Valparaíso

I arrived at Santiago at 7 in the morning, before I had left I had forgotten to get my glasses or spare contact lenses out of my rucksack, so I woke up nearly blind (-6,5). But as soon as I got off, a bus was about to leave for Valparaíso, so I promptly caught that, and by 9 0´clock, I found myself in Valparaíso... Couldn't have been any more simple.

Finding my hostel "Hostel Yoyo" proved very simple as well... Once I had gotten lost a couple of times, misread my map, walked beyond exhaustion and then more or less passing it by chance. Valparaíso is built in two levels, and the difference between them is big, giving a HUGE incline in the roads going up, and of course the hostel was up such a road, but I made it. As I got there and checked in, they even threw in a free breakfast (you normally only get those you pay for), so I ate and set out discovering the city.

Valparaíso is known as Chile's cultural capital (an official declaration), but truthfully... It isn't very interesting. Yes the "ascensores" are rather amazing, but the city feels very grey, smoggy and plain dull (except for the frequent chances of being hit by a car). The place could have been so much more, big parts of the city are old buildings, but they are left to decay, and there are even incidents of buildings that have either collapsed, burned or just been abandoned, that are just left in their pitiful state. Other photographers on flickr have managed to get some great shots from this place, I just don't find this place special in any way, and I am really looking forward to going to Santiago tomorrow.

I am glad that I did indeed come to Valparaíso, it is very positively described around the internet, in my Lonely Planet book and by some fellow travelers (although others didn't like the place). If I hadn't gone here, I would always be wondering about what it would be like. Tomorrow morning I do intend to go out and see it again before I catch a bus to Santiago, hoping that the city will try and redeem itself to me.

In the evening I watched Music and Lyrics, although that wasn't my own choice, some girls were watching it. Afterwards I watched half of Master and Commander, but after a rough night on the bus, I was too tired to go on, and went to bed.