Santiago, Valpraiso and Vina del Mar

I`ve shaken off the belgian guys - I think they were just coming back from a club as I was leaving for valpraiso. I can`t believe how many 2-litre boxes of wine (60p) we got through. Santiago is great - really lively, really good atmosphere, lots of things to do, pretty cheap - more expensive than Jakarta but not a dump. The street market was very entertaining - every so often the police would come and it would evaporate in ten seconds flat. Wait a few minutes, its back up and running. The shops all have very bizarre ticket systems - queue in line, get told to buy ticket, queue to buy ticket, get ticket, get ticket stamped, pay for stamp, queue to exchange stamp for item... But hey, the prices are about half that of europe and the items feel just as good.
Valpraiso (prounounced Vlprsi as far as I can tell) is a bit of a dump - "colourful" hillside neighbourhoods, half the chilean navy in the harbour and a big port. Vina del mar is pretty good - not a lot here, but its a nice place. Tonight its overnight to La Serena where they make the Pisco - grape brandy.