Santiago, Chile
As I mentioned, Chile is way more orderly than Argentina. We saw a severe police pressence seemingly randomly in many places. While drunk driving is a national pastime in Argentina, it's punishible by jail time here.
I'm guessing they had some bad inflation here in the past, because the denominations are so high. I'm a Chamillionaire!
Although unlike Argentina, things cost basically as much here in dollars as they would at home, just with a really cumbersome conversion rate of 600 to 1. But even though a cup of coffee is like 2,000 pesos, they still oddly have a 1 peso coin. Which is worth 1/6th of a penny. A homeless dude cursed at me when I gave him a bunch of these, that's how worthless they are.
The dog situation in Chile is interesting. I'm sure some people find it sad so many dogs are homeless, but honestly they seem really well cared for. I saw water left out everywhere and people feed them and none of them looked sick. They are amazingly smart and trained for the city. I watched a dog go to a crosswalk, wait for the light to turn green, then cross on his turn. So here's a bunch of dog pictures, you judge for yourself if they are happy or sad. I also realized while writing this that even though Buenos Aires does not have street dogs, there is poop everywhere, yet Santiago which has tons of street dogs had very little poop, just showing how vigilent the citizens and city are about cleaning.
Out on the town
Siesta by the capital
"Hey Imma a Police Dog!"
Two cuddling
No shame.
Adopt me!
Street Life.
The street art in South America was next level. Here's some of my favorites.
(This is Buenos Aires)
"The Boob Garage"
So which city do I like more, beautiful scenic orderly Santiago? Or laid back Buenos Aires?
Honestly I think Santiago is probably a more liveable city, and it's close to skiing and the beach, so on paper it's way better. But I think Buenos Aires is a much better city for having fun. I really liked both parts of South America and the people were super friendly, especially in Chile. Like at first I thought it was "friendly while I pick your pocket", but really they were just friendly, happy people. Chileans seemed better educated and a few spoke some English. I feel like I blended in better in Argentina, where everyone has beards and lighter skin (at one point I suddenly noticed no Chilean had facial hair). Even when speaking spanish people in Chile always assumed I was from another country (¿De qué país eres?), although I'm sure whatever wierd accent they hear me speak with didn't help.
So I guess it's a toss up, both are great cities!
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I'm guessing they had some bad inflation here in the past, because the denominations are so high. I'm a Chamillionaire!
Although unlike Argentina, things cost basically as much here in dollars as they would at home, just with a really cumbersome conversion rate of 600 to 1. But even though a cup of coffee is like 2,000 pesos, they still oddly have a 1 peso coin. Which is worth 1/6th of a penny. A homeless dude cursed at me when I gave him a bunch of these, that's how worthless they are.
The dog situation in Chile is interesting. I'm sure some people find it sad so many dogs are homeless, but honestly they seem really well cared for. I saw water left out everywhere and people feed them and none of them looked sick. They are amazingly smart and trained for the city. I watched a dog go to a crosswalk, wait for the light to turn green, then cross on his turn. So here's a bunch of dog pictures, you judge for yourself if they are happy or sad. I also realized while writing this that even though Buenos Aires does not have street dogs, there is poop everywhere, yet Santiago which has tons of street dogs had very little poop, just showing how vigilent the citizens and city are about cleaning.
Out on the town
Siesta by the capital
"Hey Imma a Police Dog!"
Two cuddling
No shame.
Adopt me!
Street Life.
The street art in South America was next level. Here's some of my favorites.
(This is Buenos Aires)
"The Boob Garage"
So which city do I like more, beautiful scenic orderly Santiago? Or laid back Buenos Aires?
Honestly I think Santiago is probably a more liveable city, and it's close to skiing and the beach, so on paper it's way better. But I think Buenos Aires is a much better city for having fun. I really liked both parts of South America and the people were super friendly, especially in Chile. Like at first I thought it was "friendly while I pick your pocket", but really they were just friendly, happy people. Chileans seemed better educated and a few spoke some English. I feel like I blended in better in Argentina, where everyone has beards and lighter skin (at one point I suddenly noticed no Chilean had facial hair). Even when speaking spanish people in Chile always assumed I was from another country (¿De qué país eres?), although I'm sure whatever wierd accent they hear me speak with didn't help.
So I guess it's a toss up, both are great cities!
Back to Pictures