On the way to Valparaiso from Puenta de Inca, we traveled over a 12,000 foot pass - over the Continental Divide. We saw waterfalls off enormous stone mountains with tilted layers of rock. We climbed and John noticed that the rivers flowed to the East toward Argentina. He saw on the map that these became the Rio Mendoza. We passed through a long tunnel and when we emerged from it, the water flowed toward the West to become the Rio Aconcagua. The waterfalls became a small cascade and the road went through about 15 switchbacks - all visible looking down from the barren mountaintop. The road followed the old British-built narrow-guage railroad, which must have been an incredible engineering feat at the turn of the century, with tunnels drilled through sides of mountains and snow tunnels, now deteriorating. The British must have used old paths/roads known to local people, since the Andes is a formidable cordillera and to decide the best pass must have not been possible without pioneering expertise. From windy, dry mountains, we arrived in Valpariaso, the formerly major South American seaport, which influence was reduced by the building of the Panama Canal. It was a thriving center of international commerce in the 1800's and it is build on many steep hills. Our hotel, the Mirador, is 200 years old and has steep wooden staircases. We are in a tiny room at the top of a hill, overlooking the entire bay. Now there are container ships and the Chilean navy tied up. We arrived here by taking a city bus from the bus station and then locating an Ascensore at the base of Cerro Concepcion. An Ascensore it a small car that runs on a track up the hill at what seems to be greater than a 45 degree angle, as the complementary car runs down the track as a counterweight. This one was built in 1885. There are 15 left which charge a small amount to lift 7 people at a time to the tops of the hills to different neighborhoods. The houses are covered with a metal with small corregations, and have 12 foot ceilings, doors and windows. The streets on the hill are made with river rock. We had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant and the waitress began talking to us in English. She told us her name was Valeria and she was in the 3rd year at the University of Valpariaso studying to be an English translator. She said she had never left Valpariaso. She is 18 years old. She wanted to help us find our way around and we exchanged addresses. She wanted to correspond with mail because with email "something is lost".
Looking out over the hills, we noticed that a nearby hill was topped with an interesting cemetary with old crypts topped with statues and crosses. We climbed the hill without knowing how to get into the cemetary. We found the gate and a caretaker looked us over and let us in. I expect they are concerned about vandals in such a lovely old cemetary with elaborate family crypts from the late 1800's. There were 2 sections: one for Catholics and the other for "dissidentes" (non-Catholics). There were crypts for guilds, such as zapateristas (shoemakers?) and bomberos (firemen). In family crypts there were stained glass windows and statues outside and inside, with long "drawers" waiting for family members. Some were engraved for recent interrments. It was very peaceful and memorable with some of the best views of the city.
From the cemetary, we noticed what appeared to be a ghastly prison complex with 3 stories of barred windows and guard towers with glass broken out. Curious, and thinking this was all locked away from tourists, we stood on our tiptoes and peeked through a crack in an old gate. To our surprise, there were children playing soccer inside. We walked around, past colorful murals by children depicting desires for peace and justice and found the entrance - marked "Salida" (EXIT). It was a prison, which had been built in the early 1900's and was indeed a horrific place to be incarcerated, but it had been closed recently (in 1999) and turned into a performing arts center. Inside one of the cells with the door closed, a band was practicing Radiohead songs. John and I walked around the 2nd tier of cells and looked in each one. Paintings and mostly clippings from magazines of women were glued to the walls which were stained with splatters and grunge. Then someone told us that we weren't supposed to be on that level. People were sweeping the exercise yard because during the week, there were going to be rock concerts there in celebration of the New Year.
The new year coming is a major event in Valparaiso and walking around the city we saw almost everyone carrying and discussing a little program folder which had about 6 events each day - classical music concerts, children's puppet shows, rock concerts and the big event - a fireworks display on New Year's eve over the bay. Our hotel manager told us that people book rooms in the Hotel Mirador in October since she has a great view of the bay.

Some observations about Argentina:
Some observations about Chile: