Viña del Mar

Viña del Mar is about 6 kms from Valparaiso and is the place where all the rich people from Valparaiso have their villas. The city is nicknamed 'Garden City' for its many parks and flower-filledLue lisää
Off to Viña del Mar

After the juice, we wanted to go to Viña del Mar since one of Hristo's friend lives there and we wanted to meet him as well. The city is about 6 kms from Valparaíso and is a lovely place to visit.Lue lisää
The Juice Cafe

The cafe where Alexandra took us was a very artistic one. There was nice decorations on the walls and the roof. There was one wall where the clients of the cafe had written things about the cafe inLue lisää
More graffiti on the way to juice bar

Valparaiso is truly an amazing place to see some beautiful graffiti.
Fantastic graffiti

After the tour got over around 6:30 pm, Alexandra took us to a local cafe that she used to visit with her family and knew it to be good. On the way to the cafe, we passed some more areas where we hadLue lisää
Alexandra joins us

Alexandra joined us at the empenada shop and from there on we continued the tour together. It was great to see her after almost an year.
Colorful city - Valparaiso

We continued our walk while our local guide explained us the meaning and the reasons behind a lot of the graffiti. At about 5:15 pm we stopped at an empenada shop with 82 varieties of empenadas. ByLue lisää
Yugoslav house

This is an ornate house that was owned by a Yugoslav who made it big in Chile when he ran away from his home country and was given asylum here. This was donated to the city on his death.
Yet more graffiti

Graffiti feast

Some more graffiti

More graffiti and paintings in Valparais

Ocean views

There is a string of hills right next to the ocean with fantastic views over the water. Most of these places have walkways with local artists selling paintings and nick-nacks. Most of them looked likeLue lisää
Piano stairs

We also saw the piano stairs that were painted in memory of a music teacher who used to teach music free to the poor children of the city. One of his students started painting the stairs but he wasLue lisää
Colored houses and graffiti

Every house was painted in different colors and most had graffiti on their walls.
More graffiti

Some more graffiti from around Valparaiso.
We are not hippies but happies

Our guide explained that there were 3 ways to get graffiti on Valparaiso walls. Sometime people invite artists to paint on their house walls, pay them but then the artists are responsible forLue lisää
Valparaiso free tour

Valparaiso is a town of graffiti and sea views. There was amazing graffiti on the house walls and there were beautiful viewpoint of the Pacific Ocean from the hills right next to the sea.
Off to Valparaiso

We reached Santiago early in the morning. On the way, we had booked a place in Le Louvre hotel in Santiago. We arrived at 2 am and slept off. The breakfast was till 11 am and we managed to make itLue lisää
The night at Termas Colinas

We got into the pools at around 8:15 pm. It was late in the evening and the sun was setting behind the mountains. As the sun started going down, it started getting colder. We started moving towardsLue lisää
Termas Valle de Colinas

About a 2.5 hour drive from Santiago, at the foot of the San José volcano, at an elevation of about 8,000 feet are the eight different pale blue pools of the hotsprings, which have been channeledLue lisää
Reaching the Colinas hot springs

After the food, we drove on deeper into the valley towards the Colinas hot springs. After driving for about 20 min, we reached the springs at about 8 pm. The entry fee was a hefty 8000 CLP per person.Lue lisää
Trek back

The trek back was along the same path and took us about 2.5 hrs. We stopped at the shop to eat our egg tortilla. It was a nice small meal before we set off for the Colinas hot springs.
San Francisco glacier

After trekking another 40 min, we reached the end of the trek beyond which it is not allowed to pass without a guide and proper equipment. The glacier has retreated quite a bit and whatever is left ofLue lisää
Laguna Morales

The Laguna Morales was a small lake of emerald green water with dark granite mountains covered with snow in the backdrop. It was a stunning location but with nothing special to warrant a long stop. WeLue lisää
To Laguna Morales

After about another hour and 20 min, we reached the Laguna Morales. The path had been green and pink all the while. The ascent had been slow and gentle.