MY IMPRESSIONS OF VALPARAISO, AN UNPLEASANT PLACE

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Don’t ever judge a town solely by the amount of dog poo in the streets but be aware that a lot of dog poo does mean that there are a lot of stray dogs roaming around. This is one of the less problematic issues in this town. After doing two tours with two different companies, one in Spanish, and one in English to make sure I understood the details properly I found it was a port steeped in history, but a port not to relax in.

The morning weather was foggy, drizzly with sea mist, cold with a dark sky. There is dog dirt on every pavement, stray dogs follow anybody who gives them food, signs to the nearest Tsunami evacuation sites are found everywhere (if there is an earthquakes in the ocean it automatically sparks off a tsunami), steep staircases wind around coming up from the port to the locals houses, badly wired electrical cables and graffiti are on every single street. To me this brings back distasteful memories of Tangier in Morocco, the dirty streets, the nasty smells and the weather. The feeling of being lost in the Caspah maze in Tangier are similar experiences to the ones I feel right here and now in Valparaiso, which is also a very poor port, but was once the richest place in South America.

Looking on the bright side of things the coffee shops here are really good. It turns out that there isn’t a very good beach here but you need to get a bus to Vina del Mar for the beach which is 20 minutes from here. I think I will just stay here one more day to quickly visit all the museums I want to visit and head back to Santiago as I’m just not feeling comfortable in this port. I get the impression this place is not used to tourism, as if the locals are so poor that they are counting on robbing tourists for what they’ve got. Today when I was in the tour group I felt something being sprayed on my legs, I thought I’d stepped in something so I looked down at my feet but then I noticed that I had a substance on my legs which was the colour of mustard and ketchup. I looked up and I noticed three guys, strangers had merged into our tour group. One of them apologised and said he’d accidentally spilt it, that it was his fault and asked if I would like a tissue to wipe it off.

I kept hold of my belongings knowing that this was a distraction technique used to rob people’s belongings and I politely told him not to worry about it. I kept a tight hold of my small rucksack (which I always keep padlocked) and my handbag (which I’ve never taken my eye off one moment since I arrived in Buenos Aires). Fortunately they didn’t steal anything. This happened at a time when there was a lot happening, the tour guide was talking, we were bunched together as a group listening to him and a stray dog was roaming around beneath my feet. I knew from the UK travel advice website that this is a very common distraction technique used to rob handbags and passports. I’m ready for it at any moment in South America and I’m on guard morning until night whether it is necessary or not, it's automatic. When poverty gaps are so big between social groups as they are in Chile these types of crimes are bound to happen. I’ve never felt so nervous in any city in Europe, Asia or Central America but here in South America so far I feel I have to be on guard all the time.

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