Loving La Vega

There are few things in Latin culture I'm more drawn to than the markets. For many people most, if not all, of their food is purchased in local mercados. I happen to live a short walk from La Vega, which is one of the biggest mercados in Chile. It really is massive, made up of hundreds of vendors selling nearly everything edible you could ever want and expect to find in Chile.

Living in Santiago Centro with Bella Artes, Bellavista and Providencia in walking distance it is easy to forget what the rest of Chile is like. These neighborhoods are full of a smaller population of more modern, cosmopolitan and artsy Chileans. Fortunately all it takes is a 10 minute walk north, past Rio Mapocho to La Vega and the surrounding neighborhood of Patronato to get a glimpse of a more typical Chilean community. It is more gritty, colorful and full of the sketchy character that I am constantly drawn to. It is wildly different from where I grew up in NY to say the least. 

Sitting in the middle of it is La Vega which is certainly the center of life in this barrio. The streets are always packed with trucks, push-carts and mobile vendors transporting seemingly endless supplies of fresh produce. Sidewalks are packed with locals selling anything from used clothes to TV antenas and batteries. And of course pedestrians heading to and from the market are littered throughout the streets and sidewalks.

The first few times visiting La Vega was a little intimidating. I ended up walking around looking at everything for nearly an hour before even purchasing anything. After a couple months of weekly trips I am getting pretty efficient. I can be in and out in twenty minutes and know which vendors have the best and cheapest selections. And cheap it is. Every single time I walk away from this place I have a smile ear to ear and feel as if I just happened to hit a 75% off everything sale. But no, this place is cheap all day, everyday.

This is an example of what $11 of groceries looks like from La Vega.

For whatever reason I really enjoy the lack of order and chaotic nature of places like this. It is messy, smelly (sometimes good, sometimes bad), unruly and a little dangerous. It just feels so authentic. It isn't even uncommon to see cars or motorcycles for some reason navigating these tiny aisles. Everybody is yelling, bargaining, throwing things, running around and keeping the energy level abnormally high. The bottom line is, it is a very interesting place to spend an hour or two wandering around and highly recommend it to anybody visiting Santiago. I plan on doing a more formal photo essay in the future about La Vega, so for now I only have a couple photos I shot this morning while shopping.

Check out an older post about the market in Cusco, Peru here!