After the heat of the Atacama Desert we found our next destination to be surprisingly cool in comparison. La Serena is on the coast, a long bus ride south from the desert. It has lovely, sunny, sandy beaches that remind me of Australia.. except the breeze was chilly and the ocean froze the tootsies when you dipped one in! The town itself didn't really offer us much to see or do, but we did happen to be staying in the best hostel we've stayed in on our entire trip! Dove hand wash in the bathroom, dry towels, a couch in front of a big screen TV that actually worked and super-fast Wi Fi (or normal speed for most of you reading this in Australia or the UK). Plus the old ladies that ran it were adorable. Less like a scuzzy backpackers hostel and more like staying at your aunties house. So in this clean and comfortable cocoon of mod cons, fast internet, home cooked meals and other travellers discussing how they were so excited about going to Australia soon (plus the aforementioned beaches) we started feeling a little home sick. We've been on the road for a little while now (about 9 months) and South America in particular has a way of taking it out of you. Plus our budget was starting to look like one of the many malnourished and unloved dogs we've seen roaming the streets.

So we decided it was time to make an exit strategy and return to 'normal' life a little earlier than originally planned. We changed our flight to Australia from mid-March to mid-February... a month less, which will mean no expensive Brazil and Rio Carnival, but honestly we're not too concerned about missing it. Maybe we'll do that another year.. or maybe not. In the meantime, we still have a few months to fill in and a few ideas of how to fill them. First up; leave the cocoon and head to Valparaiso.

Valparaiso is a colourful port town oozing with gritty character and graffiti-covered alley ways (and I mean the awesomely artistic type of graffiti, not just s***ty tags). You gotta be fit in this town though, as the hills are steep and the stairs are plentiful, but if you can suck it up this town has a lot to offer. We did a great free walking tour all through the grimy streets and also explored Pablo Neruda's house (some wacky eccentric poet with wacky eccentric interior design sense). We also took on a big plate of the local delicacy named chorrillana...which was basically a pile of chips covered in braised steak & onions and melted cheese served on a lettuce leaf to make it appear in some way healthy. Even the locals called it 'heart attack on a plate'.

Another bus ride later and we were in Santiago, which we were warned about. We were expecting another hectic, dirty city (like Lima) but we found a bright, vibrant and very liveable city full of a great selection of busy restaurants and packed-out bars. And the weather was lush... nice and warm with blue skies. We found ourselves looking forward to when we return here (we fly back to Australia from here) to explore a few more days... instead of staying at a hotel close to the airport for a possible quick escape.

Anyway, on our last day we made our way to the airport to hop on a flight down to Patagonia to see the glaciers. Good bye warm weather....

Daz