Day 45 : Valparaiso Day 3 : Viña Del Mar

After another full 8 hours of sleep, wake up and notice it's very foggy today, guess my sunbathing plan has to cancel. However, still think I can go to the beaches and walk around. Before that, I can stop by the fish market to see the sea lions.

The beaches are actually in the next town called Viña Del Mar, Viña to Valparaiso is kind of like the Evanston to Chicago, where the richie riches live. Between the two towns, there is a fish market where all the fresh fishes arrive everyday. Instead of taking the train, I decide to take a bus to that big shopping mall I was at yesterday and then walk to the beaches from there, it may be 5-6 km away, and could take me an hour or more to walk, but I get time especially in a cloudy day. Maybe 15-20 mins later, I arrive at the fish market, I really don't have much expectation what I would see, except maybe some sea lions swimming around the pier. Turn out, they are not what catches my eyes. It is the number of pelicans and seagulls flying above me that takes me by surprise. The size of the pelicans is not small at all, just a few feet above, they are like landing right next to your ears. There are a few times I literally have to bend down to avoid them hitting on me. I guess they are skillful, but they are like flying turkey into your faces, hey, thanksgiving, squash!

After the initial excitement, the next time I do is to pull out my hat and the wind jacket, I bet if I am lucky enough not hitting by one of these flying turkeys, I would hit by their droppings. There are so many of them because the fishermen, I guess, throw away the dead fishes that nobody buys back to the sea or at the pier, all the pelicans, seagulls, sea lions are fighting for their foods. That is quite a scene really, they are not afraid of human, if any human looking thing walk by, they follow you. Even one of the sea lions on the sand looking at me like I am going to throw a few fishes at him, I am like you wished! Out of my expectation, I stay at the fish market (the pier really) for so long looking at them, trying to take a shot when the pelican flies. So, don't be surprised by the number of photos of pelicans today. :P

Continues on my way to the beaches, I bump into an Easter Island moai, just standing by the sea. Not sure if it is a real one, but sort of a preview of what I am going to see in just 2 days. Finally, when I get to Viña Del Mar, it's almost 1pm, I am getting hungry too. Find myself a place to have lunch. By the time I get to the seaside, the sun starts to come out, what a pity, I have not brought my beach towel and the swim trunk, or I could sunbath for a while. I sit on the rocks by the Pacific Ocean to write some postcards and listen to the waves. Viña Del Mar is somewhat different than Valparaiso, it could have been some Southern European city in Italy or Spain. It is very peaceful. Get to the beaches, it's miles long. My legs are already getting tired, walk, sit for a while, walk some more. By 4pm, I start to head back. Martin have mentioned earlier that by the train station, there is a garden that I can visit, so I do that real quick before hoping on the train. The garden is used to be a vineyard, and now is left a small part, I only glance through the entrance part, then I take the train and get back to Valparaiso.

Have dinner at the same restaurant I ate on the first day. I get the gringo (foreigner) menu again, but this time, it is in English. At least, now I know what I am ordering. I have had a "monster" crab cake tonight, one of my favorite dishes when I was in the states. I call it "monster" because of the size of it is shocking. It is served in a bowl and the top part is crust, with a crab claw. You have to see the picture in order to know what I am talking about. I eat it with some bread, delicious.

I have changed to a different room, not that I want to, but my beautiful room was only booked for 2 nights, someone else had already reserved it before me for my third night here. I don't mind, one cannot be too greedy, I guess. I have already owned the view of the bay for 2 nights on a row. My new room is smaller but still have a port view anyway. The bed is as comfortable, so no complaint. But just for US$4 difference, anyone who intends to stay here in the Yellow House, go for the Oceano room.

Tomorrow, back to Santiago, sightseeing the town a bit and then head to Easter Island the next day... I am really eager to see a real moai.

