Play hop-scotch around endless piles of dog doo, be mistaken for an American student and marvel at the sight of a suited-and-booted businessman sloping out of a house made of tin! Welcome to Valparaiso, the city that never fails to amaze! Much like Brighton, its a bohemian place full of artsy types wondering around drawing pictures, writing poems and playing live music in poorly lit local tango bars. I'm sure bongs, pipes and other marajuana-related paraphanalia are not too far away either! My hostel is halfway up one of the 49 hills that surround the main city centre. You can access the centre or 'El Plan' via ascensors (wooden lifts that run up and down the hills). For those of you who have seen Motorcycle Diaries, Ernesto (soon to be Che) Guevara was depicted riding one of them during his visit here back in the 50's. Further up the hill is a no-go zone for white people with cameras, cell phones and wallets bulging with pesos chileños! As you will see from the photos, most of the city looks like a collection of favelas. At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking that you were back in Rio but then you walk around and see rich looking people leaving what appears to be a house made of tin? Its a new concept to me. I thought that tin houses were for poor people? Anyway, a quick glance at the history books will tell you that Valparaiso ('Valpo' for short) has had a rocky ride. Thanks to its strategic position as a stopover on the cape horn route, the city attracted foreign merchants and capital which saw it become the financial powerhouse of Chile. Furthermore, demand for Chilean wheat, prompted by the California gold rush in the 18th century, meant that the city's economy boomed and became even stronger. A railway was built to link 'Valpo' and Santiago which saw the population increase. However, it wasn't long before these days were brought to an end by an earthquake in 1906 and further problems occured after the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914. To add insult to injury, there was the great depression of the 1930's. Chile has a very interesting political history. Most people in England know who Augusto Pinochet is but do they know what he did? Socialist, Salvador Allende preceeded Pinochet as president. When Allende took office in 1970, he opted to nationalize industry and installed a programme of wealth redistribution. Pinochet along with the national army, turned on Allende's government and there was a civil war which resulted in a military coup. Pinochet took power and in his years as president many socialist/communist sympathisers went missing. The guy who runs my hostel was a student during the dictatorship and he was exiled to Venezuela for 20 years because of his political beliefs. Since Pinochets' arrest in London in 1998 people have started returning to their homeland in hope of a better future. Since the dictatorship, Chile has only had socialist rulers. In December 2005 the newly elected president, a woman, Michelle Bachelet took office. Chilean people are now becoming more liberal but due to their history are also becoming less patriotic and more individual. Yesterday I walked aroud the old town, walked past Reloj Torre (Clock Tower which looks like Big Ben), and rode on the oldest Ascensor (Ascensor Concepcion) which dates back to 1883. In the evening I went out to a local tango bar where, along with some American student friends, I watched live music. Every other person that walked into the bar was handed an instrument and joined in the party! Today I visited Arco Britanico which is a memorial to the link between Britain and Chile. For further reading, type 'Lord Cochrane' into google. I then walked up a very steep hill and visited 'La Sebastiana' which is a museum in the grounds of one of Pablo Neruda's previous homes. Pablo Neruda was a famous Chilean Poet who won the Nobel Prize. Tomorrow I have to wake up at 6am! I am skipping back over the Andes to an Argentine city called Mendoza. Its surrounded by vineyards...