Valparaiso, Chile, part two.

The grafitti on the walls started as political messages during the Pinoche regime. After the fascists fall in 90, the grafitti more or less turned into street art and today it has become the city's hallmark. At my left side is a painting of a big green toad. The toad is an imagination of one of Pinoche's spies.

This is the Yoguslavian castle. A rich Yoguslavian lord was passing through here 100 years ago, he fell in love with the castle and bought it. Today the castle has been turned into an art museum. The art exhibition is pretty dull but the Castle is worth a visit because of its extraordinary arcitecture and internal woodworking.

There are two cementaries in town. The cementery number 1 is for catholics and number 2 for protestants. The rulers in town did this to avoid dispute between the members of the two religious communities. 🙄🙄🙄

At Casa La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda , one of the world's most recognized poets, lived and worked. He also had and still has a house in Santiago and one in Isla de Negra outside the Pasific Coast.

This is his work room.

Pablo Neruda died in 1973, three weeks after Pinoche took the power in Chile.

Valparaiso, Chile, part one.

From Mendoza in Argentina I took a bus over the Andes mountains and down to Valparaiso in Chile. Some days the weather is so bad up here so no cars and buses are allowed to pass the border. 

Chile is a very long and thin country on the west coast og South-America. Chile borders Peru in the north, Bolivia and Argentina in the East. There are 17 million people living here and Santiago the Chile is the capital.

If you love history, street art, and bohemian life, Valparaíso is the place to go. Street art and graffiti covers the citywalls everywhere and there are plenty of small cafees, bars and resturants.

Valparaiso is a major seaport and educationcenter. There are seven universities here. The city is located 120 km from the capital. Its also the headquarter of the Chilean National Congress.

It was here the the resistance movement against the Pinoche's regime started in 1973 after Pinoche deposed Salvador Allende in a military coup with support from the CIA.

I stayed with Claudio and Mario in their house in Templeman 571. 

The house is situated in the most colourful area of town.

They bought this big blue house three years ago and turned it into a hostel for students and backpackers. Claudio and Mario are also living here.

This was a home away from home. I loved living here and I got a number of new friends because Mario let me into his sosial life.

Marios animals are so friendly and eager to meet new people. 

Douglas is an artist from NY living most of the time in Rio de Janeiro. He had just arrived from Santiago de Chile when I met him. He was very upset because he got his backpack and passport stolen in the middle of the street. This was an awakening for me who had become pretty blunt after travelling for allmost a year without any bad experiences. 

His daughter Kyla is studying sosiologi in Valparaiso.

Theo from Lyon in France is studying mathematics here.