Ok so after our unscheduled extra days stay on Easter island, the city of Valperasio (our last proper stop in Chile) was next up.
So what's it like. Well first impressions at the bus terminal weren't great, but arriving late at night in a lot of places can be a little unnerving. Getting a cab that looked like it could barely make it five yards let alone tackle the many steep hills of 'Valpo' didn't help either, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. The amount of graffiti and what looked like decrepit and empty buildings also didn't help, but until you can see a place in the day, you gotta keep an open mind.
So what did daylight bring. Fear!! Only joking. After sorting out some much needed laundry issues with the help of the lovely staff at the wonderful Da Vinci hotel, we embarked on a walking tour. Before moving onto details about our little tour, let me just say that the Da Vinci was another winner of a hotel found by young Rebecca. Jointly owned by a friendly expat Italian who lived in Machester for a while, it's a lovely boutique number which serves up a fantastic breakfast on the sun bathed third floor. If you ever head to Valpo, pay a visit. Now back to the tour, there is no getting away from the fact that the place is in places battered, but in other areas it's shall we say, suffering from faded glory. However, with a part of the city now designated a world hertitage site, this faded glory is being given a lick of paint and a touch of young artistic flair to create an area that you might say has a touch of Boho chic. Now this description doesn't stretch as far as the port (Valpo being the home of a big working port and the Chilean Navy), that has more of a sense of some sort of pirates of the carribean filmset. Kinda smelly, plenty of dodgy looking bars and the odd house of ill-repute. But put the two together and I think I'm safe in saying that the place has what we would call character. To reference another film, it has a kinda Moulin Rouge feel. The fact that the town is located on a number of step hills which are serviced by a number of ascensors (imagine a cross between a lift, a train and a cable car) also adds to the old time charm of the place. To sum up, it's got a bit of edge mixed with some lovely old historic buildings and wonderful views.
Also paid a visit to the nearby 'resort' of Vina del Mar. Nowt much to report their though. According to Becky it was 'Bournemouth' with sun. Not ever having sampled the delights of Bournemouth, I can't comment. Did have a lovely Italian meal at a cheap and cheerful momma's and papa's type of affair though.
Outside of that, headed back to Santiago for a night before our flight to Bogota the following day. Managed to slip in another quick wine tour as well, this time to the famous house of Concha Y Toro. Lovely old colonial vineyard mixed with the modern world. Delightful wines, great tour guides and also the proud sponsors of one Manchester United. I was tempted to pick up a Concha/Utd scarf as a momento, but as I'm sure you'll be glad to hear, I resisted. One memento we did pick up was our very own commemorative wine glass. Quite how we get these home without breaking them, I'm not sure, but the challenge has been set!
Enough from me now and Colombia here we come.
G