I was picked up for the Elqui valley tour and ended up in the worst seat on the minibus - at the back with the wheel arch and two large chilean girls with no idea of personal space - one of their arms was right on my boob the whole time I was on the bus. So on the tour we went to: Elqui dam - used for hydroelectricty and windsurfing Monte Grande - home town of Gabriela Mistral Nobel prize winning poet. The musuem was fukl to the brim of tourists and not much e...

I took a bus to Valparaiso from Santiago - carefully avoding the rush hour this time and got there in early afternoon. Couldn't find the coectivo that my host had told me about so splashed out on a taxi - walking was definitely out of the question. I was greeted warmly by one of my hosts, Benjamin, and their two dogs -crazy but friendly. Their house is a massive old house with great views over the bay and Valparaiso - although I suspect lots of homes have good v...

Arrived in Santiago during rush hour on the metro - gave up trying to get in a train after a while and then when I got on an empty one it soon filled up. Once my station came I tried to get out but my small amount of progress was quickly undone and politeness went out the window after I was swept back by those trying to get on the train. After a "For f***s sake let me out!" someone on the outside grabbed the straps of my rucksack and dragged me out of the train t...

The bus to Pucon was dead easy - two blocks from our hostel and 1500 peso and a ten minute wait and we were sorted. Pucon is so far one of my favourite places - cleared geared up for tourists but very low rise with a much more coherent style than Bariloche. Our hostel - Chili Kiwi was right on the water front and full of charm. Run by a Kiwi and a Dutch man it had a very chilled vibe and it had lots of diffent types of accommodation including a camper van! We h...

After a mediocre meal and an early night we booked an afternoon bus tour around the circuto chico so had an explore of the town before this left. Bariloche is a bit like a Disney version of Switzerland with bits of England thrown in. We resisted having our photos taken with one of the Saint Bernards - until the next day at least! The town is geared to tourism but has not benefited from any apparent planning laws so there is a real mismatch of architectural styl...