Vamos a Valparaiso

Valparaiso is a small, seaside city about two-hours bus ride from Santiago. Prior to the Panama Canal being built, this city once was a major stopover for ships travelling across the Straits of Magellan and was considered the “Jewel of the Pacific”. Now, it is home to the Chilean National Congress and a popular place for tourists, with the historic quarter declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We arrived in the afternoon and caught a microbus to our apartment, which was located at the top of one of the many hills in the city. We rang the door bell and waited. We knocked on the door and waited. We waited some more. We messaged our Airbnb host and waited for a response. We thought that this might have been Mendoza all over again. At least we knew the apartment existed this time; we just needed to get in. After about 40 minutes, a woman poked her head out of the window above us and muttered something. We took it that she would be down straightaway. Yay, we have a roof over our heads for the next three nights!

Most of the houses in the area are built into the mountain and are made from galvanised corrugated iron, painted in bright colours. Street art covers many of the houses and adds to the bohemian atmosphere of the city, although a sign proudly claims that they “are not hippies [they] are happies”. While the economic downturn of the last few decades has resulted in some places being abandoned and some buildings becoming dilapidated, there is a certain charm about the city. If nothing else, the brightly coloured houses and street art provided a great backdrop for photos.

After dropping off our luggage, we headed out to explore the neighbourhood and to stock up on supplies. We got a bit worried when we saw two policemen running up the street towards us, one with his gun out of his holster. The signs warning about car theft and delinquents in the street didn't provide much reassurance. But hey, we didn't have a car and there was hardly a person to be seen around the place.

On our first night, we returned with provisions for the next three days, and before we could even swig down a cold alcoholic beverage, Jason knocked over the “good” wine glasses, which scattered across the whole kitchen and dining area. He claimed that he had not been drinking, but Ricky suspects that Jason has a secret hip flask that he's not sharing. Luckily, there were other drinking vessels, otherwise we would have been drinking straight out of the bottle like true vagabonds.

The next day, we set out to see more sights of the city and snap more pictures of the street art. At lunchtime, we found a cosy little spot on the harbour to enjoy our lunch. Just as we were about to tuck into our pie de limón, Ricky felt some warm liquid splash against him. He turned around thinking that someone had thrown something at him. But no. He turned to find pigeon shit everywhere, as if the bird had diarrhoea. They say it's good luck but Ricky is still looking for that damn sky rat to wreak vengeance. He says he'll shit on the pigeon if he finds the culprit.

After exploring most of Valparaiso, including the small historic and downtown areas, we jumped onto a microbus headed for Reñaca and Viña del Mar to check out some of the beaches. Microbus is just a term for a small bus that could have been a decommissioned ride from a nineties theme park, especially as it rattled and chugged up the hills. Nineties techno/house music blared throughout the bus and the driver seemed to match the acceleration of the bus to the tempo of the music. That was until the driver let on a young guy who started to rap to music coming from his portable speaker. This didn't meet the approval of everyone on the bus, as the elderly woman next to us tutted and complained about the “noise”. At this point, we decided to jump ship, as the bus slowed down. The microbuses don't actually come to a complete halt. They only slow down at random spots along the route for passengers to get on and off. There aren't bus stops – people just hail the bus from the side of the road. Beats having to walk for miles to a bus stop!

Next stop: Antofagasta via Santiago.Read more