Leaving Valparaiso and heading north proved to be more eventful than one would have imagined. In the 20 minute journey between Valpo and Vina del Mar our bus driver managed to plough into the side of another bus at a set of traffic lights. Being asleep at the time I'm not entirely sure of the events that preceded my waking up as the glass of the window 2 seats infront of me shattering from the impact... However nobody was hurt and we made it into Vina del Mar bus...

Valparaiso! Arriving here fulfilled two long held ambitions, firstly to visit the city so brilliantly described in Che Guevara's "Motorcycle Diaries" and secondly to cross the continent of South America from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific Coast. Thhe bus journey from Santiago, though for the most part fairly bland has a brilliant end, winding through the coastal mountains which are covered in the strange mix of Pine forest and Palm trees and then des...

Despite the confusion over my ticket saying I was Irish I made it across the Andes in a battered minibus to Santiago. The hostel, Ventana Sur, was class and had apparently been voted one of the top 3 in South America by Hostelbookers. On the first night they put on a traditional Chilean BBQ which included some red wine which was eaten outside by the small pool. Met a couple from Kirkintilloch which was a bit strange as well as some Greek guy called Giannis who ha...