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Published: June 16th 2008
Well, I've arrived in the Port town of Valparaiso, and it has already made a nice change from Santiago. I am staying in a Hostel on top of the harbour looking down. This makes for good views, and good for my fitness, as you seem to spend all of your time doing step aerobics to get anywhere! The only other option is to take on of the funicular railways up and down the hill - they are fun, but the carriages are the originals from the 1800´s and so are more than a bit rickety, and when you have to avoid holes in the wooden floors, you do get a bit concerned!
I was the only person staying at the Hostel, which was very strange, although the owner Alberto was really nice, and gave me lots of advice on where to visit and where to eat etc, and I must say his food choices were excellent ( apart from 1 local bar, where the dish he suggested looked like roadkill on a bed of chips!). He also needs a bit of advice on colours as well, as the duvet cover in my room was such a bright fluorescent green, you
needed sunglasses during the day, and it glowed at night!
If you ever want to see a town where the public transport is in overkill, then Valparaiso is the place to go - a bus comes flying past you every few seconds , and they will stop anywhere to pick you up. I think that the longest I ever had to wait for a bus was about 30 seconds. I do think that they all seem to be fitted with turbochargers though, as they seem to reach 0-60 in no more than a couple of seconds, and it seems to be standard practice to go round corners on no more than 2 wheels.
On my third day there I went over to Vino Del Mar, and this was where I was going to stay originally - so glad I didn´t - it´s like any other seaside resort, but minus the funfair and any pesonality, and on top of that very expensive!!
My next stop is La Serena, which is a 7 hour bus ride on Saturday! - Cant wait!!
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Phil
non-member comment
Ah Valps!
Valparaiso - what a run ashore! I had a great time there coming back from Falklands in 1987. Great food and wine. Wine very good quality and exceptionally low cost!!! Know what you mean about the buses - some things don't change! But nonetheless, refreshing - especially after Santiago. Keep it coming Trev.