Cartagena

Yesterday my friend Jon and I went down to a little beach area south of Valparaíso called Cartagena. It wasn't in my tourist book and no one seems to have really heard of it, which I find surprising given how beautiful it was. The bus ride, about 2 hours each way, went through lots of little coastal towns with white beaches or occasionally rugged cliffs. It kind of reminded me of driving along Highway 1 in California. We had an amazingly beautiful day for our outing--lots of sunshine--and it was fun to get out of Valparaíso for a bit and be in a smaller, more colorful town where there wasn't traffic or noise and where architecturally bizarre houses (I was surprised that some of them were even standing) were jumbled together along the cliffs.


The bus lets us off in a neighborhood of terraced houses with a view of many little inlets and beaches.


At the "Playa Chica"


I look for seashells at the Playa Chica.


Ramshackle houses along the ocean.


As the afternoon fog rolls in, the coastline appears even more rugged.