Good Company, Vertical & Horizontal Out of Control Tram Thingies, Green Sea, Artificial Fire, NYE, Big Party, Larger Hangover, No Buses, 1 Long Taxi
So where do I start, it seems that so much happens so quickly when your on the road and living out of a bag (which is way too much when your lugging it from destination to destination).
Firstly, I would like to apologise to Adelle, I never really blamed you at all, just like to take the piss! Secondly, the place I ended up staying in Valparaiso was so worth the cash, if not for the chiled hostel, for the awesome company of fellow trekkers hangin out. I met some great, down to earth companions from the UK, NZ, Australia, Switzerland, Brasil, Israel & Ireland. If your reading this, thanks for making my express stay in Valpi so memorable.
Valparaiso was not really what I expected at first, but the more I got to know the town, the more I really started to dig it. Viña del Mar is another superb spot some 8 or 9km away but completely different from Valpi (Rich vs Poor). The first day I spent wandering the streets, checking out these crazy vertical cable cart things that get you up and down the montaña, drinking Pisco Sour before hitting the town for an AU$10 Cuba Libre (with Havana Añejo of course) but no lime and about 3/4 rum vs 1/4 coke. Trust me, you only need 2 for the night.
The following day I headed to the beautiful gardens of Viña, before wandering down to the ocean for a bit of a looksee when I discovered the bright green ocean. Even freakier to see the thousands of Santigens (or something like that) that migrate to Viña y Valpi sprawled across the beach, swimming. I didn´t ask why it was that colour as I didn´t want to offend. Someone told me later though that it could be that Chile is right on the edge of an Inter-continental plate and after stepping out from the beach about 10m, it pretty much drops away to thousands of meters of nothing. And I just thought that there was alot of pollution.
NYE was to follow. the hostel got into full swing with invisible cocktails and a very good latin band in the lounge. By 11 we were heading to the foreshore to check out the artificial fire, known as fire works to the rest of us, which were amazing. The biggest display I think I have ecer seen. I was blown away by the massive temporary Ministry of Sound club that was completely open air, set-up on a pier, very cool. We opted for another club that was set-up in an old warehouse with an attached annexe pumping out 80´s & 90´s all night which was plenty of fun.
I don´t know whether i need to say anything more about NYD, tired and hangover. The adventures of the missing camera didn´t help matters, but I´ve already moved on from that. We came up with the idea of a BBQ to cure those NYD blues. A few of us headed into town to organise some vital ingredients when I thought I should wander down to the bus station to get myself a ticket for later that evening; no go! The tickets were completely sold out and considering I had to fly from Santiago to Mendoza quite early in the morning I had to figure something out. I jumped in a cab back to the hostel to grab my things, said good-bye and settled the account in about 30 seconds before heading back to the bus station to get some sort of a plan together.
I was directed to a line which i thought was for temporary buses that don´t usually do the trip to Santiago, but after half an hour of waiting there I figured out it was for buses that happened to have a spare seat on it to pick up the randoms. I was somewhere near the back of the evergrowing line. My patience (which I have little of) wore thin before I decide to do a bit of investigating. Tried to hitch a ride with a couple of people, stopping buses to see if they would let me sit in the aisle and asking random people whether they knew how I could get to Santiago when I decided on renting a taxi and selling the remaining 3 seats to other Chileans trying to get home also. None of them were really prepared to pay equally, but I didn´t really have a choice in the matter as I had to get back to Santiago and what they were offering was better than nothing.
1 last night in La Casa Roja and then off to Argentina!
Firstly, I would like to apologise to Adelle, I never really blamed you at all, just like to take the piss! Secondly, the place I ended up staying in Valparaiso was so worth the cash, if not for the chiled hostel, for the awesome company of fellow trekkers hangin out. I met some great, down to earth companions from the UK, NZ, Australia, Switzerland, Brasil, Israel & Ireland. If your reading this, thanks for making my express stay in Valpi so memorable.
Valparaiso was not really what I expected at first, but the more I got to know the town, the more I really started to dig it. Viña del Mar is another superb spot some 8 or 9km away but completely different from Valpi (Rich vs Poor). The first day I spent wandering the streets, checking out these crazy vertical cable cart things that get you up and down the montaña, drinking Pisco Sour before hitting the town for an AU$10 Cuba Libre (with Havana Añejo of course) but no lime and about 3/4 rum vs 1/4 coke. Trust me, you only need 2 for the night.
The following day I headed to the beautiful gardens of Viña, before wandering down to the ocean for a bit of a looksee when I discovered the bright green ocean. Even freakier to see the thousands of Santigens (or something like that) that migrate to Viña y Valpi sprawled across the beach, swimming. I didn´t ask why it was that colour as I didn´t want to offend. Someone told me later though that it could be that Chile is right on the edge of an Inter-continental plate and after stepping out from the beach about 10m, it pretty much drops away to thousands of meters of nothing. And I just thought that there was alot of pollution.
NYE was to follow. the hostel got into full swing with invisible cocktails and a very good latin band in the lounge. By 11 we were heading to the foreshore to check out the artificial fire, known as fire works to the rest of us, which were amazing. The biggest display I think I have ecer seen. I was blown away by the massive temporary Ministry of Sound club that was completely open air, set-up on a pier, very cool. We opted for another club that was set-up in an old warehouse with an attached annexe pumping out 80´s & 90´s all night which was plenty of fun.
I don´t know whether i need to say anything more about NYD, tired and hangover. The adventures of the missing camera didn´t help matters, but I´ve already moved on from that. We came up with the idea of a BBQ to cure those NYD blues. A few of us headed into town to organise some vital ingredients when I thought I should wander down to the bus station to get myself a ticket for later that evening; no go! The tickets were completely sold out and considering I had to fly from Santiago to Mendoza quite early in the morning I had to figure something out. I jumped in a cab back to the hostel to grab my things, said good-bye and settled the account in about 30 seconds before heading back to the bus station to get some sort of a plan together.
I was directed to a line which i thought was for temporary buses that don´t usually do the trip to Santiago, but after half an hour of waiting there I figured out it was for buses that happened to have a spare seat on it to pick up the randoms. I was somewhere near the back of the evergrowing line. My patience (which I have little of) wore thin before I decide to do a bit of investigating. Tried to hitch a ride with a couple of people, stopping buses to see if they would let me sit in the aisle and asking random people whether they knew how I could get to Santiago when I decided on renting a taxi and selling the remaining 3 seats to other Chileans trying to get home also. None of them were really prepared to pay equally, but I didn´t really have a choice in the matter as I had to get back to Santiago and what they were offering was better than nothing.
1 last night in La Casa Roja and then off to Argentina!
posted by Sanchez at 6:20 AM
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