8. Valparaiso and Santiago, Chile

We arrived in Valparaiso, Chile via an overnight 12 hr. bus from Pucon. The trip was reasonably comfortable - there are upgraded seats you can buy that are larger and recline further. First big city for us since Buenos Aires at the beginning of our trip.

Valparaiso has been an important port city for centuries, but it's glory days are well in the past. Paint a scene of many stray dogs (with accompanying droppings), graffiti literally

everywhere, noise and an overall run down appearance and you might wonder why anyone would go there. In fact it was a very interesting place and we enjoyed our stay there. The double room booked at the hostel turned out to be a self-contained apartment which was nice - the only thing we missed was the usual interaction with other travellers in a normal hostel.

Other than a few flat streets near the ocean, Valparaiso rises on many steep hills and our legs got a severe workout in our 4 days there. The real fun is just wandering around in a semi-organized fashion - you don't know what to expect around the next corner. The city has many funicular railroad elevators, all of which are close to or over 100 years old. They are used by the locals and transport you almost vertically up the hills. Saves the legs and great views at the top. We rode a few of them.

After some serious bargaining we took a small local boat with just the two of us, on a 1/2 hr trip around the harbour - huge container ships from all around the world, seal lions basking on huge harbour buoys as well as a superb view of the city from the water.

The stray dogs do not bother anyone but they bark all night! We need to invest in some good earplugs. As far as graffiti goes, there is some seriously good condoned art in places - however there is a huge amount of tagging and basically vandalism.

Our last day we took the Metro north about 15 minutes to Vina del Mar, Valparaiso's alter ego - where the wealthier crowd hang out. What a difference. More affluent and much less graffiti. However much less character. A very interesting museum with one of the original moai from Easter Island (Chilean) along with many exhibits showing how they were made and transported to the various sites. That's about as close as we will ever get to Easter Island.

A little light humour at the hostel

After a short 2 hr bus ride we arrived in Santiago - a big city of about 7 million. Did lots of walking, but basically another big city. The hostel is kind of funky - lots of young folks with party time top of the agenda. Took an old funicular up to the top of the largest hill in the city - great views but it was very hazy. 30C with no breeze. Hottest day since we left Canada. Met up one evening with Leo - a colleague of Stephanie's who works north of Santiago and had a very pleasant visit.

Off tomorrow to Mendoza, Argentina.