Tuesday, April 22 – Day 126I took a bus to Valparaiso this afternoon. It’s a coastal city of about 200,000, and is home to the country’s largest port. It’s also the 2nd most popular tourist destination in the country.
This is a hard looking town. I know two people that have been mugged here. One girl actually got her camera stolen from her while she was taking a picture. The other, a guy, got knocked over as a kid tried to get his wallet while attacking him from behind. He ended up with a sprained ankle and couldn’t walk for 4 days. The problem here is that kids under 16 can’t be prosecuted. The police are only obligated to try and call their parents. The kids just make up a name and number, and when the police can’t get through, they just let them go.
My first impression was not very favorable. Every one of the buildings look like they should be condemned, and none of the people that live here look very happy. I really can’t imagine what the tourist draw is, but I did spend the first night a really cool hotel. It’s in a 100 year old building, but the inside is done in a very modern style, kind of like a W Hotel.
On the second day, I started to pay a little more attention to things. The whole city sits on big crescent-shaped hill with a very steep descent to the ocean. All of the building and houses are very old, but only about half of them really need to be condemned. The rest of them are really pretty cool. The colors and textures are amazing. And while some of the buildings are pretty simple, there’s a ton of neat architectural detail on most. By the end of the third day, I had probably taken over 200 pictures.
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