Blogs from Valparaíso, Valparaíso Region, Chile, South America

Chile is an extremely long country, apparently as far from top to bottom as from Scotland to Nigeria (thanks Barney), so before we faced another long bus journey, we decided to take it easy with a short hop to Valparaiso. The city was an important port during the Gold Rush, used by European and American ships on the route from Cape Horn to California, but fell out of favor and fell into disrepair early in the last century. However, the city has now been revived as the cultural capital of the country and is certainly a unique place, with 42 cerros (hills) surrounding the city center and port area, full of colorful houses and beautiful restored mansions, with chaos still in between. dilapidated.We forgot that it is also the second largest city in Chile, so when ... read more

Our cruise came to a rather abrupt end when we couldn't moor at Puerto Montt because of an approaching weather system. Storms are not called storms any more but weather systems. The captain made the decision to run for home before the storm otherwise we may have become stranded there and not been able to make it to San Antonio, the port for Santiago, in time for us all to make our onward flights. Our last two days were very relaxing playing cards and Rummicub, reading, doing puzzles, swimming (me) and probably eating and drinking too much. We did go to the gym twice. The sea was as calm as a mill pond. We have been so lucky with the weather. Arriving in San Antonio at 2pm a day early every was keen to get off ... read more

I wanted to love quirky little hotel Winebox but to be honest, shipping containers aren’t very soundproof so we had a restless night of traffic, barking dogs and plumbing noises, compounded by the continued fallout from the Fritz & Franz pigeon poo lunch. However, they redeem themselves at breakfast with fruit salad, smashed avocado, poached egg and fresh orange juice. I’d almost forgotten what fruit juice tasted like! We spend the morning in Valparaiso with no specific plan (we consulted 3 maps and they were all completely different) other than a combination of murals and funicular railways. We walk down our hill (Cerro Florida) then take the Ascensor Espiritu Santo up the next hill (Cerro Bellavista) to the Museo a Cielo Abierto, an area my guidebook says is adorned with colourful murals. Unfortunately, the museum and ... read more

K – We had a limited time in Santiago so we probably did not do it justice. We felt it might a great place to live but it seemed to lack the “must see” tourist attractions of some other major cities. That was fine with us and we enjoyed walking around the Plaza des Armas and the surrounding districts. We did go to Cerro San Cristóbal planning to walk up the hill to see the full view of the city and the mountains beyond. Plan B was to catch the funicular up the hill. Plan C ended up walking out of the queue and heading to a nice restaurant for lunch. Plan C was great. Unfortunately for Santiago, when you look in to “what to do in Santiago”, one of the top tips is to go ... read more

30-31 juillet et 1 août (À San Pedro de Atacama) "Valparaiso, how absurd you are... you haven't combed your hair, you've never had time to get dressed, life has always surprised you" Pablo Neruda Mon retour à Santiago s'organise tranquillement alors que j'étudie mes options: A- San Pedro de Atacama vers Santiago en bus: 23h de transport Premium = 49 900 peso (100$ cad) B- San Pedro de Atacama vers Santiago en avion (Jetsmart): 2h d'avion = 28 000 peso (56$ cad) + 12 000 peso (24$ cad) pour le transfert vers l'aéroport de Calama + 15 000 peso (30$ cad) pour le bagage. Choix presqu'évident: pour 10$ de plus, je me sauve un 21h de bus. Voilà. Je me rendrai donc à Santiago par les airs. ... Dès mon arrivée à la capitale chilienne, je ... read more