Valparaíso (Valpo as the locals call it) is a World Heritage city built on several steep hills around the harbour.  The mansions and brightly coloured corrugated iron houses all seem to have been built on top of each other.

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To access the top there are many twisting stairways and a maze of alleys but the best way is to ride one of the more than 100 year old funiculars that rattle up and down the hillsides for as little as 60 cents.  It is first necessary to enter through a heavy, old fashioned turnstile operated by a foot pedal.

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Sadly, many of the old ascensores no longer operate and lie abandoned with their carriages still attached to the cable, one at the top of the hill and the other at the bottom.

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We got a hell of a fright at 3.30 this morning when our 100 year old hostel in Santiago de Chile started shaking and a big bit of the wall fell on the bed where Jeff had been lying.  It was an 8.8 earthquake. The hostel owner was very good and got us all out safely. 
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We waited a few hours in the park nearby before we could find another accommodation. We later saw that the wall on the floor above us had fallen out completely, leaving the beds exposed.  Its chaos in Santiago now and we are stuck here for a couple of days as no buses or planes are going anywhere. 
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We returned to Chile to meet up with Katie and Chantelle.  From Arica on Chile´s dry north coast, we made our way south to Iquigue through a surreal landscape of massive sand dunes.

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San Pedro de Atacama, established in 1540, is a little oasis in the Atacama Desert, the driest in the world.

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17 hours away by bus is La Serena, and another 7 got us to Santiago.  The Spanish arrived in La Serena  in 1544.

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