Chinese Version / 中文版本
According to my plan, I took the 2.5 hours bus from Santiago to Valparaíso. From the many pictures I saw on the internet and the introduction I read on the Lonely Planet, the old town of Valparaíso is built on the hill. With the colorful houses next to the pacific ocean, the gentle breeze certainly puffs away the depressing city sense from me.
The bus station of Valparaíso is very far from the old town. Without asking anyone in the bus station, I hopped on a random local bus. The bus driver knew where I was going to and told me he would let me know later where I should get off. In the end, I did not know how much the bus fare was because I did not pay at all. Yay, free ride!!!
In order not to get the attention from muggers, I tended to read the map inside the post office. Finally I gave up reading the map and decided to wander the alleys by my sense. As long as I did not head south , I guessed I would not enter the slum, right?!?
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| Trash cans |
Climbing up the stairs could see a lot of street arts with good quality, even the garbage can could turn into an art piece. Besides, overlooking the pacific ocean on the hill was more stunning.
Then I passed by a wasteland, I trespassed the wires and met 3 Americans there. They are Caleb, Sara and Claire from Virginia and California respectively. They planned to travel around South America for half year, and Chile was also their first stop. As invited by them, we walked together to the legendary prison. Unfortunately, they decided to walk into a little forest instead of the normal paced road. With my super clumsy body and uncoordinated feet, I did not fall down to the hill but finished at turtle speed.
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| Cat |
Finally, we found that the legendary prison was dismantled to be a ruin. The nearby cemetery was also passed the opening hours. We could merely walk to the port and let the wind blow away our bad luck!
On the way, I talked with Caleb of everything from news, wall street occupation, transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong to music like Sigur Ros and The Strokes. It's been a long while haven't discussed some normal issues with normal people!
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| Hostel |
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| Delicious cookie & creme ice cream |
When we passed by a street vendor selling some small smelly woods, Caleb bought me one as a souvenir. I kindly refused his generosity yet I am not a smell person, let alone the wood smelt a bit weird. But I did not want to hurt him by speaking the truth, I responded with an extremely retarded answer, 'No thanks, my journey has just begun, I don't want to put too much weight on my backpack!' Then he replied instantaneously, 'Is this small wood really that heavy?' I felt so embarrassed and accepted that wood out of courtesy.
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| View of Valparaíso |
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| Colorful houses |
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| Valparaíso through the wires |
In the evening, we separated our ways. And I saw many strawberries again next to the bus station, I bought a bag even I didn't have much money with me. But it was another disappointment......very sad!
Meanwhile, I regretted so much that I do not stay in Valparaíso for the night, I seriously want to try the famous seafood stew!!!!!!
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| Elevator funicular in the city |
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| Dogs |
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| Pacific Ocean from the port |
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