From 4ft deep white snow in the south to an openess of brwon, arid desert soil in the north; the contrast is extraordinary. To know that I am still in the same country is mind-boggling!

A 23-hour bus journey took me from Santiago and landed me in San Pedro de Attacama; a samll town placed randomly in the World's second driest desert. Seven hours into the journey I already noticed the changes in vegetation - bushy grasses and cacti beacme a lot more frequent. As night fell, the clear, navy sky filled with twinkling stars; something that I had not seen for a while having been in the heavily polluted capital city.

Then, as morning approached and I awoke from a good night's sleep (yes, it was good even though I was on a bus - I had so much room to stretch out my legs that they actually began to ache and as a result, I had to bend them!), I saw that the bus windows were lined with desert views that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Although a major tourist hub, San Pedro is a charming little town - dusty roads and one storey buildings line the few streets. It would seem that to be a local, and survive, you have to either own a hostel, restaurant, internet cafe or tour agency; these are everywhere!

Despite the dust wreaking havoc with my eyes and nose, I still managed to soak up and enjoy the hot desert sun shining brightly in the clear blue sky - it was so nice to feel some natuarl heat. From San Pedro I joined a half-day tour to Valle de la Luna. For 5 pounds, I was taken to see a rocky landscape which, in the right light, did resemble the surface of the moon (as far as I know). For sunset, I climbedo the top of a huge sand dune from which I could see the Andean range (this time minus the snow).

The next overnight bus took me to the Chile-Peru border crossing town of Arica. Not a very exciting place, but a trip to Lauca Natioal Park is apparantly a must to see the World's highest navegable lake. The trip included transfers, a guide, breakfast and lunch and, oxygen. Well, we were to be going 4750m above sea level, it might be necessary. As it turned out, I didn't need the oxygen, the altitude didn't affect me too much. However, maybe I didn't need it because I had had some Coca leaves - something the locals use to fight altitude sickness - ealier on (unsure whether cocaine is a derivitive, but I did feel relaxed and sleepy a little while later). After the many hours it took to reach, to be honest, the lake wasn't the highlight for me. Instead, the alpacas that I met half-way up were; such funny looking animals!