How to Plan an International Trip: Travel Tales and Tips : CHILE TRIP REPORT Day 16: Santiago Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art, Los Dominicos Village

DAY 16: DEC 26 SUNDAY

WHAT WE WANTED TO SEE VS WHAT WE COULD

VALPARAISO
Cajon Del Maipo

We wanted to go on a day trip to Valparaiso, where museums are closed on Mondays. We needed an early start which was not possible on Dec 26th as we had to wait for stores to open, buy provisions, cook and eat food, pack some food. So both day trips were ruled out on 26th. Maipo is beautiful but it's not easy to do by bus as day trip. We wanted to rent a car but logistics of weekend did not work out. We had to sadly drop Maipo. Decided to do Valparaiso by bus on Monday though museums will be closed. It did work out well.

So on Sunday, Dec 26th, we bought some provisions at the small convenience store when it opened at 9am. After food, we took the metro to Plaza de Armas

Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art (Spanish: Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino)

The Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art displays pre-Columbian artworks and artifacts from Central and South America

. The museum has over 3,000 pieces representing almost 100 different groups of people. The collection ranges from about 10,000 years.

The museum is housed in the Palacio de la Real Aduana that was constructed between 1805 and 1807.It is located a block west of the Plaza de Armas and close to the Palacio de los Tribunales de Justicia de Santiago and the Former National Congress Building

There is a Unimarc supermarket nearby and we bought some icecream, chocolates etc and went back to our apt

Then we tok the metro all the way to Los Dominicos

Pueblito Los Dominicos (Los Dominicos Village) is a crafts market and popular tourist shopping destination in a heritage zone The modern market in Pueblito Los Dominicos was born in the late 70s and early 80s to house the workshops and stores of craft workers and artists. Over the years, and after having been named a traditional heritage zone by the Chilean government, the place became popular among Chilean and international tourists.

The park that holds the modern market was once part of a “fundo”, which gives the market its rural, rustic look. In the 80s, artists and artisans took over the farm’s old cellars and stables and built more small shops using traditional, colonial-style adobe.

In the near 200 stores can be found all kinds of traditional goods, including leather work, wood craft, sculptures, paintings, copper cookware, fine jewellery, pets, flowers, medicinal herbs, Chilean plants (as well as some foreign plants such as bonsais), and also some traditional foods such as typical Chilean empanadas and Pastel de choclo.

We had a great time at this market. There were some local families, if we had come on a weekday, it may have become a little awkward to just potter around.