After checking into my hostel in Valparaiso, I immediately set out to explore the town whose walls made a canvas for the numerous murals that decorated the alleys and streets. I was not disappointed, and my exploration went slowly as I stopped constantly to take photographs. Four hours later, I found myself on the other side of the city, not exactly anxious to walk back.

My legs were sore from the exertion, but I’d already hatched a plan to return to the hostel. While walking, I had seen many buses passing by. I took note of the numbers with an idea that I might catch one of these back at the end of the day. Though it was somewhat of a crapshoot, since I didn’t know exactly where the bus route would terminate, I figured I could at least get closer to my hostel than I was at the moment.

I waited for almost 10 minutes before the first bus passed me despite my waving a hand in the air. After a second bus passed, I decided that I might be at the wrong place. I crossed the street and stood by the bus stop there. I knew a bus going that direction would take me directly back to town, instead of winding through the hills I’d just traversed, but it was getting dark, and I decided to go with the sure thing.  

When I returned to the hostel, I looked up the routes for the bus numbers I‘d noted on my walk. I found one that appeared to do exactly what I wanted, the Route 612. From the online map, it appeared to weave back and forth through the hillside neighborhoods above the city center. When it did drop out of the hills, the route went right by the light rail station I’d seen when I arrived. This gave me the opportunity to complete my loop by taking the light rail back to the neighborhood where my hostel was located.

The next morning I got up and headed out to the place where I’d first seen the bus the day before. I paid the equivalent of 75 cents and boarded with several locals. I made sure to sit on the driver’s side since those windows would be facing the harbor throughout the trip.

The ride gave me an excellent overview of the city, and I noted locations I would return to later that day or the next. I was also treated to several different perspectives of the harbor below before the bus arrived at the light rail station. I did have to pay extra to buy a metro card to ride the train, but I determined it to be an important component of my city tour, so for just three dollars, I enjoyed a city tour of Valparaiso.