First Impressions of Santiago, Chile 😱 | This City Shocked Me! Ep. 31

Hello, Namaskar, Salaam, Sat Sri Akal and Ram-Ram to everyone. Welcome once again to the capital city of Chile. Right now we are in Santiago. I am standing right in the centre of Santiago.

Santiago is the capital city and it is about 450–500 years old. When the Spanish ruled here, they built many buildings and developed the city a lot. If you look around the city, most of the buildings you see are designed in a European style. It does not even feel like you are in Chile. It feels more like you are somewhere in Europe.

Now let me come to my own story. I have been in Santiago for about 8–10 days. Tomorrow I will be leaving from here. Deepanshu bhai had also come here but he has gone back, and Setiya bhai has also left. At the moment I am staying with Vinod bhai. So today we came to the city centre to explore a bit. We celebrated Republic Day (India) on 26 January here, and we also celebrated Hindi Day. Now the time has come to move on from here.

Before leaving, I thought it would be good to explore the city for a day or two. So I came to the city centre. I will show you the metro system, the local life, the local food, and then we will continue the journey.

Right now I am in the city centre and with me is Sunil bhai.

“How are you, brother?”

“I am good.”

“Where are you from?”

“From Uttarakhand, India.”

Sunil bhai works here as a chef and it has been about a year since he came here.

Look at this huge flag here. And this building here belongs to the defence department. Nearby there is also their parliament or museum building. You can see statues placed on both sides. The place looks very beautiful. Honestly, it is hard to believe that I am still in Chile – the same Chile where earlier we saw mountains, waterfalls and glaciers. This is a completely different side of the country.

Anyway, we still have one or two days in Chile. After two days we will cross Chile, and that will also be a beautiful experience.

People are enjoying their time here. But I have been told many times to stay careful because this area is considered one of the most dangerous areas in the city. I need to keep my camera and phone safe.

“Isn’t it true, Sunil bhai?”

“Yes, brother.”

There are many thefts here. Even though the police are standing nearby and there is also a horse squad of the police, still incidents of theft happen.

The transport system here is excellent. There is a metro system running underground and a good bus system running above ground. The metro ticket costs about 700 pesos. With that single ticket you can travel anywhere in the city.

Look at that building in front. It is about 200–250 years old, yet it looks like it was built only yesterday. Just like the book stalls in Connaught Place, there are many book stalls here selling books and calendars.

And look at this building. It was built in 1864, which means it is around 150 years old. It still stands beautifully without any visible damage. Most buildings here are more than 150–200 years old.

Of course, during colonial times the Spanish did not do the labour themselves. The work was done by local labourers. They simply designed and built their grand buildings.

Now we are entering a crowded area, so I need to hold the camera carefully because people sometimes snatch cameras and run away.

Look there — a man selling flowers. On one side there is a big Italian restaurant, and on the other side street vendors are selling their goods. You can see both worlds together here — rich and poor, both in the same place.

Now we are turning towards the centre.

And here we are — we have reached Plaza de Armas, the heart of the city. This place is considered the zero point of Santiago.

Look at this street performer doing a balancing act in the strong sunlight. Sweat is dripping from him, but people do many things to earn money.

This square was the first major area built when Santiago was founded. The church you see in front is the Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral. The statues around the square are beautifully designed.

There are many artists here. Some people draw portraits and sketches for visitors. Food trucks are also parked here. You can see the contrast — old buildings and modern buildings standing together.

That building in front is Correos de Chile Central Post Office. It is around 200–250 years old and still looks very neat and clean.

Chile’s total population is around 20 million, and about 7 million people live in Santiago alone. That means almost one-third of the country’s population lives in this city.

For comparison, the population of Delhi is about 30 million. So you can imagine the difference in population density.

Chile is about 4,200 km long as a country, yet its population is quite small.

The local currency here is the Chilean peso. When I entered the country, 1 US dollar was around 920–940 pesos. Today it is around 860 pesos, which means the peso is getting stronger against the dollar. There are not many currencies in the world that are becoming stronger against the dollar these days.

I also heard that the Zambian kwacha has also become stronger recently.

Look at this statue here. From this spot you can take a photo with the “Santiago” sign behind you. It gives a perfect combination in the background — historical buildings along with modern skyscrapers.

Security here is quite strict, but despite that crime is still high.

In the early days, when the Spanish first arrived and founded the city, this area used to be their administrative headquarters. From here they controlled the surrounding region.

If you go north from here, you will find many mining areas. If you go south, you will see beautiful natural landscapes.

This café has done something interesting — people are playing chess here. Around 20–25 people are playing professional-level chess while a crowd gathers around to watch them.

In Haryana you might see people playing card games like Seep, but here people are playing chess and exercising their minds.

Look at this building as well. It is made mostly of wood and iron, typical of old-time construction.

Now we will say goodbye to Plaza de Armas and move to another place. If I see something interesting, I will show you. I have not studied much history myself — you can read about it later. Nowadays there is a new trend anyway: you can simply ask ChatGPT and it will tell you everything.

Everyone nowadays reads from ChatGPT and then explains everything in full detail. They keep talking as if there is no one more knowledgeable than them. But that is also good in a way. Knowledge should reach people. If you are spending your time watching, then at least you should gain some knowledge from it.

