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Published: July 10th 2023
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We booked all our tours in Chile in advance except a trip to Valpariso. What I found after studying internet, Valpariso is very close to Santiago and a day tour can be easily arranged from hotels when we were there. After we checked in at Best Western, I asked the front desk if they can arrange a day trip to Valpariso for the next day. The hotel was a decent one, conveniently located close to the underground metro station and next to a busy thoroughfare. People at front desk were friendly and helpful.
“Not a problem”, the gentleman at the front desk confirmed and he arranged a pick up from the hotel on the following day. We were advised to pay to the tour guy directly.
Valpariso is a port city around 116 km from Santiago. The drive takes around 1.5 hours by bus. So it’s a perfect destination for a day trip. Besides, I had an added interest to visit the City. Do you remember Pablo Neruda, the famous Chilean poet who won Nobel Prize in literature in 1971. It was his favourite city, his city of love. He spent his last days in Valpariso. Now his house
is converted to a museum which displays all his work. Although I would have loved to spend time in the museum, I realized we hardly have any time and a trip to museum would be out of question. I have to be satisfied just to see his home and the museum from outside.
Maybe another time, I thought.
Our tour guide Marcelo was a jovial fellow who picked us up at 7 am and the bus was parked in front of the hotel waiting for us. Guides in Chile are generally fluent in three languages – Spanish, Portugese and English. Initially I thought “
Why Portugese”? Later I found that many tourists do travel from Brazil to Chile who speak Portugese. And English speaking tourists like us are minority. Hence, to cater the need for all three types, tour guides are conversant in these three languages.
The bus speeded through the Highway towards Valpariso. Traffic was light early in the morning. Santiago was slowly waking up. I looked outside the window. Once outside Santiago, the rolling hills on both sides of the highway was coming out of morning fog in golden sunlight. Beautiful! Halfway to Valpariso, we stopped to
a winery and a huge wine shop just next to the Highway. Chile is famous for its quality wine. Winter was approaching fast in Chile and the mornings were cold. Most preferred to stay inside the wine store and some did their wine shopping. It is a common ritual for many tour companies that I found in past. They would make one stop over to a shopping place along the way. I suppose, it’s part of their business. After a 40 minutes or so we were back on the road making our way to Valpariso.
As we approached Valpariso, the road started becoming winding and hilly. The colourful houses on top of the rolling hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean looked lovely. Our first stop was La Sabastiana, up on Cerro Bellavista in Valpariso. This is the home of late poet Pablo Neruda. It’s a quiet neighbourhood. We stopped near a park. Marcelo lead us to a short walk around the park where there are a couple of statues in one corner. One of them is Pablo Neruda. One could see Pablo Neruda’s house from the park. There was one more statue of another famous person of Chile – Gabriela
Mistral. She was an author and educator who also received Nobel Prize in literature. She was famous not only for her literary talent; she was also an activist in her own way. She advocated rights of women, children and poor through her writing and she is a well respected figure in Chile. I was fortunate to learn about such dedicated souls while traveling around the world. In the same way I learned about Dr. Galdikas for her dedication to save the Orangutans in the dense forest of Borneo and Dian Fossey to save the gorillas in hills of Rwanda. These are the people who make a difference in today’s troubled world. My head bows to these people out of respect.
The walking tour continued with the leadership of Marcelo. The roads are narrow, often steep with concrete stairs. Valpariso is a city of street arts. Houses on both sides of the road are colourful and walls are full of mural paintings. Sometimes even the steps of the concrete stairs are decorated with street arts. Often Valpariso is hailed as San Francisco of South America and it is a UNESCO heritage site. Some parts of the city could be found
a bit messy and unpolished. But the city certainly has a character. Pablo Neruda once wrote about his beloved city “
Valparaíso, how absurd you are. You haven’t combed your hair, you’ve never had time to get dressed, life has always surprised you." I must admit it’s easy to fall in love with the city and its culture. While walking in the Historic Quarter of Valpariso, Marcelo stopped us near an interesting banner of street art that says “
We are not hippies, we are happy”. Apparently, people living in that area was getting tired of unfairly labelled as ‘hippies’ due to their life style. The banner shows their defiance.
The port city was a major trading hub before the Panama Canal was open. The business thrived during that time. Today, the cobblestones of the narrow alleys of Valpariso tell the glory of the bygone days. The port still operates and apparently, one can get a cruise ship from there for traveling to far away Easter Island. We took a leisurely walk down through the Chilean history, art and culture before stopping to busy Plaza Sotomayor. This popular place is right in the middle of city’s historic district. Headquarter of Chilean
Navy is located right here and the Central Monument in City Square proudly pays homage to the fallen soldiers who bravely fought the
Battle of Iquique in 1879. The place was buzzing with tourists and roadside vendors were equally busy selling variety of odds and ends to the eager tourists. A short ride in a funicular was a reminder of the ancient elevators in Chile and it was fun.
A lunch break in a seaside restaurant overlooking the beach was an excellent idea that was arranged by Marcelo. A short walk on the beach after the lunch was really relaxing. I sat down and watched the waves breaking down on the beach with a constant rhythm. Ryan wanted to try the water, but the ocean was cold. Winter was approaching in Chile and it was expected. We took a stroll along the oceanfront road. There are many retails and condominiums overlooking the ocean. They are nicely designed and I actually liked them. They are very tempting for a relaxing stay. I checked my watch and it was time to move.
Marcel made brief stops near the floral clock of Vina del Mar and Fonck Museum. I was thrilled
to see two Moai statues carved by Rapa Nui people from Easter Island. No, I was not as fortunate as Dave and MJ, my Travelblog friends, who traveled to Easter Island in their recent trip to Chile. But I was happy to witness two lovely moai as a proxy.
All good times come to end, perhaps sadly! And ours came to when we hit the road back to Santiago. It was around 4 pm. When we crossed the rolling hills on our way back, sun was setting down the horizon shading its last rays. It was a different shade of beauty than when we saw them in the morning coming out of from a blanket of fog. When the bus dropped us in front of the hotel just, the dusk was slowly setting over the busy streets of Santiago. It was a lovely day that I will always remember.
Next is Los Lagos!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Valpariso
We spent three nights in Valpariso and enjoyed walking the streets, waterfront and visiting museums. The food is good and they have several funiculars. We've enjoyed your blog and thank you for providing the memories.