Today we got up stupidly early to catch a bus 120km to a seaside town called Valparaiso. The town has a harbour which is pretty industrial but the real attraction of the place are the surrounding hills. They are covered in brightly painted old houses,with lots of little back streets and wall art everywhere-a real bohemian feel to it. They also have a funicular railway up and down some of the steeper hills which you can ride up or down on (also featuring in the m...

Second day in Santiago we explored the city some more. Yesterday we visited the Santa Maria on top of a mountain overlooking the city with very impressive views of the smog, city and the snow-capped mountains over-shadowing us. We then walked back down through the plazas and the markets, where there were traditional chilean dancers and people playing chess. Today we booked a coach tour to the coast for tomorrow,and saw the end of the city we hadn{t yet seen. I...

Arrived in South America today after delayed flights(both of us...!!)and very little sleep. We explored Santiago and checked into our hostel which is "classical colonisation bling" (hari),and got a very cheap meal with very nice wine for a few pounds. off to sleep now as lots planned for tomorrow. Lots of love xxxxx

Not really cycling to Southg America,but there was no flying option...!I'm at the airport ready to fly to Santiago in Chile,but my plane has been delayed by two hours....a bit of a pain,and Hari will have to hang around even longer(sorry...xxx).So I have become very well acquainted with the airport shops and cafes in the last 4 hours and am very much ready now to get on the plane!! Im not sure quite how accurate the map is,but more importantly the timezone could ...

This morning I visited Wai-O-Tupa,a thermal nature reserve,which was very impressive. Having seen nothing liek it before it was a really strange experience seeing bubbling mud and water shooting out the ground,but very cool. The colours were amazing aswell,and although they don't show up nearly as brightly on the photos,you get an idea i hope. After Wai-O-Tupa I visited a Maori village called Te Paui and was shown around the meeting house, the store rooms and cla...