyards in the Casablanca Valley, buses leave from Terminal Sur bus station (a block west of the Alameda station) to the town of Casablanca. From there a short taxi ride will get you to the local wineries.

Others

• Bicentenario Park swan and flamingo
• pirque south of the city, wine tasting. Concha y Toro
• 聂鲁达故居
• O'Higgins: 独立英雄，主干道（相当于长安街）La Moneda 原铸币厂，现总统府,换岗仪式
• Barrio Bellavista: On the north side of Santiago, fashionable and bohemian
• 中央市场，海鲜
• Safe zone: Eastern Comunas, e.g. Providencia and Las Condes

Transportation

Santiago airport bus

No trains to the airport.

• Centropuerto: https://www.centropuerto.cl/
• Turbus: https://new.turbus.cl/turbuscl/venta-aeropuerto

Santiago metro and bus

https://www.red.cl/ (meaning of the logo: walking, buses and trains)

• Buses
• Santiago Metro: ~2.6 million per day, 7 lines (1-6, 4A); Line 7 in 2027, Line 8 and 9 in the future. Standard gauge.
  • rubber tire: 1, 2, 5; trains start with NS (neumatico santiago)
  • steel wheeled: the other lines; trains start with AS (Acero Santiago)
  • driverless: Line 3 and 6

Intercity Bus Terminals

• Alameda Terminal (Universidad de Santiago metro station): Pullman Bus and Turbus, serving the whole country.
• Pajaritos Terminal: also used by Pullman Bus and Turbus, the last stop in Santiago for Valparaiso / Viña del Mar and airport buses.
• Sur Terminal (Universidad de Santiago metro station), next to the Alameda Terminal, serving central and southern Chile and international destinations.
• San Borja Terminal (Estacion Central metro): serving the northern part of the country

Commuter Trains

Current:

• Metrotrén: 133.8 km, 1,676 mm Indian gauge.
  • In 2021, EFE decided to eliminate the brand Metrotren The services are branded now as the
    • Santiago-Rancagua line
    • Santiago-Nos line. (integrated to the city's public transport fare.)

Future: Projects - https://www.efe.cl/proyectos/

• Santiago-Batuco commuter rail: under construction 27 km 2024, from Quinta Normal, going north, operator EFE
• Melitrén: to Melipilla, 61 km 2025, from Del Sol metro station (line 5) to southwest.

Transit Cards

• BIP card: for riding Santiago metros, buses, and Santiago-Nos line.
• EFE: separate card from BIP.
  • Santiago-Rancagua line
  • Limache-Puerto line in Valparaiso.

Valparaiso

Valparaiso, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its colorful hillside neighborhoods, winding stairways, and abundance of street art.

Viña del Mar: next to Valparaiso; a more modern town.

Santiago – Valparaíso by Bus

Bus from Santiago to Valparaiso / Viña del Mar:

• Time: 1.5 hours.
• Santiago Stops: Terminal Alameda => Terminal Pajaritos
  • Both terminal next to L1 metro;
  • Taking the bus from Terminal Pajaritos saves you ~20 min.
• Bus Companies:
  • Turbus: https://turbus.cl
  • Pullman bus: https://www.pullmanbus.cl/

Santiago – Valparaíso railway line

• project website: http://www.trentvs.cl/
• wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago%E2%80%93Valpara%C3%ADso_railway_line

Atacama

Cities

• Calama: if you fly to Atacama, you will arrive at the CJC airport. There's not too much to see in the city of Calama, the city is setup primarily due to Chuquicamata, the largest copper mine in the world.
• San Pedro de Atacama: the hub for activities around Atacama; ~1hr from Calama; you can take a shuttle from CJC airport. There are many travel agencies in San Pedro de Atacama providing day or multi-day tours. E.g. WHIPALA EXPEDITION https://whipalaexpedition.cl/

Things to do

• Valle de La Muerte (Valle de La Luna)
• The three Marias Valley of the Moon
• Moon Valley
• Astronomical tour
• Piedras Rojas
• Altiplanic Lagoons
• Salar de Atacama: the largest saline deposit in Chile and is formed by a depression with no water outlet that receives the San Pedro River and multiple ravines through which water filters from the mountain range.
• Full Day Tour to Geyser del Tatio, Vado Putana and Machuca (North of SPA)
• 欧洲南方天文台 The European Southern Observatory 帕纳尔台站免费参观预约

Mining

• Copper exports alone stands for more than one third of government income.
• Most mining in Chile is concentrated to the Norte Grande region spanning most of the Atacama Desert.

Cordillera Domeyko

The world's lowest humidity mountain range.

Named after Ignacy Domeyko: a Polish geologist, mineralogist, educator, and founder of the University of Santiago, in Chile.

3 or 4-Day tour to Uyuni

• Day 1: leave San Pedro de Atacama; cross Hito Cajon border between Chile and Bolivia; visit Laguna Blanca and Laguna Verde, at the base of the Licancabur Volcano; drive north to the Salvador Dali Rock Desert; Sol de Manana geysers; Laguna Colorada, flamencos; Capina Lagoon
• Day 2: cave paintings; Rock's Valley, formations like the Italian loss city, the cup world, a camel, etc; Black Lagoon, a lagoon with lot of altiplanic fauna as Tawas or gooses, and vegetation; waterfall; Andean animals like Llamas and Alpacas; arrive in Hostel in Villa Candelaria
• Day 3: start early to see sunrise in the Uyuni's Salt Lake; Colchani, see the process of extraction the salt; Train Cemetery.

3-day option will end at Uyuni while 4-day option will return to San Pedro de Atacama.