ValparaisoValparaiso

Published on October 9, 2019 ⋅ 3min read

The hills surrounding the bay were a mosaic of colour. Houses of all shapes and sizes, stacked haphazardly atop one another, crammed the hillside, with every square inch of available space being consumed. Steep, narrow, winding roads cut swathes of grey through the mottled cityscape. Along the roads, micro-buses hurtled at reckless speed, as if their drivers were competing for the most-dangerous-driving award...

From San José, we caught the bus back into Santiago, then took the metro to the the bus terminal, in order to catch a bus to Valparaíso. In broken Spanish, I had asked where the buses to Valparaíso departed from and was told (or so I kind of understood) they left from Universidad de Santiago. Once on the metro, I saw that there was a bus terminal indicated on the map one stop earlier, so I foolishly suggested we get off at Estación Central instead. Turns out there was a bus terminal, but the buses there didn't go to Valparaíso. I should have just trusted the old lady in the ticket booth!

Still, it wasn't the worst thing to happen, we just had to walk a few blocks further down the road until we reached the next station (we didn't want to pay for another metro ride at $800 pesos, or €1, each for one stop!).

The 2 hour bus ride went by quickly, offering a nice view over the surrounding countryside of Santiago, with many vineyards in sight.

The first impression of Valparaíso was not the nicest. It was more run down than Santiago, smelled awful, and the downtown area had nothing of the charm of the colourful hillside the city is known for. We found a hostel very easily -- the first one we tried had an available twin room for 2 nights at a reasonable price, so we showered and changed out of our smelly hiking clothes. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering aimlessly around the city, getting a feel for the place.

The next day, just like Santiago, we decided to do two walking tours. They were both excellent. The groups were smaller, the guides were more informative, and I had the opportunity to ask all the questions I could think of. To be honest, before coming on the trip, I hadn't given much thought to Chile's history, or its people and culture, but I'm thoroughly glad we decided to visit Valparaíso, if only to have done the walking tours and to have learned more about those topics before we head south and immerse ourselves in nature. The afternoon tour in particular was superb. There were only five of us on the tour, one of whom only spoke Spanish, so the tour guide had his work cut out dancing back and forth between Spanish and English, but with such a small group I really felt like I had a great dialogue with the guide and I was able to also offer him a lot of information and insight about New Zealand, which he appreciated.

Our entire day was spent roaming the hills, high and low. Valparaíso is known for its hills and its street art, and while I didn't much like the city's overall, it certainly didn't disappoint in either of those categories!

The tour guide mentioned the Valparaíso Downhill event which runs every year, where cyclists race down to the bottom. Having walked the hills and knowing how high and steep they are, it's pretty crazy to think that the record for the event, from top to bottom, is 2 minutes and 27 seconds! Check out this GoPro footage, insane! https://youtu.be/yjP6mTjTVxQ

Today we left Valparaíso and returned once again to Santiago. It's a hot and sunny 32 degrees, and after arriving at our guest house in the early afternoon, we've spent most of the time relaxing, doing some washing, writing and going through the many photos we've already taken. The next time we return to Santiago, it will be to fly to New Zealand.

Tomorrow we have an early flight down south to Balmaceda, where our Patagonian adventures shall begin. In the coming week, we shall attempt our first multi-day hike through Cerro Castillo national park and then onto Chili Chico and a long ferry ride further south!

For now, I'm going to make the most of warmth of the north...