The bus took nearly 18 hours to arrive in La Serena, but we were surprisingly rested after long journey despite the guys behind being quite loud with their music and talking at 5am. We were given a little snack in the morning, a packet of sweet biscuits and a carton of orange juice to tide us over until we arrived at our destination mid morning.

Andreas, from 'Maria's Casa' where we were staying, was waiting at the bus station to walk us to the hostel which was just 1.5 blocks away. Maria had stayed at the hostel 7 years ago and it was still run by the same two brothers and their mum, Maria. Our rooms weren't quite ready yet so we were given a very welcome mug of steaming coffee while Mauricio talked us through a map of the city.

It wasn't long before the rooms were ready, basic double rooms with a shared bathroom just a few footsteps away, so we dropped our bags and headed out.

After Bolivia, we were all craving the shops an especially the supermarket - it's weird how priorities change on a trip like this. There was a mall nearby and it was a big one too. It had all the named brands you would expect in a western mall and it even had piped music playing. We were definitely back in a first world country. We didn't buy anything from the shops though, it just felt good to walk through and then grab a hot dog from the food court. As we were leaving, we stumbled across a ice cream shop with dozens of flavors, we couldn't resist sampling some of them.

After the mall, we went back to ask around in bus station about buses to Mendoza, Argentina. There was nothing direct until Sunday and others would need a change in Santiago so we figured it's better to stay there before continuing.

Back in the hostel, Mauricio explained more about the region and what tours were available.

While we digested the information, we hit the streets of La Serena. We walked towards the town centre, past couple of churches and through some nice streets with shops and cafes, to Plaza de Armas, the main square. A little further on we arrived at Mercado La Recova which now has handicrafts stalls on the ground floor and food stalls upstairs which are not recommended by locals.

Next to the Mercado was a supermarket, we seemed to be drawn into the shop and walked the aisles without buying anything, just marveling at all the products on offer. It seems a little sad, but we haven't seen a proper supermarket since Peru.

We found a cheapish sushi place for dinner with a promo on Chinese Tsing-tao beer. The beer was good and the sushi wasn't bad so all in all,we left happy.

The sun was setting as we left the restaurant so we headed back to the hostel via a nearby supermarket to buy some breakfast supplies and drinks. This supermarket even had Somersby cider so Maria was now really happy.