Chile (Part 2)

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As far back as our second week in Mexico, we had heard great things about Valparaiso, and even the amazing bus trip up and across the Andes Mountains. From having spent about 18,000 kms of our trip so far on buses, and seeing the Andes numerous times, we were still excited about seeing them one last time, their bare ruggedness, snow-capped peaks and the sheer size and beauty of them. Yet again, we were not disappointed. While the border crossing took a while near the top of them, it was very easy as we were able to wait in the bus for our turn to get processed. The mountain range is just spectacular to look at, the array of colours and the winding roads up and down it on either side. We did eventually get to Valparaiso, nearly 2 hours behind schedule. The city is colourful with brightly painted houses but rather dirty tho. Our hostel was atop a hill, Cerro Conception, so there was no way we were going to be able to climb it with our giant rucksacks, our taxi puffing out black smoke as it struggled up the steep windy roads. We landed at our hostel to find no-one was home. After 20mins, the owner of Alecon Fine Hostel came. Being abit eccentric, he gave us a print off of Google maps, and using different coloured highlighters marked out a map for us around the hill top and beyond. Cerro Conception is a gorgeous place, with small cosy cafes tucked in between houses, serving fine cuisine. There are a lot of restaurants here too & a few bars dotted around the area. After unpacking, we wandered around for an hour or so. Then it was time for dinner. We went to a local restaurant, Bijoux, which was only 30 meters from the hostel and had, being recommended. When you sit down, the chef, Sebastian comes out and sits with you. He explains how they only work with fresh meat and vegetables that are bought fresh that day. He asks what do you like, what flavours do you enjoy and how you like them. For starter, we had a warm camembert cheese, stuffed with almonds and side salad with garlic bread. Beautiful. I went for the steak, with a potato wedges in a creamy blue cheese sauce. Devine. Roma had marinated chicken in an aubergine shell, with salad. Incredible. They recommend a wine that suits the food you are eating. The food was amazing and was not as expensive as other restaurants. Chile and especially Valparaiso are generally more expensive than most South American countries, including Argentina. Note: if you are going there for New Year’s, book as early as possible and be prepared to pay 3-4 times the amount you normally would, but it is definitely worth it.



The next day we did the tour our owner had told us about. It brings you through the oldest part of the city, which is Cerro Conception. Through long narrow paved alleyways, walk ways with beautiful of the sea and city. Using Ascensors, you glide up and down the hill sides. Ascensors are small carriages on train tracks that take you up and down the sides of the steep hills; these were built by the local dock workers as it was too tough to climb all the way to the top. They are on a pulley system, so one going down, pulls the one going up. The first ones were built in 1883 and the other 9 over a 30year period. Their timber cage shakes and stretches as it juts into action. The tour took about 3 hours in total, ending at the Marine University. Then it was nap time, before heading out for dinner that night. Again, we couldn’t resist going somewhere bad so we went to the first place we were in the night before. The following day, we didn’t do a whole lot; we only had two days left on our trip. So after breaky, it was nap time, again. Then lunch time. There is a massive choice of cafés around, which are all really cute and tucked away into book shops and art galleries. The one we found was fantastic; I had the smoked salmon & philadelphia cream cheese, avocado and lettuce. But when I got a coffee after, I thought I was going mad because the biscuit I was given with it tasted of fish. Then Roma confirmed that it did taste like that. Weird. But it wasn’t going to take away from the beautiful food. We wandered down into the city and looked around, but after an hour or so we were bored so time to get some beer and go for a drink. We sat on our balcony that we shared with the room next door, looking over the bay. Then the English couple that were in that room came out with a bottle of wine, so we chatted away for a few hours. We went for dinner together, in a Chilean restaurant. I was very disappointed as the food wasn’t that edible, and I had being looking forward to trying local cuisine.



As New Year’s Eve was the following day, and everywhere would be busy, we knew we had to book somewhere. A cool little pizzeria was just around the corner, that had a great menu at good price, with a party afterwards. As a treat to ourselves on the last day, I got my haircut for first time in 3 months since Columbia, and Roma went for a massage. It was nice to not feel so rough anymore. After packing 2 shirts with me for the trip, it was the first time I ever wore one, on the last night of our trip. The dinner that night was beautiful and helped down by the bottle of champagne they gave us. We got our masks on for the street party and I put on a large pair of yellow under over my jeans that Roma had got me. In Chile, it is a really old tradition for men and women to wear yellow underwear on New Year’s Eve. It is supposed to bring good luck to you for the following year. So when we got to the walk ways on Cerro Conception, imagine my shock when no one else was wearing yellow underwear. But it was too late to turn back as a large group of people had spotted me and were coming up shaking hands with me and laughing. A good way to get attention! This was about 11pm, and the party had already started, with people out since 4pm with their fold up chairs and picnics to guarantee them the best viewing places for the fireworks display. Some group even had portable bbq’s and were cooking steaks on them. We danced in the crowded street for an hour until we heard the boats sirens going off, an indication that it was time. Then, about 14km of fireworks all along the coast from Valparaiso to Vina de Mar, kicked off all at once. What an incredible sight. We knew now what everyone loved this place, especially the Chileans. People sprayed cheap bottles of champagne into the air, soaking everyone around, through giant party poppers up and sprinkled fake snow from cans all around them. But the mood was not to be dampened. The more people got wet or covered from confetti, the more they loved it and danced widely. The fireworks display lasted for half an hour, with an incredible finishing display. Everyone jumped around screaming Felix Ano Nuevo, Happy New Year, and hugging everyone in sight. People were coming up to us, hugging us and talking in Spanish, thinking we must understand them. But when they took out cameras, we realised they wanted pictures of the fella in the yellow underwear. It was brilliant. One group of lads from Santiago though it was the best thing ever, and described what it means and how it is supposed to bring good luck. Before we knew it, it was after 1am and time to get the party started back in the pizzeria. The walkways had almost cleared at this stage and the crowds had moved to their parties or down to the squares in the town. Our DJ, who owned the restaurant, was an English chap, who seemed like it was on another planet. He was our resident DJ for the night, with his LP and cd mixture. To our surprise, the music was the best ever. Old school, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s & 90’s rock and pop music blared out. The small premises could not contain the party and dancing spilled out into the streets. The party lasted until the sun came up. By that stage our feet were sore so it was time to retire. The next day, we went to the bus station to get our tickets for Santiago. The place was wedged with everyone trying to leave after the celebrations in time for work the next day. We got our tickets and had a massive lunch in our favourite café. Then it was time to bus it for 90 min to Santiago and shuttle it to the airport. We thought we would have being really sad leaving but because we were going to New Zealand, we knew we had another adventure ahead of us. We wanted to do some duty free shopping but being New Year’s Day, every shop was shut; only thing being open was the bar, so we had to content ourselves with that for 5 hours while we waited. Then, the time had come, after, 15 countries, 19 weeks and 20264km, it was time to leave. We had thy most amazing time in Central & South America and without a doubt, we will be back.

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