Day 260, 261, 262 - Valparaiso - Monday 2nd, Tuesday 3rd, Wednesday 4th July 2012

Isn't it funny that Chile reads as one of the safest countries in South America but yet Valparaiso is probably one of the edgiest cities we've visited in our travels thus far?! Saying that, maybe it's the edge that gives the city its character and it's true to say that there is something unique about Valparaiso and it seems to us the longer you stay the more you see of the city and learn to love its roughness. When we first arrived it was dark and after a stark warning of bag snatching from the TurBus baggage man and then hair raising bus journey from the bus terminal to our hostel (Ad very accurately described the bus drivers driving skills to that of a getaway driver), we were thankful to arrive safe and sound to Lunasonria hostel. We settled in and were shown a map of the city of which it seemed a large part of was a "no go" area and were then given yet another stark warning about muggings etc. - it was at this point we wondered where we had actually arrived into, Baghdad?! It was late and so we decided there was only one thing for it and so headed to the local bottle shop to buy a bottle of Chilean wine and then the local bakery for yet more empanadas and cakes (we'd already toted up nearly ten pastries at the bus terminal in La Serena and then on the bus journey). So with pastry crumbs all over us, red stained teeth from the vino and hot water bottles for company we settled down for our first night's sleep.

Breakfast the next day was a treat of brown bread (yes, brown - I'd forgotten it existed!) and jams and fruit, after which we had a bit of self-grooming time (it had been a while since we'd had our own bathroom) before heading out to explore a bit of the city. We walked to the main plaza near the port just in time to grab a coffee at the Melbourne Café before the 3pm tour4tips tour of the city. Benjamin, the tour4tips guide dressed like where's Wally, was waiting so we headed over only to find that we were the only ones who had turned up for the tour. After waiting for fifteen minutes all the while chatting to Benjamin about his very recent break up from his girlfriend, it seemed no one else was coming and so agreed we'd come back the following day for the tour - it seemed Benjamin needed to go and drown his sorrows somewhere! We wandered around and made our way to one of the ascenores; there are quite a few of this elevators around the town but most of them are closed down now, the one we went to being one of the few still in operation. To be honest you can see why the majority of them are closed, they were built between 1883 and 1916 and are showing the signs of old age! The ride was a wee bit rickety but was short and sweet and the views from the top were quite impressive. From here we made our way back down the hill via a series of little pathways and stairs and admired the graffiti artwork along the way; the majority of the art is really good but unfortunately alongside there is still the old tagging and crap graffiti you see across the world. The neighbourhood was pretty rough and showed a series of what would have been beautiful houses but when we looked inside it turned out that they were mostly derelict shells of their former selves. It's strange as Valpo is now a Unesco World Heritage site but yet the majority of the city seems to lie in tatters, it is a far cry from the likes of other Unesco sites such as Cartagena; but in some way the complete desolation of some of the fine buildings adds to the charm of the place. Soon our tummies were rumbling and so we went in search of something to eat and ended up in a lovely little restaurant that specialised in Chilean ingredients and food; I had swordfish and Ad salmon accompanied by a couple of glasses of Chilean white wine - it was delicious. After our late lunch / early dinner we explored further and came across an old cemetery, some more beautiful yet dilapidated buildings, some brilliant artwork and finally a former prison that had been turned into a cultural space. By this point the evening was drawing in and the cold starting to set in and so we made our way back to the warmth of our hostel. It was only there that we dug out our map and discovered that the area we'd wandered around was the one that the hostel had put a big cross over to say do not go there! We later discovered that an American couple staying at our hostel had been robbed in that area that very day! We can't work out if we're very lucky or very streetwise…………..

We were up bright and early for breakfast and our 10am tour of the city. This time a few others, three Australians, turned up too and so our guide Nancy, a Chilean from Valpo, was more than happy to show us around. The tour was great and we got a really good understanding of the layout of the city as well as its history. We learnt that the port town had once been the financial powerhouse of Chile and that it had been the main stop off for ships from Cape Horn - hence the town was very rich and that was why there were so many beautiful buildings were scattered around. But since the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, the ships no longer stopped and so the town had begun its decline - this explained how the majority of the buildings, which once had been so beautiful, had since been left to rot. Nancy took us into one building and showed us around; the features were incredible and it was the kind of house that wouldn't look out of place in Park Lane in London - with the exception that it was falling into a complete state of disrepair. It seemed such a shame that a building like that was just left, quite literally, to fall apart. Nancy explained that it was now listed as a listed building but just ten years before it was worthless as that particular part of town was very dangerous - her line was that if you stepped one foot into that street your shoe would've been stolen! We continued on and admired the street art and learnt a bit more about the building of houses on the hills and the art of the locals of keeping their houses maintained with the old paint and tin left over from the ships that passed through the port. At one point Nancy took us to a little alley that was once known as the "happy alley" as it was full of prostitutes; here she also talked about the friendly community and willingness to help neighbours and promptly knocked on a seemingly random door. We all waited with baited breath (unsure if a prostitute might appear!) but were relieved when an old man came to the door with homemade dolce covered pastries for us - they were delicious and free! After riding on one of the electronic trolley buses we came to the top of one of the hills and the end of our tour; we finished with a "salud" and a Pisco sour! The tour was brilliant and so we tipped Nancy, got some recommendations on locals places to eat and headed off towards the next attraction - the famous Chilean poet Neruda's house. We've got to be honest and say we'd never heard of him before but thought that the house deserved a look around so wandered around and listened to the story of his life, it was pretty interesting. With all our sightseeing done we decided it was time to eat and so worked our way down to a little restaurant for a three course menu of the day; it was tasty, accompanied by a glass of red wine and cheap so we were in our element! After, we walked around for a while longer and took in the town before heading to a local pastry shop for a bag of biscuits and then back to ours to chill. Tomorrow Santiago!