Who are Karen's new friends? Find out in the newest thrilling chapter of Chile Con Karen (y Matt!)

Valparaíso

The journey to Valparaíso begins at the Pajaritos bus station. Buses from at least 5 different companies constantly pull into the Pajaritos terminal, load up on passengers, and pull out again, headed towards Valparaíso or Viña del Mar. For many, the 1.5 hour ride between Santiago and the coast is a daily commute. The brands of buses are all essentially identical, but pricing varies, mostly due to the perceived safety of each line. We chose Pullman, which is considered one of the safest bus companies, although accidents usually happen on the steep, twisting routes through the Andes, not the flat, scenic ride to the coast.
Once onboard, bus safety appears in interesting ways. Passengers are urged to keep an eye on the live stream speed of the bus, and if it goes over the speed limit of 100km/h, to tell the driver to slow down. A screen displays the name of the driver and how long he's been driving- again so that passengers can be sure the driver hasn't exceeded the legal maximum of 5 consecutive hours of driving. And lastly, a sign in front of each seat counsels riders to take care of their seatbelts and not damage them.

Pullman puts bus safety in YOUR hands.

Valparaíso is a grungy party town, international hippie destination, and high-end art mecca, all mashed into one. We discovered these aspects of Valpo one by one. On Friday night we wandered through the lower elevation areas between the city's iconic hills, where crowds of people surged from bar to club to street. On Saturday we visited two of the hills, Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepcion. Each hill has its own distinct culture, partly due to the fact that each hill has its own "acensor" or outdoor elevator to help tourists and locals beat the steep ascent. Overall these two hills were quieter... and more expensive than the lower regions.

Cerro Alegre Acensor

View from the top of the Cerro Alegre Acensor

Cerro Alegre is covered in murals and graffiti art, and packed with boutique chocolate and ice cream shops and art studios.

Some of Cerro Alegre's iconic graffiti

We visited the house of one of Valpo's most famous residents: Pablo Neruda. His house (called La Sebastiana) at the top of one of the hills, is built tall and narrow. Each of the 5 floors is only 1 or 2 rooms, all built to maximize the views over the city and the ocean. This was a surprisingly enjoyable tourist attraction, since La Sebastiana really is an appealingly and playfully constructed house. We were stuck behind an entire cruise ship's worth of French tourists in line, but as a result we were lucky to meet 2 friendly Mexican women who joined us in Viña del Mar for the rest of the day.

The view from La Sebastiana

Pablo Neruda did not believe in privacy- or at least not in bathroom doors.

The view from La Sebastiana

Karen in the same spot at La Sebastiana in 2011!

Viña del Mar

Viña is the tamer, classier cousin of Valparaíso. Where Valpo is an indistrious port, Viña has sandy beaches. Our first stop in Viña was the Reloj de Flores, followed by a walk along the water, past a castle and countless pelicans, to the beach. Having friends with us was nice because we were all able to take turns going in the water while someone watched the backpacks. As Karen and I stood in the surf, we figured that if our new friends stole our stuff after spending hours hanging out together, then they had earned it.

The Reloj de Flores

A castle for humans and a castle for birds

Concón

On Sunday, we returned to Viña to visit an Archeological Museum with exhibits on the Rapa Nui and Mapuche peoples and an extensive collection of taxidermied animals. Then we continued north to Concon, notable for its sand dunes. Matt's coworker arrived (having biked from Viña, while we took the bus) just as we were leaving, and passed on a recommendation for a good empanada place on the Concon seaside. We caught a bus there and enjoyed some very tasty shrimp and cheese empanadas. Just as we were finishing, Matt's coworker biked up to the restaurant. We laughed and chatted, and then left to head back to our hostel, but first we paused for a while at a beach. When we were ready to leave the beach, we turned around- to find Matt's coworker just arriving on his bike! I guess we were on the same Concón itinerary.