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Kirsten had a lie in and I made us blueberries and bananas for breakfast. We'd eaten all our food before crossing the border and then it took us so long to get into Chile that we had an extra night without being able to buy anything. Now we were making up for it with all the healthy stuff!
We left the Shell garage after 1pm for the short drive to San Felipe and a quick stop for a photo of the church there. On the way to our next stop in Putaendo we saw an elderly gentleman selling baskets of strawberries on the side of the road! Wow! It must be strawberry time here!
We couldn't resist and bought 2 kilos (4lb) for $3 US. They looked superb. We parked in a side street in Putaendo and went for a short walk to see the colourful houses. We'd seen a photo in our Copec books for Chile which is why we'd gone off the beaten track to get here. Most people just head straight for Valparaíso and the beaches and there was nothing on iOverlander for this place.
The church in the square was built in 1792 and had a brick interior that looked really good. Most church interiors are plastered. It was Good Friday and there was a parade with a real life Jesus who had tattoos!! He obviously forgot to cover them up!
On Easter Saturday we took a northern loop road to avoid the main highway to the beach areas along the coast. It was a very good road that went through a desert canyon with lots of cacti. We stopped at a small town and had custard cream filled croissants with fresh strawberries. Yummy!
On Easter Sunday we tried to get an internet connection but none of the usual places (i.e. petrol stations) had wifi. We wanted to watch our football team play and we were about to give up when we finally found a very slow connection at the small coastal town of Papudo. We only got to see the last part of the match and, unfortunately, we lost. Not good because we might get relegated this year and HSV are the only team left that has never been relegated to the second league!
We headed south along the coast road which curved around the coastline. Just before Zapallar we found a parking area below the road where we could stay for the night. It was quite a grey day and we were hoping for better weather to enjoy the coastline.
But the next day was even worse! It was cloudy with sea fog. We decided to head south anyway and used the day to go shopping, have luke-warm showers at a petrol station for 500 pesos each and then found a beach spot just south of Quintero.
Kirsten had another lie in the next morning and we decided we needed a day off. So we stayed on the beach for another day and at least the sun came out so we could see Viña del Mar across the bay and the skyscrapers behind.
We got surrounded the next day by surfers coming out for the day. It seemed unusual that everyone would be coming on a Wednesday - Yes, we actually checked to make sure we hadn't got our days and weekends mixed up. After all, we'd managed to get Easter completely wrong thinking it was a week earlier than it was so maybe we'd got our days mixed up aswell!
We left the beach and headed for the major resort of Viña del Mar and Valparaíso and found out what was going on when we got to a propane gas plant that was closed and spoke to the security guard. Today was censor day, all the shops and businesses were closed and everyone had to stay at home to be counted!! No wonder all the surfers took advantage!
This meant it was a great day to get to see Valparaíso which is extremely dangerous for motor homes. I'd spoken to a French guy when we were up at Aconcagua. He and his family had just come from Valparaíso and had been broken into twice in three days. The first time was on a normal car park but the second time they had paid for secure parking!! It didn't make any difference they still got broken into again. He got Plexiglas windows fitted! They are not the only ones to have had problems by a long shot!
So, be warned! Never leave your vehicle alone in Valparaíso. It's a real pity because the coastal town is quite beautiful but with so many break-ins, just not worth the hassle. As soon as we found out it was a national censor day we decided to get in and out in one day.
We whizzed through Viña del Mar, I blocked a road junction so Kirsten could take a photo of the famous flower clock through the window and then we sped off to Wulff Castle which is on a busy two lane road with absolutely no parking! We drove past thinking we'd have to forego the photo when I spotted a parking bay on the other side of the carriageway. So we did a U-turn, I parked and stayed with Winnietwo whilst Kirsten jumped out for a photo.
Sea front in Viña Del Mar - 360° Panorama
(move mouse over panorama and click on the arrows)
Then we couldn't do another U-turn to get back and had to go around a different way to rejoin our route. Not the way we like doing our sightseeing but we needed to get to Valparaíso with enough time to see something and get out of there!
Valparaíso is a bit like San Francisco, built on the coast with very steep roads. It was just before 3pm when we got to the cemetery above the city centre - a place where we believed we could park safely providing one of us stayed with the vehicle.
Kirsten went off first for a 2.5 hour walk around. She came back at 5-30pm and told me the best route to take and what to leave out. She said she'd been down to the harbour area which was deserted on that day and very run down. She was too afraid to take her camera out because the few people around were all men and looked dodgy. They were all staring at her so she got out of there as fast as possible!
My walk only took 45 minutes. I went down a steep road to see some of the many murals. They are really very good and far better than the normal city graffiti. I took one of the many ascensors which are cable cars that ascend and descend extremely steep areas of the town. There used to be 27 but there are now only 14 that are still operating. Some of them are over 130 years old and are listed as part of the World Heritage site.
It cost me a whopping 100 pesos which is only 12 cents! I wandered around the streets and saw that some of the local cafés were starting to open and people were gathering around on the streets again. I decided to take a different route back but one of the steep sets of stairs was closed off and I ended up having to go around and through a decidedly run down area. Not the best idea! So I got out of there quickly, which isn't easy seeing as all the streets are so steep and finally got back to W2. At least I got a bit of exercise in the process!!
Cable cars in Valparaíso
We drove out of the town at 6-20pm through the rain and out onto the main highway 68. We pulled off onto a Copec petrol station for a noisy overnight stay but at least it was safe. We had unwittingly picked the perfect day to see Valparaíso when there was hardly any traffic on the roads and most people had stayed at home. Even the criminals seemed to have taken the day off!
