Alison: We arrived in Santiago on the bus and navigated to our accommodation via the subway. We had managed to find a really nice centrally located apartment to stay in which was fully equipped, had a gym and pool, and was very cheap! It was a modern split level apartment and I'm not sure why it was so cheap but we were glad to find this little gem. It was just what we needed to recharge our batteries.We instantly really liked Santiago, probably because parts...

Alison: We arrived in Valparaiso in the evening and by sheer coincidence we saw our friends Kim and Alisha at the bus station. They had opted to fly and set off a day after us but had arrived in Valparaiso at the same time! That's how long our journey was!!!Valparaiso is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is located around 2 hours west of Santiago. On our first day we took a stroll into town and went on another free/tip based walking tour. On the tour our guide...

Alison: San Pedro de Atacama was our first stop in Chile and it was a relief to come down to a reasonable altitude. The elevation there is still 2438m but even this was a relief compared to the above 3000m we had become accustomed to! The town itself is pretty small and the main focus is a square in the middle. San Pedro is very popular with both overseas tourists and Chileans because it has lots of nice restaurants and bars and it is also surrounded by even more...

Alison: After Sucre we headed off on an 8 hour bus to Uyuni which is the town closest to not only the worlds largest salt flats but also what many consider to be the most unique and spectacular scenery in Bolivia. The salt flats are called Salar de Uyuni and are 12106 sq km and sit at 3653m above sea level. The most popular way to see the area is on a guided tour either starting and finishing in Uyuni or starting in Uyuni and finishing in San Pedro de Atacama in ...

Nigel: We had only planned to go to two places in Bolivia and then make a sharp exit out of the country. After feeling a little safer in La Paz and not being mugged, we decided that it would be unfair to not visit somewhere else in the country. Sucre is situated around 15 hours south of La Paz and our guide book describes it as "Bolivia's most beautiful city, and the symbolic heart of the nation". We thought we would give it ago. With its white wash buildings...