Chile- Valparaiso.

The return bus journey was less smooth than the outward journey.  The bus was stopped multiple times by the Argentinian Military Police, while customs into Chile also took ages.  Unfortunately on both bus journeys being night time we did not see much of the Andes.  However being more awake on the way back we could see the stars pretty clearly (almost at eye level) and experience the feel of 180 bends in the road.

We arrived early in the morning and were able to check in to the Ibis where we were staying.  It was the most modern building in Valparasio by a long way.  After looking at places up the hill which were more expensive this had proved to be the best value and we had a decent room.

For lunch I was keen to taste the local specialty dish 'Chorillana'.  Despite the beer being good the food was terrible.  As put by an Aussie we met later on- 'if that was my local dish I would be pretty embarrassed'.  Spot on.  The meat- a combo of beef, chicken cuts and cheap sausage was s*** and after Mendoza it was impossible to stomach bad meat.

In Valparasio one of the 'things to do' and also get up the hills is to take an elevator which is basically a rickety funicular railway.  Up the hill a few blocks are quite arty with many little cafes and painted streets.  Despite this the whole place felt very quiet.

After wandering around the bit of town on the hill, which to be honest is the only scenic bit of town we saw we went for drinks with a view of the sunset.  We chatted with some Aussies, who recommended a pretty decent restaurant called Cafe Tourri.  It was a relief to have something light in the form of salmon and salad.

Having checked out Valparasio which did not take too long, we used our second to check out the coast.  We headed to Concon, past Vina del Mar where waves small.  Nevertheless I hired the 'worst surfboard in the world' and had a quick surf in the small close outs- complete with a view of a nearby oil refinery.

We continued back past Renaca, which did not have any hire places.  But to be honest I don't think much was missed given that it was mainly close outs (below).

From our hotel we were able to observe the workings of the port including the comings and goings of ships like this.  We opted for dinner again at Cafe Tourri.  I opted to try Congor Eel, a Chilean dish, which was great.