The bus journey to San Pedro De Atacama was our first experience of Chiles night buses and overall we were really satisfied with our experience (no sick incidents like in Asia!). We had gone for the ´Salon Cama´ seats which meant we had more leg room and the seat reclined a bit further and so for the extra cost, it was worth it. We got the two front seats right on the top deck and so as we were leaving La Serena, we could watch the sunset out of the front window and take in the beautiful desert scenery that went on for miles and miles. A great way to fall asleep!

Our bus was 2 hours late arriving into San Pedro and so we didnt expect our free pick up from the hostel to be there. But, they didnt disappoint and Roberto appeared as soon as we got off the bus and had our luggage loaded in his van and off we went. San Pedro is a small village within the Atacama desert and so the journey to the hostel was interesting as we drove along dusty dirt tracks, no pavements in sight! Although basic, the hostel was nice and we chilled for a few hours before heading into the centre. The scenery was amazing, desert sprawling for miles with spectacular views of snow topped mountains in the distance. Very surreal but very captivating! The centre of the village was very traditional in terms of the central square and buildings. The idyllic white church in the centre was beautiful against the blue sky and we enjoyed wandering around the little streets as well as sitting in the square.

That evening Casper, a guy we had met in La Serena, arrived in San Pedro and so along with another couple, we all headed back out to the square to get some dinner. I thought I would try out my spanish as I has been backwards in coming forwards with speaking it so I ordered my food and eaglery awaited my roast pig with chips. Unfortunately fried fish with salad arrived and the others told me that was what I had ordered. They thought it was a strange choice being in the middle of the desert but didnt question it! Oh well it was nice all the same and good to chat to different people about their travel experiences.

The following day we were catching another night bus to Arica, our last stop in Chile, and so we took it easy, getting some lunch with the others and then visiting the museum. Our night bus to Arica wasnt quite as comfortable as the previous one having only gone for ´semi cama´seats. We arrived in Arica around 5.30am and so after finally finding a taxi we arrived at the hostel around 6am. It took us a good 10 minutes to get in but finally someone appeared and we caught up on some sleep before exploring the city. We had met some surfers from Brazil who had told us about the famous´El Gringo´wave so we headed down town to check it out. Crazy stuff! Whilst chilling at the point a local guy got chatting to us and after an hour or so he offered to take us on a tour of the area and to the bus station to check bus prices. We were in luck again! We had a good hour or so with Jorge and at the end of the day felt very lucky in meeting yet another nice person who could tell us more about their country.