Big Hills and the Big City

From Pucon we journeyed another 13 hours on an overnight bus to reach the seaside city of Valparaiso. Unfortunately to our surprise there was no food provided on this bus. A problem compounded by the fact that breakfast is almost non existent in this continent. Nevertheless we enjoyed our "break-fast" all the more when we eventually ate something.

Going up in the cable car

Valparaiso is a very rustic and picturesque city which is built on the side of a very large steep hill which makes for amazing views. There is a myriad of stairways throughout the city as well numerous cable cars for when you just can't climb anymore stairs. The cobblestone lane ways which wind through the hills are full of street art, little art galleries and stray dogs who follow you around.

With the exception of the warmer summer months there is a very eerie fog which lingers long into the afternoon. Although it is nice when the fog does lift, especially on the nearby beaches, the fog felt part of the character of the town.

After this, it was time to head to the big city - Santiago. We only booked a couple of nights here, but after a day walking around the city we regretted it. It is a really cool city that you could easily spend a couple of weeks in, alas we already had buses and accomodation booked in advance for the Easter weekend (had to book in advance for the holiday). I think this is the first place in South America that we could see ourselves living in, maybe because it is the most modern - there are no holes in the footpath here and barely any stray dogs!

In our brief stay in Santiago we did a walking tour taking in the history of the city, had lunch in the fish market, chilled out in a funky square with a cold beer and enjoyed an awesome breakfast at our hostel that even included Vegemite!