Street Art (Valporaiso) & Surf (Quintero)

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So, we left mendoza last Thursday on a night bus after 4 fantastic days in the city. The night bus goes through the Andes, to Pass de Liberator where you cross into Chile. Needless to say trying to sleep on a bus when the driver is intent on taking every corner like Lewis Hamilton is almost mission impossible. Throw in the need to do an hour of an half worth of broder crossings and it made for a fitful and broken sleep and three (Eamo included) not very happy bunnies!

Finally though we arrived at Valpariaso ("Valpo") a UNESCO protected town. We were a litttle early so we did our obligtory 3or 4 "cafe con leche´s" at the bus station and then got a taxi to our hostel (We´re really slumming it huh?). Valpo was an old port city which began to decline when the opened the Panama Canal. Prior to that it went through a major boom on the back of merchant traffic rounding the Cape Horn and seeking safe harbour on the Pacific Coast. The town istelf is a little like naples in Italy with houses sloping up steep hills. The difference though is that being a port city Valpo has been influenced by many different styles and amid the typical Chilean houses are German Style Black Forest Houses, Hampton Style Mansions etc. Many houses are all painted vibrant colours.

We did a walking tour from the hostel which was ok. To be fair it was more of a tour of various vantage points and being a little cloudy we didn´t see the best of Valpo. It did however give us an opportunity to stretch tired legs, have a feed before returning to the Hostel for siesta! We didn´t do a huge amount in the evening though. We headed out and had the customary cerveza´s and a feed before heading to bed.

The next day we departed Valpo for a place a guy in Cordoba had suggested. Now its a little wierd because you can´t find this place on the tourist maps and it most certainly isn´t in the Lonely Planet, and in a way its a good thing. About 2 hours north of Valpo is a coastal town called Quintero. About 15 minutes from Quintero is an undeveloped beach. Undeveloped in the sense that there are no high rises, just 12 km of sand dunes, a couple of beach restaurants and 1 hostel! Apparently too it´s the birth place of surfing in Chile, where a couple of guys saw some waves and what guys were doing on tv, made their own boards and gave it a go! to give them an excuse to keep coming back they built a cafe- bar there. This is still there and run by the 2 kids of one of these guys.

We got a taxi to our hostel. It dropped us off at a beach (literally). We looked round for something that looked like a hostel...couldn´t see anything.just some beach houses. Then someone called us and guided us up to a small chalet style house. There were 3 of them. 2 for customers, one for the owner/ workers.... really nice and literally on the beach.

Just like Daffy in "the Beach" hearing our this place and getting to this place is deliberately kept quiet. It´s a place where you just go to chill out relax, maybe try your hand at surfing, eat the most amazing empanadas and seafood and enjoy the company of just 11 other people at the hostel.

So that´s pretty much what we did for a 2 days and nights: ate fresh fish and empanadas (on the beach front restaurant), had the obligatory go at surfing (don´t worry Ann may have a chance at ending up on the woman´s tour, but Eamo and Gordon don´t - the currents were sooo strong it was a bit scary. Started at one end of the beach and finished at the other end) and spent a lot of time talking, reading and watching the waves. We also had a lesson in making empanadas.....very useful since they have become a firm favourite snack for all 3 of us.

The first evening we went back to the beach restaurant (friends of the owner & Angie (see photo!)) and played table football (so wonky that the team playing in one direction always won) and then some equally wonky pool.

On the second night we organised a BBQ and we headed into Quintero to get supplies. What a shock to the system! After the tranquility of the beach town was anything but. We couldn´t wait to get back to the "Playa mas fina!". We watched the sunset over the Pacific Ocean and then headed back for the BBQ, which was great fun with everyone from the hostel joining in, sitting around chatting, swapping travel stories, life stories, advice and lots of laughs! To say were were sad to leave was an understatement but we have a deadline and that´s getting to El Calafate by the 10th of Feb and believe it or not time is slipping away!

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