We disembarked at around 7:30 am in San Antonio, Chile. We had a lot of time before our 9:00 pm flight back home from Santiago airport.
Instead of taking a taxi to Santiago as suggested, which would cost approx. $150, we walked to Pullman Bus Terminal minutes away, bought two tickets for $7000 (Chilean pesos) each (< $10 USD), got on the 8:30 am bus (8:00 am bus was sold out), arrived in Santiago a little after 10:00 am.
Santiago is the capital city of Chile. There wasn’t much to see except Baha’i Temple as I’d always been interested in architecture.
It was a 40 minute Uber ride to the temple from the bus terminal in Santiago.
The Baha’i Faith with millions of followers is the youngest of the world’s religions founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. There are seven Baha’i temples around the world, one on each continent. All Baha’i temples are circular and have nine sides and nine pathways that lead outward and nine gardens that surround them. The temples are open to all regardless of religion. The Baha’i Temple in Santiago is no exception. It has nine arched “sails” made from marble and cast glass. It also has nine entrances and nine pathways and is surrounded by nine fountains.
The nine “sails” are separated by glass which provides natural light for the temple’s interior.
The Baha’i Temple was built in the foothills of the Andes Mountains with great views of the city.
We took another Uber to Plaza de Armas after that.
From Plaza de Armas we just walked around visiting a few popular tourist sites but didn’t find anything interesting.
The streets in Santiago were full of street art but also graffiti. It was hard to find walls that had nothing on them.
We still had some time and pesos left. So we took the funicular to the top of San Cristobal Hill.
And enjoyed more views of the city.
It was approaching 5 pm and hot (mid to upper 80’s). We were also tired and hungry (had breakfast before 6 am). We wanted to be at the airport early so we could spend sometime enjoying free food at the airport lounge. So it was time to go to the airport.