Our crossing into Chile was on an overnight bus which involved getting off in the middle of the freezing Andes at 2am, being stamped out of Argentina, into Chile and then searched by sniffer dogs before getting back on the bus (not fun!). We arrived in Valparaiso at 6am and thank god our lovely hotel (Puerta Escondida) allowed us to check in early and go straight to bed as we got no sleep on the bus!
Valparaiso is a port town built across several hills. The port is the biggest in Chile, it's full of shipping containers and cargo ships. The town is really hilly and there is street art and decoration everywhere, it's the most colourful place I've ever seen. Everything is spray painted, we even saw people spray painting the side of a bus that had stopped! The first day we wandered the streets taking in all the art, rode a funicular and then visited Pablo Nuredos house who is the most famous poet and artist from Chile and had houses in Santiago and Valparaiso. His house overlooks the whole town. That evening we followed Ben's friend Toms recommendation and went to a restaurant called Jorta Cruz for a local speciality called chorillana which is basically chips piled with beef, onions and scrambled eggs - it was so basic and unhealthy but good to try the local food right? The restaurant was cool, it was down a dingy back alley, full of locals and a Chilean band playing in the middle. Nothing we would usually have ventured to and much better than anything we would find on trip advisor!
The next day we went on a short boat trip around the port, saw some sea lions and got a closer look at the huge navy ships parked there. Again we took Toms advice and found the dingiest looking cafe by the port to eat amazing seafood. We tried chupe de Marisco which was delicious, it's like seafood with mash mixed in.
The downside to Valparaiso was the dogs - there are stray dogs everywhere in South America but here especially they are all over the streets so you really have to watch out not to step in dog pooh. It's a shame because it makes the streets smell and you don't want to be looking down all the time! Two days in Valparaiso was enough to see the town and we tried our first Pisco sours (yum! I intend to try as many as possible), next stop - Santiago!