After 11 weeks in Argentina I crossed the border last Wednesday to Chile from Mendoza to Valparaiso. This was another 9 hour bus journey, but the first one I’ve done by day. It was a pretty spectacular journey right through the Andes, and the border crossing is right at the top of mountains. The border crossing itself was pretty lengthy, as we were at the back of a que of several buses, it took three hours. I arrived in Valparaiso around 8, that evening I just had dinner somewhere local, and had the first bit of spicy food for about three months! Thursday was my only day in Valparaiso so I did a tour of the city with a British couple I’m travelling with. It was a great way to see the city, & hear quite a bit of the town’s history. We then carried on walking around, saw some street art and took a short boat ride around the port before catching a evening bus to Santiago. It was a fleeting visit, and if I can I will try and spend another day or so there when I’m back in Santiago in December. It’s visually a very stimulating town, with the hills, vernaculars, and brightly coloured houses. There’s also a lot of great fish restaurants that I didn’t get a chance to try.

Thursday evening we arrived in Santiago and took the metro to the hostel. First impressions of the city were its much more modern, clean, and European than any of the other cities I’ve visited so far. The metro was spotless, really fast and they had people in uniform looking to help you out. We stayed at a huge hostel, “Casa Roja”. I was a little dubious as so far I’ve chosen pretty small hostels which have all been great. This place was massive, but really well ran. It was on old building that has been converted, and they’ve done a great job. http://www.lacasaroja.cl/

Friday was our only day in Santiago, I’ll be back for a few more days in December so I wasn’t too concerned about not having more time there. In the afternoon we visited the museum “Memoria”. http://www.museodelamemoria.cl/ “The Museum of memory and human rights is a space designed to give visibility to the human rights violations committed by the State of Chile between 1973 and 1990; to dignify the victims and their families; and to stimulate reflection and debate on the importance of respect and tolerance, so that these never more recurrence.” The museum has been curated excellently, and if you are ever in Santiago I would highly recommend a visit.

I spent a few hours wondering the area, and saw loads more street art, which was pretty distinctive compared to Buenos Aires.

Friday night we joined the hostel’s huge Asado, before we boarded the midnight bus to Pucon 750 km South of Santiago. A very busy couple of days and it will be great to spend a good few days in one place!