The final stage of our South America journey: We cross the Andes to explore Valparaíso (street art, chorillana) and Santiago (mausoleums, terremoto). A long layover allowed us to tour the Panama Canal before reuniting with family in Las Vegas for a thrifty, fun week of sightseeing.
Part 1: Across the Andes to Chile
Instead of another night bus, we crossed into Chile by day so we could enjoy the Andes. The switchbacks and scenery were spectacular. Rolling through, I thought about how many mountain ranges we’ve touched this year—the Himalayas, Kilimanjaro, the Andes, Rockies, Alps, Atlas—what a run.
Canadians flying into Santiago pay a reciprocity fee, but overland crossings avoid it. There’s a similar fee in Argentina that we had to pay. Personally, I wish these tit-for-tat fees would disappear; tourism money gets spent in local businesses anyway.
With only six days in Chile, we based in **Valparaíso** first—graffiti art, steep hills, funiculars, and lots of character. ATMs were uncooperative that Sunday, so we took a small Visa cash advance to get rolling.
We shared **chorillana** for dinner—a local classic: a mountain of fries topped with beef, sausage, and fried eggs over an apple-wine reduction. Tasty… and a little cardiac. On the way back, we stumbled into a lively street celebration—carnival-style costumes, drums, and dancing in the port air.
The next day’s free walking tour was one of the most generous we’ve seen: they covered a funicular, a bus ride, handed out alfajores, and finished with a pisco sour. Before leaving, Nicola took a three-hour tiling class inspired by Valpo’s mosaic stairways and walls.
Part 2: Santiago: Mausoleums and Earthquakes
We moved to a very central hostel in **Santiago**—tiny room, paper-thin walls, and a late-night soundtrack courtesy of the neighbours. We did two free walking tours on different days. The “off the beaten track” route took us through the seafood and produce markets and then to the city cemetery.
The cemetery is striking: towering walls of stacked niches hold caskets for a few years before bones are moved to smaller boxes to make space for relatives. Wealthier families build elaborate memorials—mausoleums and even replicas of Egyptian pyramids, Notre Dame, and Mayan pyramids.
We finished with a “terremoto” (earthquake)—a sweet mix of white wine, grenadine, and pineapple ice cream. Chile rattles frequently, and there was even a prediction of a big quake with a tsunami around our departure date. Thankfully, nothing major materialized while we were there.
The second tour hit the classic sights. Our guide was knowledgeable but a bit dry; we tipped baseline and saved our energy for the next leg.
Part 3: Panama City Layover and Las Vegas Reunion
Our 2 a.m. flight out of Santiago (points + $50 in fees) routed through **Panama City** with a 12-hour layover. I booked a quick city tour, and our guide Oscar whisked us into town—heavy traffic and all—to the seafood market for mind-blowing lobster ceviche.
At the **Panama Canal**, we watched ships slide through the narrow locks with the help of little locomotives. I shot a time-lapse and geeked out on the scale and history; at roughly $100,000 per crossing, the canal still saves ships immense time and fuel. We drove the causeway for lunch on the water, then climbed the hill where the Americans once raised their flag for a city panorama. A construction protest briefly blocked the highway, but we made it back to the airport with time to spare.
We landed in **Vegas** around 11 p.m., 28 hours after leaving Santiago. Note to future us: tell the taxi not to take the highway from the airport unless you want the meter to double. My parents were waiting at the hotel bar—great reunion. We caught up over video poker and “free” drinks (the most Vegas sentence ever) and finally crashed at what was 7 a.m. Santiago time.
We spent six nights finding fun, thrifty ways to do Vegas together: free beer/wine hour at a hotel we’d stayed at earlier, a Groupon comedy night with apps and a drink, a discounted buffet that rolled from lunch into dinner, and plenty of people-watching on the Strip and Fremont Street. We shopped the outlets (all four of us scored new runners), played low-stakes slots for frequent drink service, and explored some casinos we’d never tried before.
Saying goodbye to my parents was tough, but we’ll see them again soon. Next up was Long Beach for a couple of days before hopping on a flight to New Zealand.
Coming off Antarctica, we wondered how anything could compete. The answer wasn’t to compete—it was to keep moving, to let Córdoba’s silliness, Mendoza’s dust and laughter, Valparaíso’s colour, Santiago’s stories, Panama’s locks, and Vegas’s neon each be their own kind of wonder. This stretch felt like stitching together small moments into one long, bright thread. Onward.
