Valparaiso, just a really cool city.

Truely a port city

Valparaiso is a city that captures everyone’s imagination. The 300,000 people living around this city do so with the knowledge that its prone to devastating earthquakes. We were reminded of this when navigating the city; buildings and a major market that were supposed to be there were no longer. Last year a 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck the city, leveling much of the river front infrastructure. In time, Valparaiso was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site for its cobblestone alleyways, ancient yet operational lifts and rolling hills design.

New friends

The first thing that came to my mind when we got off of our bus in the CBD was that Valparaiso looked allot like Gotham City. The streets were deserted, the buildings tall and dark. Our hostel was a solid 20 minute walk up through narrow streets covered in impressive graffiti. Our home for the next few days that followed was Hostel Fischer. The hostel had everything that we could have wanted; a large kitchen, a big breakfast and very helpful owners. Here, by sheer coincidence we met up with a bunch of people that we had previously met in La Paz. Running into people that we had previously met in another country is always a fun experience. While people many do the same things and travel the same path, the experiences vary greatly. Needless to say this was another hostel at which we cooked up a storm. It all began with a simple offering of potatoes that was left over from the previous night and before we knew it the dinner had exploded to half the hostel with dishes from all around the world with lots of amazing Chilean wine.

The entire place looked like this

Our time in Valparaiso was spent exploring. The 3 days that we gave our self were not enough to really appreciate and take in the culture of the city. One could spend a week simply walking the alleyways, getting lost in amidst the artwork, the cafes and the stunning views of the harbor. As far as docks go, Valparaiso has the most impressive crane operation I have ever seen. Ships from all around the world come in to unload their crates, closely watched by military boats in the background. A couple of blocks away from the dock sees the dogs take closely guarded control of the city. They run in packs, tongues hanging out, begging for food or a pet. They were some of the friendliest dogs we met. At one random park we noticed a lady feeding a number of dogs. She would lay down a batch of dry food on the ground and would only allow one particular dog to it eat, kicking way any other dog trying to get to it. She would in turn then feed all the dogs, all but one. A pit bull did not want to have anything to do with her and would hobble away as fast as he could before she could come to him and give him food. He was having non of it. 

This is only a fraction of the street art

Our wanderings led us to many interesting places. One of our favorites was an ice-cream parlor that sold Rose flavored ice-cream amongst many other delicious flavors. Taking difference routes around the city, we walked in amongst the docks and high about the hills. We visited Pablo Neruda's house and through hand-held announcers were taught all about the history of the house and the artistic flair embroidered upon it by the artist. It proved to be a really popular destination with lots of people queuing up just to buy the tickets to get inside the house. 

Furthermore, Valparaiso's charm spreads further than what you can see during the day. By night the bars and nightclubs are packed with tourists and locals alike. Our hostel owner was kind enough to take everyone in the hostel to one of the local clubs near the docks. While dancing was fun, the main attraction was the drag show that happened much later on in the night. No pictures were allowed, however the following drag show left many people with cramps from laughter and wet from all the water guns and buckets thrown onto willing and unwilling participants. 

We had a great time. Valparaiso is on my list of places to visit again in the future when I have more money so that I can try some of the seafood restaurants. Its a place full of charm and artistic history.