We got to Valparaiso after a rather dozy 2.5 hour from Santiago and wasted no time at the hostel signing up for and tucking into the mid-afternoon BBQ that was being put on. It was a very hippy based hostel with the smell of cannabis and Bob Marley tunes playing all day, not quite my scene but pleasant enough. After food the 3 of us headed for a stroll through town and took one of the 'lifts' up through the town to take in the view.

Valapraiso itself is a sprawling mass of quite colourful houses all sandwiched onto hillsides overlooking the sea. The lifts that litter the hillsides were designed to make it easier to get around the city without needing to take a breather every 5 minutes. After a spot of photo taking we headed back to the hostel still tired from the 19km walk around Santiago and successive nights out so had a nap until 10.30pm where we dragged ourselves out for a couple of beers to take in the suprisingly large night scene. We returned at 1am for another much needed sleep.

Next morning we woke up and just missed the walking tour that left a 10am. Instead, we thought we would invent our own walking tour. This was interrupted about every 20 minutes though by Mike (the one eyed New Zealender) who would have a minor panic about once an hour when his card didn{t work. After establishing that a couple of the banks wouldnt work and ´that not all of the cashpoints had cash in it was clear the cards were fine and the panics unjustified. We went up to the old town and then across to Pablo Nevada´s house which is located at the top of the hill.

Pablo Nevada was a famous poet and writer from Chile (I think the only one!) who received the Nobel prize in 1971/3 (I think, well i did say we made up our own walking tour). We took the tour of his 5 storey building with objects from all over the world and then headed back into town to pút on some beach wear and head to Vina Del Mar for the beach. After a brief McDonalds stop we soon discovered that although the beach itself was nice the sea was not safe for swimming in due to the strong current. Instead, i undertook a much more dangerous activity, sunbathing and falling asleep on the beach. Fortunately, i came through unscathed and still pasty! Another stop at McDonalds was called for and then we got the bus back to Santiago for a the mightly sum of 5.50pd.