Valparaiso

25/03/13 to 26/03/13 - If Santiago could be summed up by couples kissing in parks and hazy orange afternoons in front of the Andes, then 'Valpo' could be summed up by colourful tin houses and loads of friendly dogs. There were a lot of dogs wandering the streets and it wasn't long before Dave put his foot in it (‘it’ being the inevitable by-product of so many dogs).

We took the bus from Santiago in the morning and arrived in Valparaiso around midday.  After asking some locals the way and getting lost on the tiny uphill streets in the main town with our big bags, we found our hotel, which was hidden up a narrow lane. The host was very friendly and drew on a map of where we should walk and this was helpful as we would have got lost much more without this.

Valpo is a gritty port town, with huge container ships sitting out in the harbour, and like most working ports has a seedy feel down on the harbour front. However, the part of town that makes it so attractive is set up on the hill, climbing many levels, with streets layered on top of each other, criss-crossing at times and forming a labyrinth of tiny lanes and streets. For those that have been to Lisbon, it is similar in style and, like Lisbon, has many wooden funicular elevators that take you up to the higher street levels. 

We were amazed that only a couple of these rickety old things were closed due to damage in the 2010 earthquake.  We'd heard rumours that the 2010 earthquake had destroyed much of the beauty of the place, but we were pleasantly surprised as it wasn’t obvious apart from a couple of derelict buildings. The majority of buildings were made of wood, with tin cladding on the outside, and every house had been painted to a different vibrant colour scheme, with the rickety appearance adding tons of charm to them. Artists had also been encouraged to paint murals and graffiti on many of the buildings, walls and lampposts, so it almost felt like we had walked onto the set of a cartoon.

We walked a lot as it was the only real way to explore the town and hunt down the nice paintings on the facades of private houses. Ok, we have to admit that we took a couple of the funny wooden funicular elevators, partly for the experience and the views, but mainly because our feet were hurting after so much walking.

After wandering around the streets for the whole afternoon, it was time for a proper Chilean aperitif:  Pisco Sour watching the sunset and take in the great views of the bay. Although the industry and the metro blighted the seafront slightly, it was still a nice place to relax and look out at the mist rolling in from the Pacific. We also ate yet more great food, trying albacorra (swordfish) and rabbit, along with some really nice Carminere wine, which you can only find in Chile (the Andes and the Atacama desert protected this grape from disease in Chile, unlike the rest of the world).

We spent another day wandering yet more colourful streets before catching a bus back to Santiago for our connection south to Pucon. At the bus station in Santiago everyone was watching the Chile vs Uruguay match on TV screens and we watched as Chile caused an upset and won 2-0. Everyone went crazy at the final whistle, before calmly regaining their composure and catching their buses to wherever they were going. We did the same and were glad of the huge seats, legroom and leg rest on our night bus to Pucon.