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Thank you for your nice comment! I am fascinated by cities worldwide as they are complex 'ecosystems'. Areas such as La Legua and La Victoria are as much part of a city as areas such as Las Condes or the city center, and also deserve to be explored.

Hi, thank you for this clarification. I got my info on the Carabineros from Wikipedia, but apparently there are some nuances to be made. You ask how it is organised over here. I am from The Netherlands, which is a very small country with a very high population density. We used to have several police regions but 10 years ago these merged into one. The whole country has one big police organization now. The bike path along the Mapocho was nice and very enjoyable. Hope you can make it to Europe one day, like you say. I have tons of videos from European cities still waiting to be uploaded (I have been probing the continent on wheels for the last 20 years or so). For now, on my channel you can find some videos from Italian cities (Turino/Milano/Bologna), and also there I explore tougher sides of town as well. Italy is such a beautiful country! Of course I should also mention my hometown of Amsterdam, the most touristy European capital when counting number of tourists per resident (beating Paris and Rome). I have a folder called ‘Wheels@Home’ (ruclips.net/video/KgJnY1hALXQ/видео.html) if you want to get to know Amsterdam better on wheels. Here is one video that specifically focuses on the biking and skating infrastructure, you will see that people here bike everywhere and anywhere: bikes rule the city and cars better be submissive. ruclips.net/video/7dzfbEga4D8/видео.html. Be warned: don’t come to the Netherlands to ski, it is the worst country in the world for that (we have no mountains and hardly even hills, it is pretty pathetic). Europeans love the Alps for skiing and flock there during winter weeks.

Thanks for your comment. I was in Barrio Franklin with my inline skates and it certainly had some rougher edges, check it out: ruclips.net/video/sGV14KzYxI4/видео.html. As fate wants it, also there I was chased by dogs ;-) Skates attract dogs (motion and sound). What I understood is that Franklin is also attracting hipsters, suggesting gentrification may be on the way or perhaps ongoing? The same happened over here in Amsterdam to traditionally rough areas such as Pijp and Jordaan. Decades ago these areas got a revamp and hipsters arrived. Both are now amongst the most wanted areas in Amsterdam. A current hotspot of gentrification in the city is Amsterdam-Noord

The histories of these two neighborhoods are very fascinating, indeed. I learnt so much about the role of these neighborhoods and their residents. I work in science and as such have access to paid scientific articles, also about La Legua and La Victoria (some of these articles I quote in the video). These provide very useful information. It was also in a scientific article where I found the exact boundaries of La Legua, La Legua Emergencia and La Legua Nueva.

Thank you. I do my best to make the videos informative, fun and interesting. I did know the monument was vandalised (what a pity), but did not know where it was now. Thanks for sharing!

Yep, I spend a a lot of time before any trip collecting facts and bits of cool info. I try to verbally work in some of these facts live on the spot (you don't want to know how many takes that requires sometimes ;-)). Other facts and info I incorporate afterwards while editing. Ideally, I collaborate with a local (such as Carla, a Santiago native credited at the start of my video) to work in some facts not easily found online.

That is really good to hear, thanks! I am doing my best to make my videos informative but also fun and interesting.

Thanks for letting me know. I am afraid my Amsterdam habits got in the way, unfortunately. Amsterdam cyclists are pure anarchists.

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it!

My pleasure. I enjoyed Santiago very much!

Thanks. I had the feeling the place was not as the stories suggested it to be.

Thanks. I find both of these neighborhoods to have interesting stories and histories. As mentioned in the video, I now regret not checking out the murals in La Victoria. Murals tend to be beautiful and very powerful in their messages.

@@wheelsabroad Cuando transitaste por Avda. Departamental en dirección oeste, señalaste unos murales que solo grabaste brevemente. Si bien, ese lugar no era "La Victoria", quizá podría haber sido más visible en el video, porque de hecho ese lugar es conocido como "Museo a cielo abierto": muchas obras (no solo por la calle en que estabas) y de una calidad muy alta, tanto por esa avenida, como por las otras calles interiores. Quizá para la próxima!!

@@methodos100 Yes, that would have been good. Even though I do my homework upfront and plan some things, one of the charms of the trips is to run into unexpected things. These murals were one of them. It wasn't until editing back home that I realised the full span of the murals. Google Maps helped me out, but it would have been nice indeed to have spent more time on it. These murals are awesome.

Thank you! Glad you enjoy it

Hi, thank you for your feedback. I am aware of the notion that videos like this will provoke mixed reactions and no video will ever be to everybody’s liking. My goal is to show cities from all the different angles, not just the normal tourist stuff but also the more complex and sometimes controversial parts of a city. On the channel you will find many of these aspects, including real tourist areas (Plaza de Armas, Mercado Central, etc). Next week’s video will be on Maipu, a lively, non-touristy suburb of Santiago that I enjoyed exploring very much.

prefieres que se quede en providencia y las condes? soy de santiago y muestra una parte de la ciudad que no conozco, me parece un servicio loable.

Para los señoritos de Vitacura, por supuesto que esto no les importa. Esto sí es verdadero turismo aventura.

I have never been in Watts so I don't know how it looks. But Watts is definitely also known to be a tougher area, yes.

@@wheelsabroad I think that much like you discovered in La Legua, its reputation is somewhat exaggerated, at least during the day even for a clueless tourist from a less urban area such as myself. If you're ever in Los Angeles, I highly recommend checking out the Watts Towers Arts Center.

@@Sr.ChilePepper You make me curious now. Will keep this in mind. I was in LA two years ago and did not visit Watts, unfortunately. I did take my inline skates to Skid Row, an (in)famous area for different reasons (video is on my channel, ruclips.net/video/fv1Sl8wrzOo/видео.html).

Most of the time when I'm cycling and a dog begins to chase, I immediately stop and most of the time, if not all, they either just stop, look at you in confusion and just go back to where they came from, or they get super scared and run back to their spot. Dogs just chase you because it's their hunting instinct so when you do something they don't expect, they don't know how to react or get scared. Now if it's a big pack of dogs, probably just keep pedaling is the best. Scaring 1-2 dogs is not a big issue but trying to scare 4-5 thats another story.

Maybe I should try that next time, although in this case the dead-end street did not allow fast pedaling before getting to the dogs ;-) I am used to dogs harassing me when I am on inline skates, but not so much when on the bike.

​@@BaghNakh1 I could have tried to just stop and see what happened. But what did not help is that it was a one-way street, I had nowhere to go but past the dogs somehow. Talking about a pack of dogs: check out the scene at 1.00 min in one of my Cairo (Egypt) videos, I count as many as 7 dogs while I am on online skates: ruclips.net/video/l0j7irV05-U/видео.html

Hello, thanks for your criticism. Your comment is not unfair for sure. La Legua does not have a good reputation, and viewers not familiar with it should get to know the (historic) background to the video’s theme and why I go to this unusual spot. But what I actually try to show with my video is how it really looks, taking a look on the spot itself to allow viewers to absorb for themselves what the area is about and make up their own minds. To me, personally, as I also say in the video, it did not appear as bad as its reputation would suggest and that could even help with getting a better qualitative view of the area. But I much agree with you that all this can be un uneasy balance

Man. Desafortunadamente, La Legua, fue la meca de las drogas y delincuencia en Santiago, después de La Pintana y Bajos de Mena. Las mismas acciones los tacharon forever.

Hi Cami, great to read this comment. You don't live in Santiago anymore? Great and humbling to read that my videos provide you some nostalgia, which I can well imagine. The city has left quite some impression on me and I would enjoy living downtown for years for sure. Stay tuned if you like this kind of stuff in other cities worldwide too. I still have Montevideo and Buenos Aires coming up: posher and rougher areas. Currently editing Riyadh (Saudi Arabia): that was quite something, traditionally a closed country.

Thanks for the comment. I did not take my skates out north-east but having seen that area I can easily imagine how that would be a blast and very enjoyable. Lots of green too, al with the mountain backdrops. In general, I enjoyed the city very much. I had been curious about Santiago for a while and I liked it! How cool about the Santiago Rollers! Amsterdam has an equivalent too, called Friday Night Skate. I knew about the Santiago Rollers and I contacted them by e-mail a while back and asked if they could perhaps help me promoting my videos locally by posting a shout-out to my Santiago playlist on their channels. Not sure if that message ever reached them ;-)

Thank you! I hope you enjoy this view of a different part on Santiago, all on wheels.

Thank you for that clarification! I was not aware of that. Somehow, it felt less safe on the left-hand side than on the right-hand side (even though that was a bus lane).

En la realidad no es así. En la práctica, tomamos siempre a la derecha, por que el problema número uno, son los taxistas colectivos que tienen un gran egocentrismo que creen que la calle es suya. Después, un motivo de fuerza mayor. Los vehículos de la ambulancia, bomberos y carabineros qué realmente necesita del carril izquierdo si o si. Ya que se usa para adelantar. Además de eso, no usamos las ciclovias en su mayoría, por la pésima implementación, o el pésimo estado de ellas. Salvo los lugares concurridos. Como dije, los vehículos motorizados, salvo las motos, tienen un egocéntrismo impresionante.

@@HYP3RK1NECT I understand what you mean. Indeed, my intuition kept me on the right and not on the left. I saw some cyclists on the right, and some on the left. The bike lane along Alameda was legendary, I did it by inline skates. Not an easy one, check it out: ruclips.net/video/9oAja8IgD0c/видео.html

LOL, kudos to you! On the bike or on skates? Amsterdam is (in)famous for local cyclists not adhering to red lights, and in most cities abroad I go to it is less common for cyclists to do that. The kind of awkward part is that I am so used to it that I find myself doing it abroad too, sometimes without realizing it.

Thanks! Yes, I enjoyed it very much. I only stayed in Santiago, but the city was very nice with friendly people and awesome views of the Andes mountains (I am from flatland: The Netherlands, so mountains always impress me). I really got to know the city from various angles: check out the other Santiago videos that I posted. From the posh areas to the rough areas.

@ yeah, I reached your channel because RUclips recommended me the la legua video and I was impressed that a tourist visited a neighborhood that most Chileans don’t because of stereotypes/data. There’s a lot nice neighborhoods and bike routes you missed. If you don’t hate the heat and sun too much, escape your winter and come here in December - March another year. There are a lot of hikes and highways that run through the mountains that you will certainly love if your body can afford biking on 30°C, 20% humidity and 13 UV index. Tell me if you are planning on coming back in the future so I can recommend you some routes. Nice videos (at least the 3 I have watched) and have a great new year on your flat country

@@Agustin_R I stayed 6 days but I don't feel that was enough, indeed. I considered biking (or hiking for that matter) through the mountains but did not have enough time. Us Dutchies are not so used to mountain cycling, almost all our country is below sea level ;-) At any rate, thanks for the offer. I have no immediate plans to return, but if I do I will contact you. In the mean time, stay tuned if you like this kind of stuff in other cities worldwide too. I still have Montevideo and Buenos Aires coming up: posher and rougher areas. I have started editing Riyadh (Saudi Arabia): that was quite something, traditionally a closed country. To be posted in the very near future. Cheers!

@ i’ll stay tunned in then. Keep up with the good content!

Thanks for the comments and for being a loyal viewer. I am happy to hear that you enjoy the videos and that you too see the added value of going places where tourists (or even locals) don't go. They are as much part of the city as city centers and posh areas are. I find the historical aspects associated with these areas intriguing: every neighborhood has a history. My contact Carla knew quite a few pieces of info I could use. Having said so, La Legua was not as bad as one would think based on what one hears. Maybe it was the time of the day. There is only one Santiago video left (Maipu) and then the Santiago sequence is unfortunately done. But stay tuned if you like this kind of stuff in other cities worldwide too. I still have Montevideo and Buenos Aires coming up: posher and rougher areas. Currently editing Riyadh (Saudi Arabia): that was quite something, traditionally a closed country.

​@@wheelsabroad only halfway through the video but i agree. i always wonder what these areas would be like restored to their ideal with proper sidewalks, underground cables, more trees and so on, it's not paris but still has charm and potential. thanks for the ride!

@@bcccl569 Thanks. In Amsterdam, I live very close (pretty much in) an area that had a poor reputation for decades. About 10 years ago the neighborhood was completely revamped and it has been doing better since. No Paris, it still has this little edge to it.

@ nice. a friend lives not far from la legua in san joaquin, his neghbourhood is humble but has been kept tidy and upgraded quietly as our economic situation improved. hopefully the areas you saw will look better in the future.

Thanks, Methodos100. I am from flatland: The Netherlands is completely and utterly flat, not very exciting. So, even with haziness the Andes still impress me a lot! Throughout my whole stay (6 days) I kept being captivated by them, no matter how often I saw them. I can only imagine how they will look on clear days. Have to come back there in Dec-March!

Hi, thanks for your comment. I checked my GPX map for the bike trip and I was actually very close without realizing that. But about 1 km before the campus I turned right. What a bummer, would have been cool to check out those campus bike lanes.

@@wheelsabroad Maybe next time. I'm looking forward to the biking videos. I think you did a good job trying to show the different faces of Santiago.

Hola! Qué bueno que al menos te alcanzó a llegar el comentario. Ocurre que quise "editar" alguna información en el mensaje que yo mismo había escrito, y en vez de presionar "editar", por error presioné "eliminar". Cuando me di cuenta, ya era tarde. Y sobre los lugares que visitas, desde un inicio ya me parecía inusual que alguien quisiera visitar "La legua", que no goza de buena fama en el país, entre otros lugares que no están en el listado de "turismo". Espero que Chile haya mostrado su buena cara también. Saludos desde Santiago!

@@methodos100 Ah, that explains it, thanks. And yes: I have see many good things in Santiago and thoroughly enjoyed my time there, especially the many different aspects I have seen.

You got me there for a second ;-) everipedia.org/wiki/lang_en/Celinto_Catayente_Towers. I remember the scene from the movie, but not the name of the fictional towers.

Yes, I liked the city too. The location next to the Andes mountains was super!

Hi, thanks for your comment. Yes, I think Santiago is a very nice city! Much more coming up on this city.

Hi, thanks for your comment. I am doing my best to make videos that show people cool, interesting and unique stuff about cities. Hope you enjoy it!

Hi, thanks for your comments! Always good to hear input from a native, who will be informed much better than this Dutchie 😉 I have heard the stories about the slight deterioration of parts of the city from other natives, yes. In the second half of the Alameda video (coming up soon), I will skate further west to Lo Prado. In a few weeks there will also be biking videos coming up. Rest assured that I will cover more than the 5 % you talk about. I enjoyed exploring many aspects of Santiago very much. All videos will be in a playlist called ‘Santiago’. P.S. The jetlag disappeared after a few days, as expected.

Thank you for the comment. I can imagine this is a surprise to you this, yes. I myself had not noticed the monument before, curiously enough.

Hi Juan, thank you for your comment. I thought Santiago was a cool city and I liked it very much. Several more videos will be upcoming (stay tuned!). From several Chileans I have heard similar comments as the one you make, yes. I should say that I did not readily notice it when I was there, but of course it was my first time there.

Thanks for the comment. I try to provide unique views on cities by traversing them on inline skates. There are many more videos on Santiago in the pipeline, next one coming up this Sunday (old city center). The weather in Santiago was great when I was there (July 2024), but I can certainly imagine elsewhere in Chile it will be different.

Hi, thank you for your comment and great that you liked the video. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring Chile and Santiago and there will be several additional videos coming up. You are right: I had to be vigilant with respect to car traffic. Luckily, I never felt unsafe as I have gained experience in urban inline skating in all sorts of cities. For example, check out my Cairo/Giza videos for the most extreme inline skating in terms of intensity/traffic ;-)

I have been to parts of Brooklyn before, but that is a long time ago. I did not feel unsafe in the areas of Milan featured in the video. I do enjoy sketchy streets from time to time. I consider these as much part of a city as the center.

Thank you. It was an impressive trip.

Hi Matthew, thank you for your nice comment. Relaying the vibe of cities, in and outside the city center and in both the good and rougher parts, is exactly what I intend to achieve with my videos. Very happy to hear that this worked for you! Coming up in the next few weeks is a bike movie on Milano, where I explore the rougher areas at the edge of town. On a personal note, you may have seen that I myself was a student in Bologna 24 years ago and it was an awesome time.

Hi Matthew, since you expressed an interest in Italian cities (Milan specifically?), here are my last two videos of the Italy string (they won’t become fully public for another few weeks). This involves biking in the rougher Milano areas outside the city center. Probably not the areas you want to live in: according to my online resources, expats are discouraged to live there. Part 1: ruclips.net/video/17lLWghbSDM/видео.html / Part 2: ruclips.net/video/P7Bgymjvzk8/видео.html

@@wheelsabroad Wow, thank you so much for remembering me! Love it. I was a fan before but now I'm a Super-fan hahah

@@matthewcote5198 :-)

Hi, a comment like this from a local means a lot. Thanks. I do like to venture outside of the centers to also get a feeling of how authentic life in a city is. Lately I have tried to add more information, not only on touristy stuff but also on other items of potential interest. I visited your city for just 1 day but it was very worth it. Beautiful city!

