I wasn’t going to visit Valparaiso until I met a young couple living in Chile in a Santiago rock bar. They showed me a picture of the swathe of coloured roofs clinging on to a steep Valparaiso hillside and the art and photography lover in me was instantly hooked.  Just one and a half hours by bus from Santiago (that’s just down the road in comparison to some of the journeys I’ve tackled in the last few weeks!) and you’re in the bustling port of Valparaiso.

To keep fit I decided to forgo the trolley bus, and walked for a bit less than half an hour, past engineering uni students taking a break in a park, and arrived at the main square. I’m calling it “main square” because Starbucks was there. As in practically every city I visit, there was a large demo and a march promoting workers’ rights. I stayed and watched for a bit before setting off uphill towards Cerro Alegre, which had been recommended by Paige and Nikki back in Santiago. At this point I’m going to stop waffling and let you see some pictures. These are just a few random ones out of the hundreds I took. Valparaiso is a bit like Venice, where you don’t really need to go to the sights to get photos. You just turn the next corner. The town leaves a vivid impression on you. I wandered non stop for about five hours, and could have stayed much longer. Valparaiso really is a town of many colours, to which my iphone can’t really do justice. I’ve not put the photos in any order. It’s just a random selection, because that’s what it’s like wandering round: you don’t know what will come next.

       

Words and pictures by Si @cre8ivation