Day 643 – South America – Chile [Las Dichas to Valparaiso]

24/01/22

41km

  From Las Dichas (Chile) to Valparaiso (Chile)

South America

One last run towards the Pacific ocean, onto the hills and port of the city Valparaiso – such an evocative place

On the road to Valparaiso!

Valparaiso, at long last! I remember the days when I was planning the journey, back in 2017 and 2018. I always knew I wanted to cross the Andes going up from Valparaiso and into Argentina. I had read Tom Denniss’ book (world-runner #3, “The World at my Feet”) and the pictures of the crossing as well as the tales were very inspiring. The crossing is also close to the Aconcagua – a summit I once eyed… before realizing my meager mountaineering experiences did not qualify me to attempt it – unless I was ready to put as much effort into it as I did into my running… which I was not ready for!

The not-so-pleasant sights of the backroad to Valparaiso…

I ran into the city from the backroad. The dust road. A nice hilly run on a country road where I met at most 3 or 4 cars for 20km. Then I hit civilization and headed towards the dust road to Valparaiso. Up a dirt road that was just that: dirt. Garbage sprawn everywhere… reminiscent of that pile of dust I ran on a few days ago near Cartagena. What a sad sight (and smell). When I reached the top of the hill I was greeted by an even sadder sight. A shanty town literally. I wonder if that is the hill where the fire burned in 2014, destroying some 2018 homes… Could well have been as I did not see many trees around.

Valparaiso is a city built on very steep hills overlooking the port. There is a system of funiculars (ascensores) going up and down the various hills, a bit like ski lifts do. I shall look into it tomorrow on my rest day. The run down towards the port was extremely steep.

A partial view of Valparaiso from the top of the hill

Oh and I got some new shoes today at long last! Shopping for shoes is never a pleasure. I always look for the simpler, thin soles model. And I always am baffled by how thick the soles are and all the new gimmicky things that do not make too much sense (bouncy soles, fast technology… Fast shoes, really?!). Anyhow – I got something which is not ideal, but I could not be too picky, the current shoes were literally falling apart, with holes in the fabric and in the sole.

Enjoy the video of today’s run: https://www.relive.cc/view/vQvydjN194q

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: