Bernadine takes South America: Sitting on the dock of the bay

February 8th-9th, Valparaiso Chile

We decided to go for a 'Tour for Tips' walking tour of the city which came highly recommended by everyone. As I was eating an ice cream in the main square while we waited for our tour guides in Where's Wally T-shirts, Bernie suddenly saw one of the Australian couples we'd met and partied with in Sucre! Sometimes this continent can be so small. It was a happy reunion and turns out they were also going on the same walking tour.

Our guides were really funny and sweet but most of all I love history so I really enjoyed the entire 3 hours. In brief - Valparaiso was the first and most important port in Latin America in the golden era from 1848-1914 when Europeans were trying to get to California during the gold rush. In 1914 came the Panama Canal and thus began its 'decline'. That being said, it was the first city in Latin America to have the first fire brigade, post office, newspaper, bank, money exchange and even hot shower!

We stopped outside the first historic fire station and there's an interesting story behind it. Because of the geology and weather in Valparaiso, it's a fire prone city. They couldn't afford the fire safety equipment so they reached out to the United States for aid. The US agreed to fund their fire station, but on the condition that they name the station after them - so the first fire station in Chile (and Lat Am) was named 'The American Fire Station'! Similarly they also got aid from other countries for more, so the other fire stations are called 'The French Fire Station', 'The Italian Fire Station' etc... They even have a 'Saudi Arabian Fire Station'! Additionally the fire fighters are all volunteers so they are highly respected as they have to work other jobs to get paid.

We then walked by the 'richest street in Latin America' which isn't so rich anymore, but with a little imagination you could see what it was like in its hey day. Passed by the Naval Headquarters guarded by handsome shaven sailors and the dock full of navy and cruise ships. There are also monuments to Arturo Prat, a Valpo local, who is said to have inspired the Chileans with his bravery against the Bolivians and Peruvians in the war over nitrates and land, and thus Chile won.

It's a hilly town and each hilltop has it's own community and culture. They have 'funiculars' (like public lifts but not 90 degrees) to take you up if the stairs looks too daunting. In the early 2000s the whole town was declared a UNESCO heritage site, so they appreciate being on the map and having their beautiful city being recognised, but on the other hand it stops a lot of development as people can't afford the bureaucracy involved with rebuilding.

We saw amazing views of the sea, walked through the graffiti streets, drank pisco sour, ate local chocolate biscuits and all in all had a lovely day and got very tanned. After the tour, the 4 of us went to a highly recommended local restaurant to eat 'Churillana' but it wasn't too great. We then began bar hopping and that's when the night gets blurry! Lots of pisco, wine and landed up at a club playing 80's and 90's music. Then we made friends with some Valpo locals (who thought my Spanish was very good!) and they took us for a typical Chilean snack while drinking - hotdogs with avocado. It was quite a funny night talking to random people on the street, making friends and just having a good time.

The next morning we decided to leave Chile as it´s a long country so just traveling from one city to the next takes up a lot of time. We missed the morning bus to Mendoza, Argentina at 8 am so we had a lovely pasta lunch (they do pasta extremely well here) and then hung out at the bus terminal waiting for our 9:30 pm bus to Argentina! Woohoo we´re so excited to get to Mendoza.