Day 5 - Valparaiso, Chile (Friday 23 March 2012)

Day 5 – Valparaiso, Chile (Friday 23 March 2012)

So far Valparaiso has not inspired me, but surely it can’t get any worse??? Well it didn’t, it got better actually.  Ann and I went into town and did the 10 am free tour of the city.  Our guide was called Al and he was a Chilean who had been bought up in New York, and has lived in Valparaiso for the last six years.  English was not a problem here.   He took us around the city and the port and told us that the land that the city is on is reclaimed land, once again, similar to Wellington.  The city had recently been struck by a major earthquake and you could see the structural damage and cracked masonry in some of the buildings.  Apparently the big news in Chile over the last few days had been a man predicting another big earthquake to hit the region between 4am and 5am that morning.  This prediction was based on the moon, very similar to the moon mans false prediction for Christchurch last year.  Anyway it is fair to say the earthquake in Valparaiso didn’t happen.  Pretty happy about that, as our hostel would have slid down the hill.  Al continued the tour telling us about the history of the city including how it was a very rich city at the start of the 19^th century because of the port.  When the Panama Canal opened in the mid 1910’s, the city started to suffer with the diminishing use of this port.

After the tour we went down to the waterfront and was hoping to get on a 30 minute boat tour of the harbour for CH$2.000 (roughly NZ$6).  We didn’t end up going because they only run tours when they fill the boat up (about 30 seats per boat)  Not many people were waiting around for a ride so we gave up after about 20 minutes of waiting.  While we were waiting we did have the chance to have a wee wander round and have a look at a few market stalls that were around so it wasn’t a complete waste of time.

We then caught the train (CH$1.400 pp return (roughly NZ$4.50)) to a city called Vina Del Mar.  This city is about a 15 minute train ride from Valparaiso.  The cities effectively link together, a comparison would be Napier and Hastings, but closer.  We only spent about 3 hours here but it was a much tidier and modern city, but no history.

We then got back to our “amazing” hostel and skyped our parents, was great to see and talk to them.

Free Walking Tour - http://hostalsantalucia.cl/homepage/?page_id=451
Vina Del Mar - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vi%C3%B1a_del_Mar