Wednesday, 9th June After a 4-5 hour wait by the road we were picked up by another bus and dropped at La Serena(1/3 of the way to San Pedro), where we were all given a refund and told to find our own way to San Pedro. We caught a bus an hour later to Calama which is 2 hours North of San Pedro so heading in the right direction. Tom found a hotel once we arrived at 7:30pm and both shattered so staying here tonight. We could only find 1 bar that you can smoke in...

Monday, 7th June Love the beds and duvets at the hostal, didn't want to get up. Found out about buses to the Atacama desert and went back to the pub from last night for a drink, then on to the markety area for something to eat. I'd just jokingly said that we'd be sitting there for half an hour and not seen Claudio yet when he walked past, on his way to a meeting but stopped for a quick drink and chat. Claudio's been working on some work logos for Tom so we we...

Friday, 14th May Had a wonder through the town, we could be in the swiss alps here. Booked our Villarrica Volcano climb for tomorrow so no turning back. Stopped in the nice cafe down the road for a hot chocolate in the sunshine. Saturday, 15th May Niether of us slept very well, the wind was blowing so gard we thought our climb might be cancelled but the smoke from the Volcano was only blowing slightly so we headed over. It was freezing at the bottem sowe all g...

Tuesday, 11th May Up, packed, brekkie, negociated the metro and bus to Chillan. 6 hours instead of 3 but hostal Christy is very sweet, there's only 3 rooms and one other French/Chillean couple staying here. Very chilly walk round town, really notice it getting colder, supper and beers then back to get the lekky blankets on! Wednesday, 12th May Found a great food market in town whilst looking for somewhere to get the washing done $9 for not a lot of washing, ...

Thursday, 6th May Pleased that I checked the exchange rate, got 27,000 off the price of our room. Met Claudio and Karina at the airport who were on their way home from Moorea. So glad to see them and have them as guides around Santiago at rush hour, the metro was fun with our bags. We found a Hostal near their appartment and went for a few beers at Don Rodriga Bar, a tiny local. Claudio and Karina headed off to catch up with family so we headed back to the h...