Our next stop was the ultra-cool Valparaíso, full of so much art in so many forms- there are galleries everywhere, well-preserved historical buildings, plus the streets are absolutely full of fantastic street art graffiti. It’s one of the best places in the world to come see just how interesting this form of art and expression can be.
I’m slightly ahead of myself because the day before we made it to Valparaiso we explored some of the coast to the north. This picture is from Horcon, where the coast was a welcome sight to us- the last time we saw the ocean was in Uruguay!
So we took advantage by eating some fantastic seafood
Another momentous thing that happened before we properly made it to Valparaiso was that I brushed out my last 4 dreadlocks. I had started this project back in Montevideo (Uruguay), where I brushed one out just to see how terrible it would be. It totally sucked, but for some reason I kept going-intermittently brushing other dreadlocks here and there. I think it helped that I was on no set schedule and we had lots of long hours in the vehicle where I could just sit and brush away (with very large quantities of conditioner). When I started the project I had 66 dreadlocks on my head and I was down to my final five. I left one for good luck, but the last four I finished while we sat on a beach in Viña del Mar, waiting for the Airbnb we had booked to be able to let us in. So although we were stuck waiting, in a way it was a very poetic send-off to my dreadlocks. When the last one was brushed out I performed a ceremonial dance on the beach where I threw my steel comb, small elastics and other dreadlock associated tools into the garbage. Jared just kind of sat on a nearby bench pretending to not know me.
Now I will finally get down to our tour of Valparaiso’s sights. This was inside of a cemetery, and the alcoves had concrete windows with fantastic views out over the city.
Don’t you think?
We then descended down into the city to be able to see the art up close and personal.
It’s an explosion of colour, as most of the houses are brightly painted and then people cover the bottoms in fantastic graffiti
“The illusion of life is a moment” “Life is short”
“We are not hippes, We are happies”
The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page”
Plus there were SO many cats, which was so very nice. There are just so many dogs in South America and it was nice the cats got at least one city
This is a drawing of the late Pablo Neruda, one of Chilé’s (and the world’s) most beloved poets. Check out ‘20 Love Poems and a Song of Despair’ if you get the time.
Some of the oldest houses in Valparaiso, beautifully preserved. Back in the day people in Valparaiso would build their houses out of leftover corrugated tin- which used to be used to package up goods being sent by ship. This was before shipping containers were invented. However, as they were in a pretty salty climate by the sea this corrugated tin rusted quite quickly so they would paint it with leftover paint from the ships. Ships were always painted in bright pastel colours so that they could be easily seen through the fog. This is what resulted in Valparaiso becoming a rainbow of pastel houses made of corrugated tin.
Gato!
This wall depicted some of the ancestral dress of the Selk’Nam people, an indigenous group that inhabited Tierra del Fuego. They are unfortunately now considered extinct as a tribe. When Spanish conquerors came to South America these people resisted valiantly and as a result of the trouble they caused the Spanish placed bounties on their heads. Only one person in the world- Joubert Yanten Gomez- can speak their ancient language. He is of part Selk’Nam ancestry and taught himself the language. He uses the name Keyuk.
Since Valparaiso is so crazy hilly, the city built funiculars in the late 1800s and early 1900s so people could get home after a long days work without having to climb all those stairs. Some of these funicular‘s are still working today, like this one. It only cost us 100 Chilean pesos to ride, about $.20
The house of Pablo Neruda, which he mostly used for parties and entertaining. I also toured the house he lived in the most of the time in Santiago, which was full of the coolest art and knick-knacks.
Ok, so there were actually a ton of dogs in Valpo too, some of the fattest we have seen all trip!
Down by the docks
This is a famous piece of street art done by Chilean artist Milan. He is from Chiloé originally, a small island off the west coast of Chilé. His art speaks about the issues faced by the people of Chiloé- namely the isolation they feel because the services to the people Chiloé are substandard when compared to people on the mainland.
A very famous and larger than life piece done by @Inti. In this piece he incorporates trinkets from the indigenous people of Chilé
It was a fantastic city, and one I would go back to in a heart beat
Until Next Time!
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