Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Another night bus dropped us in Valparaiso at 6am. Of course, at this time everything is shut. This meant that we had to wait outside our hostel until it opened at 8. It wasn't too bad as we made friends with one of the many stray dogs and fed him cookies.
After dumping our bags at the hostel, we went on a walking tour of the city. It was really interesting and we learnt how Valparaiso has gone from a really important port town to a forgotten city which is pretty much falling apart. In the colonial times, Valparaiso served as a half way point between Europe and the west coast of America. However, after the Panama canal was built, industry declined as ships didn't have to go all the way around the bottom of Chile. During the tour we also went on one of the many veniculars, which are lifts that transport people to the top of the 40 something hills.
Due to the many hills, it's very easy to get lost (which we did, many times!) We also tried the local dish (chorillana) which is chips with beef, egg and cheese - basically a heart attack on a plate, but delicious!
The next day, we took a bus to Concon and rented some surf boards. The waves were huge and after an hour, we felt like we'd been beaten up!
Although Valparaiso is an interesting place, there wasn't a great deal to do. Santiago next!
- comments