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Published: January 6th 2011
"band of horses - Great salt lake"
"the doves - kingdom of rust"
NewYears Eve in Valparaiso has given me a whole new outlook on how one should bring in the new year. The party here was insane!
I was quite excited to arrive in Valparaiso. I had learned that it was a UNESCO World Heritage City and I had seen plenty of pictures on google. Apparently those google pictures do aboslutely nothing to capture how unique, awesome and dirty this city is. My first impression of Valpo was amazing. Driving through the subtropical foothills of the Andes with rolling vineyards had raised my expectations. I was pumped and could hardly wait to get my first glimps of the city. And then we arrived. The first thing I saw was an uber amount of homeless dogs, garbage garbage garbage and the pleasant smell of urine. It was lovely!
There were no buses from Santiago to Valpo and it seemed like we might be stranded in Santiago and miss out on the New Years event of the century. Thank god for couchsurfing and my friend Ximena. She made a call to her buddy who was driving to Valpo
heading to valpo
wine grapes just growing away there!with his mom. Two hours later, Julio and his amazing mother came knocking on our hostel to pick us up. The four of us drove to Valpo in a tiny cramped truck. We had to keep all our packs in the back of the truck with us so we had NO room at all! People could just poach our bags from the box of the truck when we slowed down so we could not keep them back there. Julio and his mom were the salt of the earth. I loved these two Chileans. Andrew was freaking out about basically hitching a rid with a local. His imagination got the best of him and he was certain we were going to be robbed and killed. I tried to reasure him that we dont live in a hollywood slasher film. He persisted. But when we met our ride, he was completely put at ease.
Not only did Julio drive us to Valpo but we met his entire family. They offered us food and drink and helped us find the location of our hostel. Julio walked us to the metro station and hooked us up with tickets. Then he gave us his number
some friends
argentina 1, 2, 3, d.c., winnipeg and pegger! and the number of his family incase we ever needed anything. It seems that most people here are that genuine and sincere. And being Canadian helps becuase people instantly know how much awesome we are!
The ocean front is nothing but a filthy harbor front with a small stretch of sand that thousands of people cram onto. But you can´t swim because the water is too cold! Doesn´t seem to bother the Chileans! So needless to say, we didnt spend time there. Except during the fireworks. We finally got to our hostel around 7pm local time and by 7:01 we had a litre of beer in both hands and were introducing ourselves to the rest of the travelers. When Andrew and I were in Santiago at the Bellavista Hostel we met so many people and I could not keep all their names straight. So I decided to only refer to people by their country. And introduce Andrew asPegger and I was Canada or Winnipeg. Everyone loved the idea and it completely took off. After partying and living together for 3 days we only knew each other buy our countries. I only knew one or two real names. And when
bbq
yup, there are hotdogs on those kebabs! we arrived in Valpo I continued the trend. We first met two americans. After they introduced themselves by their names I asked where they were from. Chicago and D.C. I would only refer to them as Chicago and d.c. Again it took off. I always introduced myself as ¨Tim but you can call me Canada or Winnipeg¨. We have U.k. and Brazil and Swiss, and Argentina 1, Argentina 2, and a few more.. and so on! Again, when we left Valpo, this morning, I only knew my new friends by their country or city. Except for the few I actually will keep in touch with!
So the entire hostel drank until 12am and had a great BBQ then headed over to the beach for the fireworks. WOW! One Million people pack onto 3 beaches. The fireworks lasted 45 minutes, fired off from 17 launch pads in the ocean stretching across 30 km! All at the same time, I couldnt keep up and it was intense! Amazing! Then we kept drinking until the sun came up!
The next day, first day of 2011, Andrew and I decided to hike Valpo. It is an amazing city really. My first impression
pre fireworks party
pass me another beer please, this litre is finished! was left behind as we headed up into the city. It´s as if they plucked the city out of a Savardor dali painting then added some poetry. The houses are all built upon each other with steep avenues and winding streets. It took Andrew and I 2 hours to finally hike to the top of the city and it was hard work. From there we gained a great vantage point to see the whole city and close by Vina Del Mar. After a long hike back we decided to hike to a beach quite far away. In total we estimated we hiked close to 12 kms that day. At 9pm we finally got back to the hostel. Everyone was stuck in Valpo because there were no buses leaving until the 3rd of january. So we decided to drink a bit that night. 20 of us backpackers crammed onto a small bus that I swear drove faster then that crazy bus in Harry Potter. Insane, but we arrived alive. We arrived home after a night of innocent drinking around 8am, watched the sun come up and wondered why we ALWAYS watch the sun come up. We drink too much, perhaps a
bad santa
i caught santa in the act. called the policia! He was charged with a break and enter! night of playing cards and early sleep are in order for the next night! I guess we will see!
The next day we decided to head to a small beach town just north of Valpo! It was sad to part ways with people we had become friends with. U.K. and South Britain are heading to B.A. Israel 1 and 2 are heading to Pucon. Crazy Canadian Girl is heading north. Argentina 1 through 7 are all heading north too. Chicago and D.C. are heading to Santiago. Kiwi is heading to Mendoza. This ist he sad part of traveling, saying good by. But you know that at your next destination it will start all over again.
But for now, I am crazy sunburned and sick with a terrible cold, or you could say I am sick with no sleep, bad food and too much booze. My immune system HATES me right now!
Over all Valpo was a unique and interesting city to visit. Once you manage to escape the port and head into the city, you see its true beauty! Andrew and I had a great time.
ciao!
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Sister
non-member comment
Great entry, Tim. It all sounds amazing. Wish I could have seen the firework show!! And I think you should call yourself Motown instead of Winnipeg. Or claim Pegger once Andrew leaves. Seriously send your camera home. I can use my warranty to fix it. Remember when you bought the same camera as me?!? Mine is still working ;) Have you told Andrew about your safety tshirt?!!?!?