One thing I could not understand – how did they manage to save these trees even between such huge buildings? The banks here are beautiful, but they have closed now. Look, it is 6:00 pm and all the shutters are coming down automatically.

We have now left the city centre and are heading towards the metro station. This is the metro station. Look, I bought this card. The card itself cost about 3,400 pesos and I need to add around 700 pesos to travel. You just tap the card and enter.

We need to go on this line now. The metro has arrived. Look at this metro here. All the metro lines are underground and they are very well built. Let me show you something interesting — the metro here has rubber tyres. On the sides there are rolling guides and in the middle there are tyres, just like a bus.

Now we have come to a market area. Look — there are stores like Chili’s and The North Face. This is a mall. Inside the mall there is also a showroom of Louis Vuitton. So you can imagine how developed the city is. There is also Gucci here. All the big brands are present. In front of us is the cinema, and that building is still under construction. Overall, this is quite a developed city.

We have come back after roaming around. We did not see too much because we did not spend much time there. It was extremely hot. Look at these plants — they have been planted very nicely. And look at this tree. It is 95 years old. The road was actually built around it so the tree could be saved properly. So yes, such things are possible if people want to preserve nature.

Tonight I am staying here. I already checked out from my Airbnb. Deepanshu Malik left three or four days ago. I stayed in an Airbnb for two or three days, and then I decided to stay here for a day or two. This is the staff room of our friend Vinod bhai, so I will stay here tonight. Tomorrow morning I will leave from here.

So that was Santiago. I actually explored a lot of places here, but I could not make many videos. When you travel with other people, especially people who do not know you are a YouTuber, it feels a bit awkward to record videos.

I have already spent four days in the capital city and I have been running around because of the visa for Bolivia. I am even carrying my laptop everywhere because of this visa issue. Right now I am coming out of the Embassy of Bolivia. I will go back to the room and explain the whole story about what happened.

I came back again to the embassy, and look — I finally got the visa! And look who is here.

“Hello, Namaste everyone.”

Many of you must have recognised him because he is also a big YouTuber. His name is Tushar (Taurus Traveller). He happened to be here as well. Yesterday he messaged me but I did not see it. I thought he was still travelling in Venezuela.

He said he had been here for two or three days as well. We had been talking for a long time but finally met today in the same city, Santiago. We had lunch together and then he came here with the good news that my Bolivia visa had arrived.

I asked him about his experience in Bolivia. He said he enjoyed it a lot. The people are good and there are quite a few Indians there as well.

Now let me show you one of the main attractions of the city. There is a hill here with a statue on top. A gondola goes up there, and many people also walk, trek, or cycle to reach the top. Normally it closes around 8 pm. I got the chance to go there once but I did not go.

But we have our own bird — the drone. So I will fly the drone and show you the view from here.

Let me tell you some amazing facts about Santiago. This city is surrounded on all sides by the Andes Mountains. It is one of the few cities in the world surrounded by such huge mountains. During winter, all the mountains around the city get covered with snow and the view becomes extremely beautiful.

And look at that building there. That is Gran Torre Santiago, the tallest building in all of Latin America.

The hill you see in the middle of the city is a famous viewpoint where people go to see the entire city from above. Even though I did not go up there, I will show you the city view from here with the drone.

As you may already know, Chile experiences many earthquakes. But people say that Santiago has been designed in such a way that earthquakes do not affect it much. Many buildings here are 150–200 years old and they are still standing strong despite frequent earthquakes. Sometimes a significant earthquake occurs every six months.

The metro system here is also very old and quite beautiful. Most of the metro lines are underground. Another interesting thing is that the metro trains here run on rubber tyres instead of traditional metal wheels.

This is the second time I have seen such a system. Earlier I saw something similar in Adelaide, where buses ran on a special guided track.

Another interesting thing about this region is wine. There are many wineries around this area. When we travel towards Argentina, you will find many wine shops there.

Finally, my friends, I have received the Bolivia visa. I have been in this city for about 8–10 days waiting for it. For the visa process I had to submit many documents — bank statement, photos, an online form, and a request letter. I also had to deposit a bank draft of 50 US dollars.

After submitting everything at the embassy, they issued the visa on the same day. However, collecting and preparing all the documents took me three to four days. And honestly, I also delayed things a bit because I wanted to rest.

So now it has been 8–10 days in this city, and it is time to prepare to leave.

This city is very beautiful. You will find a lot of greenery here — not only in Santiago but across much of South America. Cycling is also very popular here. Almost every third person you see is riding a bicycle.

Look at this beautiful greenery around the road.

Across the entire city, the buses are very modern and most of them are electric. There are also dedicated bus lanes where only buses can run. The traffic discipline here is very good and the public transport system is excellent. Normally such a good public transport system is not very common in many parts of South America.

In the previous video you saw that I was travelling with Deepanshu. He went to Torres del Paine National Park for two or three days and then returned to Germany. After that I extended my stay in the room for a few days, and for the last two or three days I have been staying with our friend Vinod bhai in his staff room.

Tomorrow I will definitely leave from here. So for a couple of days I stayed with those friends.

Now let us end today’s video here. We will meet again tomorrow with a new video. Until then, stay happy, stay busy, stay cheerful and stay healthy.

Jai Hind. Jai Bharat. 🇮🇳