A massively expensive return journey to Ecuador has made me travel to another route (thank god). Our social field work only starts in 25th of June and my third semester ended in 9th of June, hence I thought it would be wise to find a cheaper flight while at the same time exploring around South America. Considering my limited amount of holiday, budget, health, and passport capability, I picked three countries that are visa-free for Indonesians (Chile, Peru, and Ecuador) meanwhile letting Colombia, another visa-free country, untouched.
First of all, I am excited.
I arrived at 9th of June in Santiago thinking it was the 10th, so my first day was ended in Bellavista after a session of ‘jet-lag’ snooze. For this round of visit, my initial plan was to explore Santiago and Cajon del Maipo — but as strict as my itinerary could be, eventually it is always good to let my options open.
I might be very flexible but at the same time, a cheapskate. My trip to Valparaiso was completely unplanned and I spent way less than joining tours. I only spent for food and of course, my bunk bed which only cost me 8,000 peso a night. I met a friend’s friend in Santiago when I just arrived, and in between our conversations in Bellavista, he told me his plan to Viña del Mar for a family visit on the next day and offered me a ride. Since the artistic atmosphere in Bellavista had served me too well, I was tempted to come along and leave Cajon del Maipo for the next stop.
It turned out way more beautiful than my sometimes-too-low expectations. My friend picked me up at my hostel and we left Santiago at 11am. After two hours drive from Santiago, he stopped in Mirador en Viña del Mar — this stunning view is where my Valparaiso adventure took off.
It was not long after (about 30 minutes drive from Viña del Mar) and he dropped me right in front of my hostel in Cerro Alegre, a place where all the hypes are. From restaurants, artsy shops, hostels, stalls, bars, to another Mirador (lookout point), you name it — Cerro Alegre has them all.
The vibrance of Valparaiso fits me too well. Unique, classic bohemian touch with generous amount of colours. It’s rich in culture and art that you will always find when you take a walk around the city. My first day was just exploring Cerro Alegre neighbourhood and all the Mirador surrounding it, and of course, hunting pictures.
It was 3pm when I started exploring Cerro Alegre, Cerro Concepción, Casa Museo Mirador Lukas, Paseo Dimalow, and Paseo Atkinson. There were plenty of performers as well as artwork and handcraft sellers all over the street. I forced myself to talk to people around with my very basic español and voila, they were all friendly and didn’t hesitate at all to talk to me.
A typical conversation I could handle:
“Hola! Como es tas?”
“Bien, y tu?”
“Bien, donde eres?”
“Indonesia, pero vivo en Melbourne.”
“Hablas español?”
“Bueno, yo apprende español. Pero solo hablar un poco.”
…and then the next conversation will be a gamble. Sometimes I would reply in español, in bits and pieces of words of course, most of the time I would reply in english. Sometimes I did understand, most of the time I didn’t. Some other times, we ended up communicating in the most universal language ever — called body language. Perfecto. Muy inteligente.
Valparaiso was not only filled with colours, but also street dogs — fret not, they were super friendly and they won’t bark on people. Instead, they bark on cars and other dogs that’s cooler than them (reference: my lovely dorm mate).
Although sounds strange, ask a local to compare between Valparaiso and Viña del Mar and they would prefer the latter city because on the other side, Valparaiso is rough as many other latin american suburbs. It is where all the middle and low class live so some places are rather dodgy, while Viña del Mar is where the rich people are, hence it’s cleaner (and safer). My friend mentioned a couple of times to be aware of my things while walking around Valparaiso and not to go out at night — so on that day, I took my Kathmandu bag filled with snacks, wallet, and other small stuffs, a tripod, and a camera, then walk around until 7.30pm and walked out again at 10pm, had 4-minutes walk to Palacio Baburizza for a night photography session. Oh of course I am so ignorant — why would I miss this view on my very own vacation?
But seriously, don’t let me leave you careless. I did watch my stuff closely. Although exciting, there were eyes watching over me while I walked on my own and took pictures, hence most of the time I put the camera in my bag and hold it tight.
My first day ended at 11pm and that was pretty much it. I will take a Tours4trip session in the next day to explore more about the history as well as the ‘dark side’ of Valparaiso.
SundaySerenades 