Santiago de Chile

Santiago is a bustling metropolis of five million people nestled at the foot of the Chilean Andes. On a smog-free day (don’t hold your breath for it), the skyline is a stunning mix of architecture and natural grandeur. I spent a couple of days wandering in and around the city, which is easy to navigate thanks to the fast, efficient, and inexpensive metro. Some of my favourite stops included the following:

El Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino has a pretty respectable collection of pre-Colombian art from across the Americas – from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego. My favourites were the Chemamulles, huge Mapuche wooden statues that were used until the early decades of the 20th Century to accompany the dead in their journey to the next life; the textile exhibit which had several extraordinarily well-preserved textiles starting from 900BC; and the 7000 year old mummies, preserved using a technique of replacing the dead person’s innards with a mixture of plants, a technique that emerged 2000 years prior to Egypt’s mummifying techniques. The Museum is housed in the old Royal Customs House, built in 1807, is also a treat.

The Museo Historico Nacional, housed in the Palacio de la Real Audiencia, holds thousands of items starting from Chile’s pre-colonial and colonial period and ending in the 1970s. Once again, I enjoyed the setting as much as the exhibit itself!

Plaza de las Armas: a fun place to hang out, people-watch, and maybe play a game of chess. The Plaza is also home to local painters displaying their wares. A few blocks away, the Iglesia de San Francisco and attached museum are definitely worth a visit. Fun!