Hi Everyone,

We are here in the desert,we had a nice stay in La Serena and sampled some more Chilean food.We caught our bus at 9.30pm. and arrived here in San Pedro De Atacama at 2pm. the next day,it wasn´t too bad.We were thouroughly fooled by the air conditioning on the bus, when we got off the heat just came up through the boots and down on the head,what a change,not a cloud in the sky.Our hotel is nice,all the rooms lead off from the courtyard and they are nice and cool.

This town dates back to the 1450 and before. It was Inca territory then the Spaniards came,the roads are original roads and they coat them with vichufita a product derived from salt, this allows them to retain the original look causing less pollution.The Church roof is made of tree bark and mud and cactus wood,the walls are adobe,it is a national monument.

Yesterday we went on a trip into the desert,we visited three valleys,Death valley,Cape Du Pont and Valley of the Moon,our guide was excellent.He took us along the top of a gorge then he said he would see us at the bottom,the only way down was down a huge sand dune,it was steep and I got a fair speed going before I reached the bottom. There was a Dutch couple about my age there and they had a terrific time.We headed off to the valley of the Moon for sunset,we had to a bit climbing,the altitude played havock with my breathing but I got there,the wind increased as the sun was setting and I nearly got blown over the edge as it was just a ridge we were on.

The scene was amazing,the shadows created a lunar effect all over and as we turned round to look at the Andes the whole area and the mountains were awash with different colours,fantastic.

Today we went into the desert again and took Llamas a walk,that Ali Mac has me doing some strange things,it was a lovely day and one of the Llamas was just 8 months old,she kept wanting a kiss and a cuddle,the farmer who owns them took us out to the original Inca sites and talked to us for hours,I met up with a girl from Scotland there,she is a doctor in A&E at Queen Margaret,the only other people there were two students in ecology from Santiago,a truly wonderful day and I got my nose kissed too.Better close for now and head for the bus,we are going to Arica,travelling overnight,10 hours,will finish San Pedro then and hopefully load up some photos. J xx