Santiago was great, the hostel we were staying in was probably one of the best hostels we have ever stayed in. It was full of really nice people and it was really clean. We had it recommended to us by one of the girls from Chile who we met in Uruguay. There isnt a great deal to do here, but the city itself is really nice. While we were there we did a free walking tour which showed us all of the historical buildings, and explained a lot about Santiago. We went for drinks with the girls we met in Uruguay, I had a drink called the earthquake, which I am not sure exactly what is in it, but it definately has about 5 different kinds of alcohol! When we got home I had to go straight to bed! Most of the time was spent chatting with other travellers in the hostel, wandering around and that. We met a nice Irish couple who were going the same was as us up to La Serena, so we got the same bus and we met up with them there, went to the beach and out for dinner. La Serena was 7 hours up the coast from Santiago, it is nice but not a lot to do there so we only stayed 2 nights. We were staying in a nice family run hostel, who actually gave you eggs for breakfast, mostly it is just breads and spreads! Then after that we were heading for San Pedro de Atacama, which was 18 hours on the overnight bus.....