Chile, it is raised!

Nov. 18 2013

by Laurence Ogiela / TÊTU

Nature and adventure. This is often what people come looking for in Chile, a narrow strip of land 4,200 km long that stretches between Argentina and the Pacific Ocean. For your first trip, we recommend three stops: Santiago de Chile, the capital (where you will meet the most gays), the Central Valley (home to the vineyards) and the mythical city of Valparaíso.

Santiago, city of contrasts
Santiago is a bustling metropolis of more than 6 million inhabitants located at the foot of the Andes. It is unlike any other South American metropolis. Much safer than Rio de Janeiro or Bogotá, much less crowded than Mexico City, less colorful than Buenos Aires, Santiago is a particularly modern and clean city. A city of contrasts, it combines modern glass and steel buildings in the posh neighborhoods of Providencia and Las Condes with colonial buildings in the bohemian and trendy neighborhoods of Brasil and Bellavista. The Mapocho River divides the city in two. On one side, the city center, with the presidential palace of La Moneda, where Salvador Allende took refuge during the 1973 coup. On the other, the Metropolitan Park and Mount San Cristobal, from where the statue of the Virgin Mary watches over the city.

Below, the barrio (neighborhood) Bellavista concentrates most of the gay life and gathers almost all the gay, lesbian and gay-friendly restaurants, bars and clubs. Chile is certainly not as gay-friendly as its neighbor Argentina or other Latin American countries that have adopted gay marriage, like Uruguay. Although homosexuality is no longer a crime since 1998, mentalities are slowly changing. This is due to the Catholic Church, which is still very present, the macho South American culture and the past of the military dictatorship of General Pinochet.

However, there is a gay life in Santiago, even if the activism is less visible than in Buenos Aires or Mexico City. More and more bars and clubs are becoming pillars of the LGBT community. Among them: Bunker, an openly gay club crowded every weekend, Bokhara, which is also packed, Farinelli, which organizes transformist shows and Club Principe welcome the vast majority of gays every weekend. It is not uncommon for the dance floors to be almost deserted until 2am, as Chileans stay out late. As for the daytime, it's a good time to hang out in the metropolitan park, which also offers a sublime panoramic view of the city with the Andes in the background.

The center, land of vineyards
At the gates of Santiago, in the middle of the fertile plains, are the first vineyards of the country: the valleys of Maipo, Cachapoal and Colchagua, going south; and that of Casablanca, going towards the coast before reaching Valparaíso. It is very easy to get there by renting a car. Recently, wine tourism has developed a lot and most wineries offer packages with accommodation in historical haciendas, typical cuisine and, of course, wine tasting. Try the Casa Porta winery in the Cachapoal Valley, which welcomes visitors to an authentic colonial winery dating from 1875. If you are lucky, while walking through the vineyards, you will meet huasos, Chilean cowboys similar to Argentine gauchos...

Valparaíso, the mythical
But if your trip is more about sailors, head to Valparaíso, about 100 km from Santiago. built on more than forty hills facing the Pacific, Valparaíso is a mythical and fascinating city, even if today we don't really know why. Is it its sulphurous reputation as a port city? Is it its architecture, this labyrinth of colored sheet metal houses that stands by some miracle? Classified as a world heritage site by UNESCO in 2003, Valparaíso has resisted time and even earthquakes. Its urbanism of bricks and mortar has always been a source of inspiration for artists, like the famous Chilean writer Pablo Neruda who owned a house there, La Sebastiana, which has become a museum. Another must-see is the Open Air Museum, which features murals. The walls of cerro Alegre and cerro Concepción are covered with tags, and cerro Cárcel, the former prison, has been converted into an artistic squat.

Valparaíso has regained its vitality and appeal. It is once again attracting tourists and wealthy Santiaguiños who frequent the nearby posh resort of Viña del Mar. More and more chic boutique-hotels and trendy restaurants have opened their doors in the cerro Alegre and in the cerro Concepción. You can get there by the ascensores, those old-fashioned funiculars that allow you to climb quickly from the port to the hills. Below, the port still welcomes the boats and the sailors of the Armada de Chile in midnight blue jackets and white caps. It is also in the harbor area, which is not very popular at night, that the few gay bars and clubs of the city are located.