I took a bus to Valparaiso from Santiago - carefully avoding the rush hour this time and got there in early afternoon. Couldn't find the coectivo that my host had told me about so splashed out on a taxi - walking was definitely out of the question.

I was greeted warmly by one of my hosts, Benjamin, and their two dogs -crazy but friendly. Their house is a massive old house with great views over the bay and Valparaiso - although I suspect lots of homes have good views and the city is built on 46 hills - take that Rome! My room was enormous, furnished simply with one of Benjamin's pieces of art to brighten the wall.

We shared a cup of tea and ended up talking about everything under the sun meaning I had to run (literally) to catch the afternoon Tour for Tips. Finding my way down the hill was tricky and after a few false starts I found the ascensor station and reached the port area just in time to catch the tour as it headed to its first location.

This tour gave you an overview of the highlights of Valparaiso starting at the port area and then heading for the two most touristy hills. We learnt about how the city had grown up as a stopping point for ships on their way to California and businesses grew up to cater for this. We also found out why so many places in this area had corrugated iron on them - a question we had been asking since Ushuaia. The corragted iron came on the trading ships and had been used to hold the goods and once delivered the panels were no longer needed and were left at ports - makes sense when you know!

Valpo's fortunes declined rapidly following the opening of the Panama canal and the huge houses built by the wealthy fell into decline as well. The port area and Cerro Concepcion and Cerro Alegre have now been declared UNESCO heritage sites which has proved a bit of a poisoned chalice. The designation has bought the tourists and their money but also means if anything happens to the house eg a fire the outside has to be restored to the same standard so buildings are left to rot not allowed to be pulled down but with money money to rebuild.

Lots of street art in the streets and beautiful views of the bay and houses - especially when the sea fog lifts mid afternoon. Got chatting to some people on the tour and three of us decided to meet up the next day for the morning tour. On the way home went to the supermarket as decided getting back to the restaurants was too problematic at night with the out of bounds port area between them and my airbnb.

The morning tour took us around some of the other hills - via a hazardous bus ride more at home in a theme park! We visited the old jail and learnt a lot more about Chilean politics. Valpo was where the first military action took place and where Allende got his warning call from. OUr guide today had an intersting history as his father had been in the navy and then became Pinochet's personal butler. He said his father was treated well but obviously this did not apply to everyone and the benefits to the country of Pinochet's rule did not outway the human cost.

After the tour Jordan and I went for a lovely lunch at a nice restaurant and chatted for a while exchanging details and promising to catch up if I made it to San Fran. The rest of the afternoon I strolled around the hills and had a couple of pisco sours overlooking the bay with a friendly tabby cat sitting on my lap.

The next day I got the ascensor down my hill then walked up - a long way to see Pable Neruda's house - La Sebastian. Amazing views and full of his eccentricities. I wabdered back down the hills and tried to visit the cemetries but they were closed even after advertised opening time. The protestant cemtry is called "Cemeteriio del disidentes" which showed where they fitted in Catholica society! Instead wondered around Concepcion and Alegre again stopping at the cat bar for some more feline time with booze and views!

I had a lie in the next day before headed - via a collective - to the bus station for the journey to La Serena arriving at 9pm and another taxi ride to the hostel and straight to bed after confirming the Elqui valley tour for the next day.