Blogs from Valparaíso, Valparaíso Region, Chile, South America - page 45

Hey guys just a quick one before we head off on a five day hike around the Torres del Paine. It will just be like camping in england as its cold in the south and rains alot, so we have had a lifes worth of training! Had loads of fun in Valparaiso. At first it was a bit dodgy as we stayed near the bus station and were the only tourists for miles-people just stared at us all the time as if we were freaks, so was a bit intimadating (please dont all make loads of comments now about how we are freaks and they should stare!!) hehe! We obviously moved somewhere else the next day, nice little area called Concepcion which had all the acsensors (lifts up the sides of the hills) and was a ... read more

Long entry… but exciting weekend with the inauguration… so here goes! Valparaíso Second weekend here, and Chile inaugurated it’s first woman president. What lucky timing we have! On Friday, despite some slight wavering because we had been told by several of our reputable sources that we wouldn’t be able to see anything special, 5 friends and I caught a bus to Valparaíso (Valpo) for 2,900 pesos or about $6. It was about an hour and a half, and on the way my friend Michelle and I planned out a 6 day trip down to the south of Chile, Punta Arenas, to see a penguin colony and a national park, Torres del Paine. Anyway, we arrived in Valpo in the afternoon and began to get a feel for the city. We found a hostel only about 2 ... read more

Jeanne et Georges Ce sont les noms des deux bâtiments français que nous avons eu la joie de retrouver dans le port de Valparaiso, de leurs vrais noms la Jeanne d’Arc et le Georges Leygues. Et à leur bord plein de français et d’étrangers aussi mais surtout un très bon ami, Antoine Belot. Le soir de l’accostage, nous sommes invité au cocktail du bord, la Marine sait recevoir, les piñacoladas sont très bonnes, et la visite du bâtiment termine par le carré des élèves officiers et le poste d’Antoine où nous nous posons tranquillement. Le lendemain, mardi, Antoine nous rejoint à la maison à Santiago, après quelques obligations à la capitale. Nous irons nous balader le lendemain dans une vallée au sud-est de la ville, le Cajon del Maipo, qui nous permettra de voir un petit ... read more

Howdy all, how are we?! Well, I just spent a very entertaining weekend in Valparaiso. It was good fun to be back in hostel again. Eventually. You see, Greg and I had not booked anywhere to stay for various reasons. But we were travelling down with 2 girls from school who had booked a place, so we thought we´d go where they were going and we might be OK, or if not they could point us in the right direction. Well, we arrived at the hostel, and surprise surprise they were fully booked. They phoned around some other places but they were all full too. So they pointed us in the general direction of 'a few´ hostels. Eventually we found one, but it was booked up too. So after a couple hours walkings the very hilly ... read more

As usual I wasn’t very lucky with my flight across the ocean. This time it was the weather in Frankfurt that put an end to my dreams of the Chilean sun. As we were about to go down in Frankfurt we were informed that that they had closed the airport due to snow that had to be cleared away from the landing ground. After a while of circling around the plane was redirected to Cologne - less than half an hour away. Landing in Cologne I couldn’t even see the slightest snow flake, and did all of a sudden feel very cheated. As we were waiting for the plane to reful and take us back to Frankfurt, hopefully just in time for the connecting flights, we were informed that the plane was needed somewhere else. So ... read more