We're now in Valparaiso, Chile. We flew into Santiago on Tuesday which is surrounded by the Andes and engulfed in smog. In fact it is so smoggy that the schoolkids never do sports at school and the elderly don't go out on some days. Anyway we will be back there a few times on our trip as we have to go through it for Easter Island, New Zealand etc. So yesterday we jumped on a coach and came two hours to another town.
Valpairaso is unique as it is built on the side of the Andes and is hills running into a port. It is a UNESCO world heritage site as the houses all painted different bright colours look amazing completely covering the hills. Some parts of the town are so steep they are inaccessable by car so there are ancient funicular trains that run up and down and are very wobbly- I´m not sure they have been replaced since they were built in the 1800`s but best not to think about that when you`re on them!

Today has not been a great day for me- in fact it´s been a bad week on the losing things front- earlier in the week I managed to lose my purse on the plane (don`t ask me how- I had it and then I didn`t and we turned the plane upside down looking for it- it must've dropped out my pocket and then someone picked it up) and then today I went to get my Converse trainers out of my bag that I had bought in Brazil and loved and there was only one there looking back at me. Now this is a real mystery- we have been so careful with checking every room before we leave it and I can`t imagine I returned back to the hostel with only one shoe on so what on earth has happened to it I have no idea. Anyway I managed to lose one flip flop in Brazil so Charles has suggested that I wear the 2 remaining shoes but they don't exactly match......

Anyway There's not a massive amount to see here but mooch about and enjoy the town itself so that's what we've doing! Walking the cobbled streets and puffing up hills looking at amazing graffiti and the stunning views of huge houses next to slums all sharing the same view. We`ve been eating some yummy food here too- lots of fresh fish and even a very good thai! Tomorrow we head back to Santiago and then on Sunday we fly back into Argentina- this time we`re going to Cordoba right in the middle to ride with the Gauchos- we`re very excited! Charles has never ridden a horse before but is very confident so I`m sure it will be quite hilarious and cheer me up after my week of being a loser!

Oh no...as I was writing this some poor guy staying in our hostel got robbed as he was ringing the doorbell...He had a broken collarbme (I find them quite easy to identify having done mine so many times!) and a cut on his head. Had to do nurse Jem act and put his arm in a sling and clean him up- the police have just come and made him pay for a taxi to the police station with them as they didn`t have a car....what a nightmare. The police said that there had been loads of robberies in the area this evening so we`ll have to be careful when venturing out for dinner in a minute...