Hi Everyone, Forgot to tell you when we did our walking tour of Santiago the guide was telling us about the coffee houses, cant remember the proper name for them but they get called "coffee with legs"apparently business men use them,they only sell coffee which is served by girls in bikinis,our guide took us into one as he was telling us about them,just about died!! he pretended he was a tourist looking for a beer. I've just spent the last fifteen minu...

Headed up to Valparaiso today,it is a very old port town the houses are built into the hill and very colourful.Had lunch at a harbout restaurant,FISH SOUP!! I wont talk about it. The place is a haven for artists and poets,also to the students at the University.Down at the port the fishermen were gutting the fish and the Pelicans were having a feast.Further along the coast the beautiful beaches are being developed into tourist resorts ,the change in the standard ...

Hi Everyone, We did a walking tour of the city yesterday it was great, it lasted about four and a half hours, getting into practice for Peru. The guide was a local chap and very knowledgable about his whole country,he is into nature and indigenous people and has travelled widely he was a pleasure to be with.Maybe that´s because I got fed, you know I´m alright as long as I get fed, we went to the markets,we bought fruits I´d never seen in my life b...

We have arrived taxi drivers galore at the airport had to keep our wits about us, we had the hostel booked so we phoned them and asked the best way to get to them, no problems the taxi drivers do not expect a tip. It cost us £4.50 to travel miles, petrol is 61p a litre, in New Zealand it was about 55p a litre. Chile has just had a week of Indepence Celebrations,flags and banners everywhere and the good hearted mood is still in evidence. Chilling out today ...

My lasting impressions of New Zealand are the lovely warm people of the South Island, the beautiful south island itself.I'm really sad we didn't have enough time to see more of the North Island, many people have told me how beautiful it is, I'll just have to get saving again and come back. The roads, oh! the roads,mountain passes,railway lines crossing the road.The very many bridges all with names so you never got lost.The great campsites,the underfloor heated ...