Feeling like part of the Jet Set we headed the exclusive (ish) resort of Valle Nevado only 1.5hrs drive from Santiago. Despite the heat of the spring sunshine we were impressed with the amount of snow and condition of the pistes. The facilities were top notch and they even had free tissues at the bottom of the ski lifts, genius idea! It was nice to escape the pollution of Santiago and spend a day playing in the snow. Our first experience of Southern hempisphe...

Emma's description of Valparaiso was that it's like an oil painting; it looks lovely from a distance, but its a bit rubbish close up! The brightly painted buildings and colourful street art that tumble down the hills make up for the run down city centre, which looks a bit like Slough on Sea! Again cursed by the fact that the town was practically empty for the Independance day celebrations, we consoled ourselves with a slap up feed in a lovely restaurant overloo...

A bit of a nightmare journey from Mancora to Santiago. 10hrs overnight bus only to turn up at Lima airport at 2am for LAN to tell us that they had no record of our online reservation. Luckily we managed to get a flight with another airline for half the price so it all worked out well in the end. So, our first impression of Santiago? An expensive polluted city that could be anywhere in the western world, and they speak funny here as well (Its Chileano, not Spani...