Chilling in Chile....

(Click on photo for more pics)

Finally! A chance to update. Sooo much has happened since the first, rather dramatic, blog entry. That said, I´m yet to report on the glorious early days of the 'Two Camera Era'....

So, just briefly (more info attached to photos), the trip began like this:

Flight over was OK. LAN Chile surpassed expectations. And flying east sure beat the long haul to London. At least that was my initial impression - started to reconsider three days later when I was still waking at 2am...
Anyways, the flight: met a great Kiwi girl (Meg)on flight from Auckland. In a stroke of good fortune, we were both met in Santiago by her Kiwi friend (Louise), who´s been living in Chile for past 2 years, so brimming with local knowledge and happy to welcome visitors from home. Louise kindly escorted me to the bus station and set me on the path to my fist destination - the Chilean seaside city of Valparaiso (pop.276,000). The hour and a half bus ride was blissfully uncomplicated, and took me through Santiago´s fringe, past Chilean vineyards, over green mountains to 'Valpo'. The weather was warm and sunny...dare I say *hot*, having just left Melbourne chill. Took a long walk from dodgy bus station to my hostel, in an attempt to see something of the city.
First impressions of Chile/Valpo:
Dogs. Everywhere!
Evidently, so many dogs eat a lot of dog food. Saw a personal first - a dog food supermarket!
Dusty streets, old town buses, lots of shops-wot-look-like-garages, men with same-same military-style haircut, *steep* hills, cobbled streets and brightly coloured corrugated iron houses nestled snuggly in the hillsides....

First physical challenge of the trip came on the walk to my hostel - lugging pack up a sixty degree slope in search of the famous pink and green exterior of my guesthouse. Spent the next three days camped out at Casa Familiar Carrasco, with my notoriously old hosts, Juan and Eddie (80+ years and still hiking around the streets and up the three flights of stairs in the guesthouse with vigour). My room smelled like an old country church, and had about as much space and visual appeal as a convent room, but was in a great location and had a bed, which was my most immediate requirement :)

Found a very cool cafe down the street which became my regular 10pm dinner spot for the next couple of nights, as I struggled to adjust to Chilean time.
Met a great group of Aussies next morning in the guesthouse, including an emergency nurse (Dee) :) She had a gruesome travel tale from Ecuador, involving the accidental discovery of a bus crash, with three fatalities - she and her doctor boyfriend found themselves triaging pts and administering CPR to one of the passengers while waiting for the primitive Ecuadorian ambulance service to arrive (one ambulance, three officers, a bus load of passengers.... Ah, the inefficiencies!)

The four of us took a day trip to nearby Vina del Mar - a more touristy, kitch version of Valpo. Sunday seaside festivities were in force - carnival rides, man playing a wood saw and china plates(!), man flying through air in a motorised hang-glider, stalls selling everything from ponchos to drinking flasks covered in cow-hide with real cow-hoof base(!) and other random stuff. Felt it fitting to indulge in my first Sth A. churros at seaside fair. Followed it down with toffee apple :)

Was a fun day out, with the usual foreign experiences of basic undertakings turning into major challenges/accomplishments. All good. Was sorry that my new friends were leaving same evening for Santiago. Of course, I had great pics of the day, but they´re being enjoyed now by some nouveau riche resident of Quito old-town :(


Second day in Valpo, I hit the streets for some picture-taking. Valparaiso is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, presumably because of its architectural significance. 'Ascensores' (funiculas) take some of the pain out of hill-climbing, by connecting upper and lower levels of some hills in town (twenty cents/ride). I wandered around aimlessly for an hour before bumping into an old man named George, who pointed me in the direction of a "bella vista". I took his advice, and had not long reached the unofficial ´lookout´, when I turned to find George standing there, offering his binoculars. From that point, he became my self-appointed guide for my tour of his neighbourhood. With G´s very limited English and my basic phrase-book-assisted Spanish, we managed a visit to the local jail, which has been converted into an artists' workshop. (Once again, pics MIA). He told me a little bit about his family, and as a party word of advice, warned me to be on the look out for thieves. Wise man, was George...should´ve had him with me in Quito.

Later, I attempted to explore what turned out to be the seedier end of town - Plaza Echaurren. On my way there, an off-duty police officer stopped me and told me to be careful with my camera, at which point I promptly put it away. The plaza turned out to be an immense disappointment anyway, but I stood directly beside a police van and took some speedy snaps with my little IXUS, before making my hasty escape.

After my late afternoon nap, which was becoming a routine as I was *still* struggling with jet-lag, I went out for late night dinner and Chilean wine at my local cafe before bed.

Next morning, caught bus back to Santiago, and flew to Quito for day of acclimatisation before beginning tour of Galapagos Islands...

Valparaiso pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachnev/sets/72157607110993725/