Valparaíso

Valparaíso is not Viña del Mar, which also isn't Reñaca or Zappallar. Except that Viña del Mar is practically Valparaíso which then makes you assume that so is Reñaca when in fact it isnt.

This coagulation of names is THE Chilean seaside city where everyone comes to relax on the beach or party at night. I followed the group's directions and arrived in the crappiest looking plaza in the world on top of a distant hill full of burnt taxis (ok, so it was just one burt taxi). I then started to worry that my friends were [more] deranged [than they already are] and that had sent me to my death.

Well... no. It turns out they found a great little apartment with terrace, kitchen and all on this random hill between the two cities. So the days we spent here were even lazier than Santiago, waking up no earlier than noon and spending the next few hours watching TV and eating breakfast on the porch. Then at around 3 or so we'd walk around town, or go visit Monica's relatives´swimming pool in Reñaca, or the port.

The last night we made chicken and partied our hearts out in an empty club till early morning. That probably wasnt the smartest thing to do when we had to leave early the next morning, and our bodies made us suffer for it.

The next day we leisurlyly (my conjugation mechanism's off) woke up and took the bus to Santiago where we spent the day walking up Cerro San Cristobal for breathtaking views of the city while waiting for our 10pm bus to Mendoza, Argentina which reached at 4:30 am and started a catastrophic chain of events leading to us feeling stupid and losing $4. But I'll leave that for the next post.