Photos here: Day 45 (Fish Market), Day 45 (Viña Del Mar)

Day 44 : Valparaiso Day 2

Wake up at 8:15am, have a really good sleep last night in my beloved B&B room. Breakfast starts at 9am, I get downstairs and meet the other people who stay in this B&B. Martin takes the troubles to introduce me to everyone. We are served with fresh bread he goes to buy in the market every morning, with some sandwiches meat and cheese, fresh brewed coffee (no instant - that tastes good!), a glass of juice, a small biscuit, yogart and banana if you want. It's a very cozy breakfast, guests are talking to each other, for this day or maybe tomorrow, we are like a family. Martin again asks where I would plan to go today, he is ready to give any advice he can give. If I have no idea where to go, he would be happy to suggest something. He is just a big nice fellow, never pushy, just leave you to make up your mind, but advices are always ready. I takes his advices happily and visit the fruit and flea market that occurs every Wednesdays and Saturdays. There is a lookout I am planning to go but apparently some ascensors (escalators up and down the hills) are closed because they are government owned and their employees are still on strike. Oh well, I walk up to a less steep hill on the other side of the bay and look back to where my B&B is.

When I get back down, I enter a big shopping mall, oh god, the Hong Kong part of me act up and I do some shopping. Buy myself a T-shirt after I walk around that same counter like 10 times. Do I really want it? Yes.. Hmm...but, I should save money. Oh well, but I will not bump into anyone in Hong Kong who wears the same T-shirt. I don't need it really, just gonna be more weight on my backpack. It's just a T-shirt, man! How heavy can that be? Yeah...that kind of truth, you son of a bitch. Alright, I get it. That internal struggle is so shitty, I just want to strangle that part of me. After the T-shirt, I walk back to the market and buy a poster of Pablo Nerude which I have seen earlier, planning to get before I leave that part of town. I think he deserves a place on the wall of my room.

Try another restaurant Martin recommended yesterday, called Anita, before he gives me the gringo menu, I already say, a menu set please. Not knowing what it is really, but I just want to try. Surprise, surprise! The starter is a salad with an avocado, some chopped ham and some lettuces. And the main course is actually that seafood soup, oh my god, it fills with tons of seafood in the bowl after I dig in. It's really tasty too, and costs only CH$2500 (less than US$5). Before the meal, usually they bring you a dish of lemon, a dish of salsa and some breads. The salsa is always good, I find. Their onions are extremely fresh and tasty. I find it strange to say, never claim to be an onion lover, but for some reasons, I find the onion in their salsa really empowers the tastes. Finish my meal, they offer me a shot of liquor (vanilla, mint or another one which I don't remember what), I decline trying to explain that I don't drink alcohol. I hear that it is not polite to decline alcohol here. But I have to, especially it's a strong liquor. A beer may be still ok.

The plan for the afternoon is to get lost in the two hills in Valparaiso that is listed in the UNESCO's World Heritage: Cerro Concepcion and Cerro Alegre. Lost, I am, those winding and hilly streets, I try to avoid long and quiet side alleys, and because some ascensors (escalators) are closed, it probably takes me longer to find my ways down. After I come back to the main street, it is like 4pm already, I feel like this is all for the day, just start heading back to the B&B, pick up my laptop and sit in the cafe by the hillside, looking at the port and write a little bit. And here I am, looking at the port, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or whatever day is really meaningless, as a traveler, there is only two days: good day or bad day. I think I have had a good day.

Dinner gonna be light again, and tomorrow, I am planning to go to a fish market and see the sea lions by the pier, then maybe do some sunbathing in the afternoon on the beach. We'll see.

Photos here: Day 44

Day 43 : Valparaiso Day 1 - The best room in the house!

After an uninspiring breakfast at the hotel, I check out and throw myself back to concrete jungle with my backpack to look for the metro train. There are men on horses, matching bands following on the streets, I bet it is some kind of ceremony, so I take a few shots and then continue my way. The metro station is all in Spanish, but there is a young man looks like a university student come to me and ask me if I need helps. Great. So, I get my ticket to Universidad de Santiago where the bus terminal is located. The metro train is fast and clean, after all I grow up in a city, I find the metro train extremely convenient. At the bus terminal, have some difficulty explaining to the ticket lady that I do not know when my return journey will be yet. Apparently, it's common to buy return ticket together, it is cheaper or something like that. She tries to save me some money. But I don't know how to tell her I don't mind getting an one-way ticket if possible. At last, she finds another staff who speaks some English to talk to me. It is easy with him, he asks me if I want to keep my return ticket open. Yes. Conversation's over. The return ticket does not have date or seat yet, but I have it on my hand. I can use it whenever I want. The bus is scheduled every 15 mins anyway, it's not like it's gonna difficult to get back. The Chilean people so far gives me an impression that they are generally friendly and helpful people.

