A jewel in the Pacific: Valparaiso lives up to its sobriquet

First impressions 

Dilapidated, gritty, littered and unfriendly. A street parallel to the railway track is lined with shop houses filled with vegetables of all sorts that spill out their contents on to the street. Some vegetables lie rotting in corners while others are withering under the hot December sun. But that impression of a rough-and-tumble  town quickly  shifts. As we approach the city centre we see imposing buildings as well as dignified ruins. We are on Plaza Sotomayor proudly dominated by a blue toned majestic Edifico Armada de Chile. To our surprise the plaza lies on reclaimed land! 

Full of exploratory promise

Our first visit is just before Christmas. The streets and the plaza are filled with colourful stalls plying just about everything you can't get in regular stores. The plaza is close to the port which is a hive of activity. A good place for people watching. The rest of the city is on the terraced hill slopes ascended through either stairs or funiculars. There are about 42 hills with 16 ascensors hugging the hillsides. If you look at  map of the city you'll notice that the city area hugging the coast is well laid out in a grid. Extending from the grid towards the interior the roads go higgledy-piggledy following the contours of the hills.

Heeding the warnings

The staircases are so colourful that the temptation is to climb them but the sheer incline on a hot day is enough to squash such a desire. We have been warned of pickpockets and robbery. We carry nothing valuable with us. Yet we decide to play safe, especially in areas that look sketchy. So we attempt the steps up to a alley. The climb reveals  brightly coloured houses on either side. Surely, as we climb higher we would be treated to great views over the port?

Testing the waters of a once great port

The best thing to do would be to get oriented to the city first. What better way than to join the free walking tour of the UNESCO world heritage site.( Almost every city has a set of guides and a couple of itineraries with different timings, starting points, durations and routes. The guide earns only the tip, in USD. ). We take the 10 am tour from Plaza Sotomayor. 8 more tourists have joined us.Our guide enthusiastically tells us briefly about the history of the  monument in the plaza before walking us to the port to learn about the origins of this fascinating Chilean city.  Before the Suez Canal opened, Valparaiso was the largest port along the Chilian coast. The buildings at sea level and the various mansions are testimony to Valparaiso’s  heydays. The palm trees are a gift from Brazil. The arch near the port was built by the British. What was Latin America’s first stock exchange stands near the plaza. 

Rickety but cheap, swift, rewarding

We walk to the El Peral ascensior that dates back to 1901. For 100 pesos each the tatty, time-worn, creaky contraption whisks ( within a minute) us 55m up to the summit of Cerro Alegre aka  “Happy Hill.”  As we saunter through Paseo Yugoslav lined with luxury hotels,  innumerable zig-zagging staircases, churches and houses our senses are overwhelmed. The vibes certainly match the nickname for the hill.  The eccentricity of the architecture, colour and paintings impart an energy that is all embracing. There's even a boardwalk, a look-out point, that grants us a bird's eye view of the city.  

Funky

We are nothing but intrigued when we come to the foot of the truly 'illustrious' rainbow staircase and the piano staircase. Looking for an alternative method to walk downstairs? The city has thought of that too. The boardwalk at Ascensor Reina Victoria includes a slide that can facilitate a descent to the lower level!   

Feed yourself, but that stray dog?

We stop at a dive-in for its famous empanadas, assembled and quickly fried while you wait. There are only a few stools and hence it's more like a take-away. Apparently the pastries were delicious and people went back for more.

One of the tourists was going to feed a stray dog. If you have read my blog on La Serena you'd be familiar about the increasing population of street dogs in Chile and how loyal and gentle they are towards common folk. Hence the interjection from our guide, " If you feed this dog he might follow you all the way to your home wherever in the world it might be"  did not seem far-fetched.

The  tour  walks us through more picturesque streets embellished with street art and bright murals with a generous sprinkling of alcoves and recesses that display the for-sale-works of artsy residents, as well as galleries, hotels and cafes.  We reach the Baburizza Palace resplendant with Alpine balconies and turrets, once a Croatian businessman's mansion, now a museum.  

AirBnB accommodation

To our great delight our rental apartment overlooks an ascensor. We can hear it trundle up and down. From the balcony we see the busy port and the modern part of the city.  We have already bought our groceries and so we enjoy a home cooked meal with a view. 

Vanishing egg  vendor

When we go out in the morning we see a young woman selling eggs. Perhaps she would sell us a few eggs which is all we need. The eggs seem unusually heavy.  She bundles a few for us while we pay her. She is looking around furtively. The moment we finish the transaction she folds up her 'shop' and disappears. She is unlicensed. She had observed a policeman from the corner of her eye

Revelation: burrowing through warrens

With the eggs( they were actually hardboiled) safely back in the apartment we leave to explore the rest of the city. Now we dare the sketchy areas. We climb up broken or unfinished staircases, take the windy roads and are practically lost in a maze of terraces, curved staircases, alleys, slithery sandy slopes and shored up hill sides and precariously propped buildings. As long as we can glimpse the sea we'll find our way back.We understand now that landslides and earthquakes are a reason why everything seems so shabby. However there are colourfully  painted mansions and murals here and there enough to indicate that the area had been vibrant before decaying or that its recovering.

Information and awareness 

As we pant up one of the hills we discover a park, and across it, lo and behold, it's La Sebastiana. That's when I got to know about the Nobelist, Pablo Neruda. My experience there with fake pesos I have recorded in my blog entitled Chile Chicanery. The ship-shaped 5 storeyed home is furnished with eccentricities from foreign adventures. Every window has a view over the city.

Poignant point.

Every city must have a cemetry. Where is Valparaiso's?  Could you have guessed, unless you've been to Recoletta cemetry  in Buenos Aires?

Adventure

The next day we take the bus to Vina Del Mar. The adventurous episode is described in yet another blog.

On our return from Vina del mar we decided to spend the evening at the port. We're in for a treat.  Long lines form for tourist boats. The pier is alive with culinary delights, art and craft booths and performers. Just as people are enjoying the promenade, the gulls and pelicans are looking to enjoy the tidbits tossed at them.

Valparaiso  is breathtaking, in all senses, provocative, mesmerising and amazing.

Grafitti vs murals? Struggle vs celebration? Colour vs drabness? Indomitable spirit?  

Definitely a jewel of the Pacific.