Here comes the sun

Trip Start Nov 01, 2006
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Trip End Mar 26, 2007


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Flag of Chile  ,
Friday, January 12, 2007

Made the decision to change our flight and leave Rio a few days early and head back to Chile to find the sun that had eluded us in Rio. After a short bus journey from Santiago we got to Valparaiso on the coast to discover that a thick cloud covered the place. We were cursing our luck but thankfully it burned off by mid-afternoon and from then onwards it was blue skies for the rest of our time there.
Valparaiso is a port city with a kind of ramshackly and shabby charm. Rising up from the sea are lots of hills onto which cling wood and tin houses painted in bright colours. A whole series of acensors (near vertical funicular railways) was built a hundred years ago to ferry people up and down the steep slopes. Overall itīs lively and old fashioned and reminded me more of Peru or Bolivia than the modern parts of Santiago we had seen. A 15 minute bus journey along the coast from Valparaiso is Vina del Mar which couldnīt be more different. With miles of sandy beaches, high rise aparments and some flashy hotels Vina was more like your average US beach resort.
We stayed in Valparaiso but got the bus over to Vina each day for a bit of relaxing beach time. We were both staying away from the beer and in general detox mode after the excesses of the last two months and it was a nice change to get some early nights and catch up on sleep before the challenge of a new continent next week.
At this point I realised Iīm exactly half way through my trip so its all downhill from here!
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