Hi, thanks for the comment. As I am trying to finetuning the channel (I am a newbee) I have been struggling with finding the right approach for background music. Early on, several folks told me to put in background music, so that is what I did. Bought myself a limited set of song licenses from Adobe. But I sometimes think music takes away from the authentic background street audio. Curious what your opinion would be. Is it the particular song that you don't like, or the fact that a short piece is looping, or the fact that there is even background music at all (I checked out your videos and they don't have any music at all it seems)?

@@wheelsabroad personally I prefer listening the the surroundings. I think music is ok when you have for example a time-lapse section. Yes, it's the shot loop that triggers me.

@@elfootman Thanks for your opinion. I personally prefer the audio of the surroundings too but too many people told me early on they missed music. The use of loops is a pragmatic technical fix, I'll see what my options are.

I liked the city center of Milano a lot. But I know what you mean with the crowds. Back home in Amsterdam we have similar problems: some areas are too crowded with tourists and are therefore ignored by locals. Good thing I went to the Duomo Square so early....hope you enjoyed your Duomo time today too!

Hi Ruby, the Strip is not hilly at all, although there is a slight gradual inclination from north to south (see the GPS output at 19.16 min in the video). But that should be no problem. The spikes you see in the GPS output are not hills but escalators and stairs that are sometimes the only means to cross an intersection. If you take the main road, take note of the traffic! If you are newer to skating, consider taking sidewalks only. Enjoy! Simply because this was Vegas with all its glamour/lights/sounds/etc, it was a unique experience and different from the other cities worldwide I have skated (which you can find on my channel too).

Thanks and welcome, Seth! Appreciate the interest. Your channel looks cool and I hope you are having a good time in Germany (our big neighbor - I am from The Netherlands). Your channel is also a reminder to me that I should make a channel trailer! FYI: I have Berlin videos in the archive (biking and inline skating) that still need to be put on RUclips.

Thanks for the feedback. How odd I missed that, I even see the sign at 11.43 now :-( Seems like it would have been worth visiting, for sure. I always try to do my homework before I take off, but did not see this one being mentioned. By the way, stay tuned for more Bremen videos coming up the next few weeks (51 km of biking, and another 20 km of inline skating to the north and east).

It was my pleasure and you guys were a life saver, really. Leaving Egypt without biking in Cairo was no option for me and you guys saved the day, as I was able to bike around on my very last day in Egypt. I recommend Be A Biker to all those people having an interest in biking in Cairo.

Many people would consider it unsafe to cycle in Cairo. Also locals told me so. Cars are all over the place and very assertive. There are hardly any bike lanes. I felt safe and in control throughout and truly had an awesome time, but I have a lot of experience in biking in dense urban areas. I would only recommend cycling in Cairo if you’re very experienced. I hope this answer helps. In the next few weeks, I plan to upload a video on the cycling and inline skating culture in Cairo.

Hi Rob, thanks for your comment. I enjoyed the city for sure especially given the good weather. My hometown of Amsterdam has taught me a lot about urban skating, that helps. Glad you are a cyclist too and my impression was that Dublin had quite a few bike lanes already! I have another video of me and my buddy cycling through Dublin and to Howth (ruclips.net/video/cXcUlEabrl8/видео.html). If you're interested, stay tuned for the next upload this Sunday: skating at Dublin airport ;-)

Thank you for your comment! Great to have seen your home city, I enjoyed it very much. I am aware of Northern Ireland not being its own country, I remember the Troubles era (I am from 1974). The 'one-day, two-countries' in the thumbnail refers to me doing another inline skate trip later that day in Dublin (ruclips.net/video/WyzLKGI4N_o/видео.html). From a formal point of view, I skated in both the UK and Ireland that day. But I am aware of and respect the different opinions associated. All the murals and remnants of The Troubles left quite an impression with me. We also went out into East Belfast by bike: ruclips.net/video/i7d-gHHRkYI/видео.html

Thanks for bringing this to my attention because I now realise my wording in the thumbnail was unintentionally a bit ambiguous. I removed it.

@@wheelsabroad nice, no, i understand, it's probably just a glimpse into our mind set in North eastern Ireland, people on the shankill would wrongly suggest that N.Ireland is not Ireland and I, a falls road man know we are as Irish as anyone else on our cold damp beautiful isle. I grew up in Belfast during the troubles in the mid 80's, still here, it is like a different planet now compared to how it was for the good and the bad.. It's nice and still strange to see stranger's and tourist's in our area's. Glad you enjoyed it, and safe travels.

@@muaythai1814 Thank you for your valuable input!