Clare writes:
We arrived back in Santiago a couple of days agao to beautiful sunny weather - warm enough to sit out in a pavement cafe in the evening with a beer and what passes for a 'mexican' pizza in these parts (don't ask - it involves egg and sausage). We were looking forward to our trip to the precipitous coastal city of Valparaiso... especially since our hostel - The Yellow House - was described as having 'Oh my God!' views.
Sadly this is day two of a heavy mist/fog that has only lifted a bit occasionally to give us views of brilliantly coloured houses balanced precariously on crumbling cliffs or spilling down chasms accessible only by rambling flights of stairs or 'ascensores' - ancient rattling funiculars. The Unesco World Heritage city, which is described as 'the most unusual in Latin America' is built on 42 hills and has a rather racy history. It's supposed to look amazing but we are just getting tantalising glimpses through the mist. I'm sure it will clear up before we leave.
Today we went (I say 'went' - I mean 'climbed') to one of the houses of poet Pablo Neruda - a narrow five storey affair full painted in rich colourslike the city itself and full of intriguing things - like a wall-sized map of Tierra del Fuego made out of different coloured pebbles - and huge windows with views which were amazing even today.