skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Posted On Monday, February 11, 2013 at
at
1:28 AM
by Alvin
Amidst the relaxing times we were enjoying in La Serena came the horrendous news that half of San Pedro di Atacama had been washed away by torrential rains ! We put on our thinking hats and quickly decided to head south instead, to the UNESCO port city of Valparaiso, once the most popular destination of all South America's sea-faring cargoes - before the Panama Canal opened that was. "Valpo" was irresistible on the blue day we were there; we had an early stand-up breakfast at the local 7-Eleven and having been pumped up with Chilean caffeine, we attacked the many Cerros of Valpo with zest. Valpo was dotted with interesting colorful houses and the characteristic ascensores added to the special flavour of this proud city. The gentle sunshine, fresh salty sea air and the many winding streets gave us a positive lasting impression of this once trading centre of Latin America.
Next we took an overnight "Salon Cama" bus to the university town of Valdivia which had a familiar feel of Tiel - the Dutch town where we spent half a year in year 2,000. Perhaps because of the cool and windy day or the peaceful river front packed with even more peaceful cafes (with peaceful pensioners nodding off ...), we felt that we had been transported to a little Dutch town. Moreover, Valdivia University was full of character - the on-campus Pharmacology Department was partly housed in a thatched roof cottage (think Devon). We had a very peaceful 2 days' sojourn in this town (in a tidy dinky apartment) before moving on to Argentina.
Amidst the relaxing times we were enjoying in La Serena came the horrendous news that half of San Pedro di Atacama had been washed away by torrential rains ! We put on our thinking hats and quickly decided to head south instead, to the UNESCO port city of Valparaiso, once the most popular destination of all South America's sea-faring cargoes - before the Panama Canal opened that was. "Valpo" was irresistible on the blue day we were there; we had an early stand-up breakfast at the local 7-Eleven and having been pumped up with Chilean caffeine, we attacked the many Cerros of Valpo with zest. Valpo was dotted with interesting colorful houses and the characteristic ascensores added to the special flavour of this proud city. The gentle sunshine, fresh salty sea air and the many winding streets gave us a positive lasting impression of this once trading centre of Latin America.
Next we took an overnight "Salon Cama" bus to the university town of Valdivia which had a familiar feel of Tiel - the Dutch town where we spent half a year in year 2,000. Perhaps because of the cool and windy day or the peaceful river front packed with even more peaceful cafes (with peaceful pensioners nodding off ...), we felt that we had been transported to a little Dutch town. Moreover, Valdivia University was full of character - the on-campus Pharmacology Department was partly housed in a thatched roof cottage (think Devon). We had a very peaceful 2 days' sojourn in this town (in a tidy dinky apartment) before moving on to Argentina.