Journey to Valparaiso is smooth. But as we get closer to Valparaiso, there are some protesting on the street and block the traffic. Is the whole South America continent protesting all the time? I had that in Peru a lot, now in Chile too. We end up having to get off earlier before we can get to the bus terminal. I try to catch some local bus to my B&B, but there is no way I can distinguish which bus is which. So, I end up taking the local train which is much more expensive, because I need to buy a store value for that. Get out of the train stop, which is close enough to my B&B to walk, I thought anyway, Valparaiso has 60 some small hills, my B&B on the on Cerro Artilleria, that is quite a hike with my 19kg backpack. For a second, I feel like I am carrying a cross up on the hill under the midday sun for the sin I have committed. Find it finally... the Yellow House B&B where I will stay for 3 nights.

Martin is the host, he is an Australian who has married to a Chilean woman. They run this B&B for a number of years, I think. He is a very friendly fellow and gives me an impression that the first priority of his as a host is to make me feel like home. And he does. He shows me my room and the facilities in B&B, gives me an introduction and security advice about the city. My room is the highlight of the day, with a fantastic view. This ought to be the most beautiful view I ever have in a hotel room. I overlook the entire port and colorful houses along the bay up the hills. For the whole day, I can't seem to stop myself from taking another picture off my windows. The bed is comfortable, the coffee and tea tray, the chairs, the bathroom. I like it all. Can this be my room in Hong Kong?

Apart from the basic city and security guidance, Martin also gives me some recommendation for cheap and tasty restaurants to try. It is like almost 2:30pm when I go out and I just happen to walk pass one of the restaurants Martin recommended, called Porto Viejo. It is extremely crowded, with normal diners, and tons of protesters (Martin have told me that they are government employees, they have been on strike for a week already, that's why no one is picking up garbage). I have no idea what the menu is saying, which is a shame, because everything on the other table looks great. I ask if the girl can recommend some fish dishes. I have a fish cooked in tons of butter. She asks me if I want a big or small one, I intend to ask how big is big. But she thinks I want a big. Ok, big it is then. When my fish arrives at the table, "holy shit" almost comes off my mouth, that piece of filet is as long as my arm! And the side of fries is like enough for the whole family. I have a fanta to go with my meal. The guy who sits next to me asks me, "No wine?" I say No. The Chileans love wine, a few friends of mine comes to my head right away, they would enjoy Valparaiso very much. The fish actually tastes absolutely delicious. But the foods on the next tables catch my eyes even more, a big bowl of soup filled with seafoods and many big shells standing at the side of bowl, or the couple sitting next to me, they have this baked mussels or clams with cheese melted to golden brown on top. Oh my god. The guy next to me asks me if I want to try that eye catchy cheese melted clam or whatever it is. Inside, I really want a bite, but I am too full to eat anything else after I eat that arm-long filet and all the fries, beside I already put a mint in my mouth. So, I just thanks. I order from the gringo menu (for foreigner) and the bill is still under US$12. The menu set (standing outside the door) is like US$5-6. The food seems to be quite cheap here, and delicious!

After lunch, I hiked up another hill to visit the house of the famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. I read his books long time ago and enjoy his words very much. It's actually quite interesting to see his house, and learn more about his personality and lifestyle...etc. His house is absolutely beautiful and with brilliant views of the Valparaiso port and the colorful houses. In the self-guide tour audio tape, it has a line about the Pacific Ocean, probably read by himself, says... The Pacific Ocean is so big and so messy, they have nowhere to put it, so they leave it outside his windows. I can imagine how he would love to sit at his rocking chair by the window and words just grow in his head. I mean anyone would too.

Since I have a big lunch, not going to have dinner, just get a piece of pastry and some drinks. Go back to the B&B early, enjoy just looking at the view in my room. It does not get dark almost 9pm here, so it feels like the night is short and I have to go to sleep already.

Photos here: Day 43