Day trip to the coast

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I was up early again today to try and squeeze in another tour before I moved on from Santiago. I had read about Valparaiso and Vinã del Mar in my lonely planet guide and about their importance in Chiles history. Although I'd asked at reception yesterday morning if they could book me on to the tour, Antoine had told me that there hadn't been enough interest for the tour to go ahead. He did explain that I could just take a coach from the bus terminal to Valparaiso, return the same day and save myself around CH$12,000 (£12.30). I didn't feel nearly confident enough in my Spanish to be able to do the journey on my own, but thankfully I had a back up plan. Ronaldo had told me yesterday that if I wanted to take part in the Turistik tour I simply needed to be outside the office at 8.15am the day of the tour. So that is exactly where I was headed at 7.30am after a quick pitstop at the bakery for something to keep me going.

I arrived back at Patio Bellavista with loads of time to purchase my tour and collect a couple of fridge magnets to help get my collection going. I boarded the same small minibus that had ferried me to the main coach yesterday and was again whisked off to join the rest of the tour group. As we arrived at the coach departure point I could see that there were lots of people all standing around and hoped that not all of them were headed for Valparaiso. As I clambered aboard the already almost full coach I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. I had enjoyed the tour to Concha y Toro so much yesterday because it was a fairly small group and with only a handful of seats left, I got the distinct impression it wouldn't have the same vibe.

We were greeted aboard the coach in the same fashion as yesterday, except it took much longer given the number of people. Unfortunately our guide Stephanie held more resemblance to a giggly school girl who got embarrassed to stand up in front of the rest of the class rather than a well presented professional. I tried my best to try and listen to all of the information that she was whispering into the microphone from the front of the coach, but soon gave up. The majority of the group were South American and all on holiday, so they got most of the attention while the rest of us tried to understand what she giggled her way through. Thankfully I had bought my lonely planet guide with me and decided to read up on two towns myself before we arrived.

Valparaiso had been declared a world heritage site by Unesco due to it's former importance as one of the leading merchant ports in it's heyday. It's fame for never having been properly founded was certainly evident as we drove into the town because there was no rhyme or reason as to it's layout. The houses that adorned the hills surrounding the port were stacked so precariously that if one were taken away they would all collapse! I wondered how the coach was going to make it to the top as it snaked it's way through the narrow streets. Thankfully it did and we arrived at our first stop La Sebastiana, the former home turned museum of Pablo Neruda. We didn't have very long here but the views over the bay were magnificent and made it a fantastic opportunity to capture Valparaiso's higildy pigildy nature.

The coach took us back down the hillside a little way where we all got off to take in a little of the town on foot. Although I hadn't been overly impressed by the tour up to this point I have to admit that the architecture was spectacular. Some of the buildings were deceptively large because even though they were one on two floors at street level, they turned into six story buildings as the hillside dropped away on the other side. The graffiti adorning the walls was also quite unique and rather more contemporary than things I had seen back home. Next was a trip down one of the many ascensores (elevators) that allowed people to access the residential area from the port. Similar to the funicular in Santiago, it looked at lot older and set off at a disconcertingly fast pace.

Unfortunately that was all we got to see of Valparaiso as out next stop was Vinã del Mar six kilometres up the coast. The first photo op came as we stopped at the famous flower clock, a present from Brazil which almost marked the entrance to the garden city. Everyone piled off and spent five minutes having their photo taken next to it before crushing back on to head to our lunch stop. We were ushered into the Arabic Union Club opposite Castillo del Wulff, an impressive looking building that overlooked the bay. Having been on the tourist trail in India and been taken to all the overpriced touristy restaurants I knew what the game here was. Turistik obviously got a kickback somewhere along the line for bringing people here and I wasn't going to play! I asked Stephanie in which direction the nearest shops were and headed out to get something a little more simple. As luck would have it I found a small deli with a selection of meats, breads and cheeses and put my own lunch together which I knew was a lot more satisfying. Thankfully the lady behind the counter was extremely patient as I looked, pointed and managed to count in Spanish to ask for what I wanted. The homemade bread roll was perfectly crisp on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. My choice of local cheese and cured meats were inspired if I do say so myself - the perfect rustic feast.

As I wondered back up to the AUC and sat outside to take in the sun as it broke through the clouds for the first time today. I was joined by one of the other guys on the tour called Aaron who was from Philadelphia. We compared notes on traveling around South America and agreed how disappointed we both were with the tour so far. I joked that I wouldn't be surprised if this was our final stop of the day to which we both laughed. As we climbed back on the bus I was proved wrong by Stephanie who told us we would be doing a tour of Vinã del Mar now taking in Palm beach and a couple of other surprises along the way... I couldn't wait!

True to her word, we were taken to see Palm Beach, the first hotel in Vinã, Hotel O'Higgins and the famous casino none of which were all that impressive. What did excite me was when we pulled up outside the museum which was displaying an original Easter island Moai outside. It was one of only three Moai given to Chile by the people of Easter island and although not one of the biggest on the mainland was still quite something to behold. From here it was time to make our way back to Santiago and for me time to sleep.

When I arrived back at Patio Bellavista I was ravenous and there was one thing that I had been thinking about getting all day the Chorianna Franco had mentioned on the walking tour. I wandered down Pio Nono past all of the noisy bars until I was accosted by Ricardo outside a small quiet eatery. The first person I had met who could see I wasn't fluent I'm Spanish he offered me a table and a menu. Before he even had chance to walk away, I asked if he did Chorianna. With a smile on his face, he asked if I would like a beer to go with it and I simply nodded. Within minutes I was presented with a Kunstmann beer and what can only be described as a coronary on a plate! The beer was another local brew, deeply amber in colour and as hoppy as I had ever tasted, which after my rather drawn out tour was exceptionally welcome. The Chorianna was exactly as Franco had described - a plate of chips topped with diced beef, fried onion, sliced sausage and topped with scrambled egg. It was more akin to food one would have to soak up the beer from a heavy night on the tiles than a local delicacy but I slowly ploughed my way through it.

As I began to wash it down with a second beer whilst pouring over my lonely planet I was joined by Thomas, a Swedish guy who had been traveling in South America for the last six weeks. Glad of some English speaking company we talked about our travels and exchanged notes on how to get by knowing very little Spanish. Once my beer was finished I thanked him for his company and made my way back to the hostel, to prepare for my trip to Mendoza the next day.

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