The first afternoon in Santiago de Chile

Santiago, the capital of Chile, is located in a valley in the Andes and is about 120 road kilometers from the sea. The valley's situation, combined with the exhaust from heavy traffic and industry, leads to almost permanent smog. The Andes mountain range towards the interior and the coast is rarely visible, which is why I didn't take any pictures. The metropolitan area has about 7 million residents by statistics, but according to Chileans, it's about 10 million. Therefore, depending on the interpretation, between one-third and half of Chile's 20 million people live in the greater Santiago region.

The city is a typical Latin American metropolis. There are many magnificent buildings, various universities, the usual 'Plaza de Armas', and at the same time a lot of poverty. The traffic chaos is enormous. In the city, certain neighborhoods or high-rises are often protected with barbed wire and security. Residents assess the crime rate very differently. Some find it fundamentally dangerous, others only certain neighborhoods, and yet others only find it problematic at night. The condition of the police transport vehicles also shows that things can get quite intense during demonstrations.

We were also recently affected by a power outage. We had to wait until we could get dinner somewhere. The internet was also unavailable, and the phone battery could have used a boost soon. After a few hours, the power finally came back. Our hotel is in a historic manor house. It has little infrastructure but a lot of character and history.

Tomorrow we plan to take a big, 20-hour excursion; more about that tomorrow.