After riding down the coast of Chile I arrived at my second-to-last stop on the trip: Valparaiso. It is a coastal city that serves as one of the main ports for the country. I spent the last few days exploring the city and seeing the sights. The city was built in the 1800s on the steep hills overlooking the bay. The street layout is very chaotic and consists of many small alleys and narrow passageways, often with long sets of stairs. Because there are so many hills, they built a system of angled elevators to transport people up and down between neighborhoods. They are pretty fun to ride, although they can be a bit freaky since they’re over 100 years old.

Besides the steep hills and elevators, the other thing Valparaiso is known for is its abundance of street art. And I don’t mean just a few murals here and there, I mean literally every surface in the central city is covered by murals, art, and graffiti. The buildings, doors, power poles, stairs, etc are simply a canvas for the city’s artists. I had a great time just wandering the many passages and looking at the street art. I was told by a local that Valparaiso had sort of been the center of the resistance movement during the dictatorship, and that’s where much of the street art had stemmed from. Since open political resistance was outlawed, much of the protest took the form of street art, and the tradition has carried on. Here is just a small sample of some of the art I saw.

Overall, Valparaiso was one of my favorite cities that I’ve visited and one of the most vibrant art and culture scenes that I’ve seen.