We arrived in Santiago on Thursday after the longest journey - EVER! We left Arequipa on Tuesday at 10.30am, after sorting out a minor problem where we managed to get our bank card swallowed into the ATM, very clever! We took a 7 hour bus to Tacna which is on the Peru/Chile border.

From there against our better judgement we agreed to go with a guy in his collectivo, a big old American style car, across the border to Arica in Chile. The border crossing was the strictest we have been through and very time consuming, having to get in and out of the car several times with all our stuff. Sarah was subjected to the most pathetic drug search ever, which consisted of them opening her bag and then closing it again - probably couldnt face going through all her stuff!

We had to stay the night in Arica as all the buses to Santiago left in the morning. So we started the epic 30 hour 2100km journey down the coast of Chile Wednesday morning. The journey actually went pretty quickly, I read a whole book and Sarah slept! During the daytime the scenery was great, with the Pacific Ocean on our right and the Andes on our left, we even went through the famous coastal fog that allows many of the plants in the desert to survive.

We finally reached Santiago Thursday afternoon, hungry, tired, dirty and really argumentative! We checked into a fantastic hostel, possibly the best we have stayed in so far. Run by Aussies it is spacious, clean, with a pool, jacuzzi, bar, massive kitchen, loads of cool sofa areas and a cricket net! It feels like we are staying in a mansion house!

We have been really lazy in Santiago, recharging our batteries before our next leg of travelling! Our days have consisted of getting up late, wandering aimlessly around the very westernised city centre, eating pizza, then staying up all night drinking and chatting with people we have met in the hostel - GREAT! Student life all over again!

We are very sad that our South American adventure has come to an end as we catch our flight onwards to New Zealand tonight. We have had a wicked three months and hope the fun continues for the next nine months!

Take Care Andrew and Sarah xxx