A nice place in the sun

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As I mentioned in the Santiago entry, I took a jolly down to Valparaiso for a couple of days. It's meant to be a really interesting city, with coloured houses set on an assortment of hills surrounding the port. Imagine my disappointment when I arrived, it was cold, grey and foggy, thus you couldn't see anything. I took a trip up one of the lifts out of duty, but it was a bit pointless. I seriously considered getting on the next bus back to Santiago.

I was a disappointed man. But I awoke the next day to a blue sky, and all of a sudden, Valparaiso came alive. I happily spent hours wandering down all the little nooks and crannies, following secret passages between the hours, and every now and again you'd come across a spot with an incredible view over the whole bay, and the colouring board of houses behind it. Fantastic. I kind of imagine that this is what wandering round the favelas in Rio would be like, but a whole load safer.

Once I'd had my fill of Valparaiso, I took a bus down to nearby Vina del Mar to check that out aswell. To be honest, it doesnt even deserve the small amount of text I'm giving it here. It was bland and completely forgettable. Perhaps it might be a bit nicer in summer with the beach, but I'll be in no rush to go back. Although the sunset was pretty nice. Every cloud and all that.

Back in Valparaiso, I nipped up one of the lifts to have a gander at the city by night, and once again I was astounded. All the lights of the houses on the Cerros looked really cool. I should probably explain a little about the lifts actually. Basically, each of the hills, or cerros as they're known round here, is serviced by its own lift. Most of these take the form of a funicular railway, and taking a trip up one is one of the essential things to do in Valparaiso. You can walk up, but the lifts are cheap enough, and the hills are steep enough to make that not seem worthwhile. I did always walk back down though. I'm not that lazy.

I awoke on my final day in the city to another beautiful day, so took advantage by walking around a couple of the cerros that I hadn't been to on my previous day's excursion. I really have never been to a place where the weather plays such an important part in my impressions of it. Like I said, that first day, I thought it was a horrible place, but after 2 days of glorious sunshine I didn't particularly want to get the bus out. But I did, and thats where this blog joins up seamlessly with the Santiago one.

Stewart

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