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Published: April 15th 2005
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Sea Lions at Valdivia Market
This is the life - sit and wait to be fed! So have been spending th least couple of days in the Vs - Valdivia, Valparaiso and Vina del Mar. Valdivia is in the south and a mere seven hours from Castro. I headed over in the hopes of finer weather and civilization (ie something more than a 5 street place). I got both which was lucky but not really much else.
Valdivia is a little town in the south, large in comparison with the rest of the places. It is situated near the lakes and volcanoes but quite frankly I have seen enough lakes to last me a life time by now. However I stayed for two days strolling about the town, venturing down to the market where the sea lions wait for the fishermen to throw them some scraps and essentially just enjoyed being somewhere with a little bit more activity than I have been used to in the last couple of weeks.
From Valdivia I headed to Valparaiso. It is on the coast a little over an hour from Santiago. It is famed for having 45 hills leading into the bay. Valparaiso has become a major port and the seat of the Chilean navy. You see reminders
Feeling Arty
House painted in Picasso style. Though not part of the Open Air Museum it was more impressive than some of the murals! Dog would not smile for the camera throughout the city and the odd sailor (hello boys!).
I got off an overnight bus and headed straight to some sightseeing. First stop was La Sebastiana, Pablo Nerudas last home. Pablo Neruda is a famous Chilean poet who won the Noble Prize for Literature. Only one of his poems was translated but the one poem impressed me and I would certainly like to read more. Afterward I walked over to some of the other hills and followed a walking tour of them. There are little lifts over 100 years old which take you up and down (you could of course walk them). Every time there was this question of whether to risk a lift or take the stairs. They were very rickety and I was not convinced of their maintenance record. However 30 seconds in a lift or 300 stairs? You can imagine the answer.
Some of the hills are actually UNESCO protected and they are lovely. You have winding little streets with brightly decorated houses and then suddenly you come to a view point and can overlook the bay.
The following day I took myself off to do the open air museum where you follow a
Do I? Dont I?
One of the lifts over 100 years old which take you up the cerros of Valparaiso route around one of the hills and there are murals painted by famous Chilean artist. The only problem was the map was not very clear and making a mistake is an issue I got throughly lost and had lots of up and down little alleys trying to find the right ones! I then jumped on one of the little buses (built in the 60s, people jump on and off while it is still moving and vendors constantly jump on trying to sell you something or other) and headed to Vina del Mar.
Vina could not be more different. Whereas Valparaiso is what I would term as a more typical South American city with the hustle and bustle, Vina is well organized and very westernized. You can see this is where the rich descend for their week-ends at the beach. There is a mall with all the usual western brands you see here - Zara, Nine West, Pizza Hut, Dominos etc, huge cinema complex (at last!) and a very impressive Casino. I took myself off to the beach - just about warm enough to sit on the beach in a small top and trousers and caught some sun.
I
Valparaiso Slope
All the slopes had brightly coloured houses.... also had the ultimate most sinful snack so far this trip - a churro (thin dough-nut like the chi chis at Cadillac market) filled with dulce de leche and covered with a thick layer of chocolate. Oooooh it was so good and I enjoyed every mouthful. Oh and while on the subject of food I have certainly been discovering some interesting food products over here. No mate and dulce de leche. Here you have the completo (get this: hot dog with onions, tomatoes, avocado and mayonnaise). They love them and I enjoyed it though don{t plan on repeating it. They love avocado here which is great as so do I. On a healthier note they do have loads of seafood though you can not eat it raw at the moment as there is a bacteria which causes food poisoning. Cooked is OK and I have been enjoying my cazuelas - soups or broths full of seafood and very cheap too.
After Vina I headed back to the hostel to bump into Paul who I first met in Los Antiguous at the border, and a Spaniard who knows the same other travelers as me. We boycotted some South Africans and myself and the 4 boys headed off to a night on the town. We were unlucky with our first attempt where we had to pay a huge entrance fee (and being the poor travelers that we are, we decided it was a no). Of course down the road we found the ever present Irish bar and installed ourselves for rounds of Pisco sour and beers. Ooohhh not a good idea at all. We also headed further down the road (and closer to the port) and found a night club. All was very sane at the beginning with the usual couples dancing together etc to the latin beat. They also were getting volunteers up on a stage so we volunteered of the South Africans who did not speak a word of Spanish. Off he went to discover he was expected to do a full monty! He did very well! Then they got the professionals on stage - first a woman and then a guy dressed in a cowboy suit. I will leave it to your imagination (or individual emails for the details) all to say it was full monties for the rest of the night. I decided it was time to head home!
Currently typing this in Santiago. Just did a couple of hours agonizing as to what I was going to do next. Tomorrow morning I am heading off to ...... wait for it...... Easter Island!!! Oh yes!
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anonymous
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thanks for all what you show us
Hia Natalie ! glad and happy to read that you are having a good time. Reading your blog is exciting and I want more and more. I am travelling with you somehow. I wish I could see what you see and feel what you feel. So thank you for sharing this. Better than lonely planet and national geographic ;-) Prends soin de toi mon amie. Je pense bien a toi. C. - corinne