Chile 🇨🇱 Attraction: Magao
To summarize: Spend your time in Calama, Antofagasta, Punta Arenas, and Puerto Williams. Don’t waste your time here. A stay of 1.2 days is enough.
What attracted me the most here was the story of Chilean President Allende:
– On September 11, 1973, the Chilean President Allende was at La Moneda Palace. The rebel forces sent fighter jets to directly bomb the presidential palace and issued an ultimatum demanding the president’s immediate resignation and surrender. “Do whatever you want, go to hell” was the president’s last response to the rebels.
– In the following time, Allende made his last national speech through a makeshift radio, saying “Long live Chile, long live the people, long live the workers,” and then picked up an AK, leading the guards to fight against the rebels until he died in battle.
“I am not a martyr, let them know that I will not retreat one step.
I will leave La Moneda when I have carried out the orders of the people.”
– Figure 2 is today’s La Moneda Palace
– Figure 3 is a real photo of the coup in history
Practical information for traveling in Chile:
1. Airport transportation: After leaving the airport, find the Terminal TurBus centroaeropuerto (Figure 17), which costs 3000 pesos round trip, and you can return at any time. Get off at Los Héroes in the city center. This location is important, as it’s also where you board the bus to the airport from the city.
2. Currency exchange: Don’t exchange at the airport; the market rate is about 1 USD to 1000 pesos, while the airport rate is 1 USD to 700… It’s like robbery… Exchange in the city instead.
3. SIM card: I used Movistar, and it was okay, 12900 pesos for a month, with 40GB or so of data, I don’t quite remember, but it was more than enough for me.
4. Ride-hailing: Didi is slightly cheaper than Uber, and the experience is similar.
5. City attractions are just a few of the most famous ones, all within walking distance:
1️⃣ La Moneda Palace, historically interesting, but the building itself isn’t particularly impressive
2️⃣ Plaza de Armas, said to have poor security, but I found it acceptable, South America is generally average anyway
3️⃣ Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral and
4️⃣ The Chilean Museum are both here, visit them together
5️⃣ National Museum of Fine Arts, free, and decent
6️⃣ Gabriela Mistral Cultural Centre, a cultural center with some modern art exhibits
7️⃣ Cable car station Oasis station.
Cerro San Cristobal Cable Car, buy tickets online in advance… I arrived by taxi at 4 PM, and they were already sold out
8️⃣ Sky Costanera, the tallest building in South America (Figures 4, etc.), check it out…
6. Taxis in Chile are not expensive, usually just a few dozen pesos, so I didn’t take the subway.
7. Recommended Chinese restaurant: Tang ren wu restorant, I really like it, Sichuan cuisine
There’s really not much to say about Santiago.
That’s all.
