Time for our last blog from Chile already! We've had a great last four days, here's a re-cap:

Monday was the day of our awful bus journey up to San Pedro de Atacama from Santiago. We had to get up at 6, and we were on a bus from Valparaiso over to Santiago at 6:45. The most memorable part of the day was definitely on this first, short two-hour journey. People had reserved seats on the bus, whereas we hadn't (we weren't actually sure whether we should have shown our ticket and get allocated seats at the station), so we kept having to move for them. There ended up being only one seat left on the bus between the two of us! We alternated being the 'stowaway' crouched in the corner at the back. The conductor turned a blind eye to it, as he must have seen us, and didn't even collect one of our tickets, probably because he'd get in trouble for being over capacity. Anyway, we got away with it! Our bus from Santiago to San Pedro left at 9:30, and would take nearly 24 hours. For the rest of the day, we sat in the same position, reading, planning, watching films when they weren't dubbed into Spanish and listening to music. We even got in the odd game of backgammon!

Tuesday was a much more interesting day. We arrived in San Pedro de Atacama just after 9, passing through some other-worldly, breathtaking scenery just before arriving. The village looms up, an oasis in the desert, definitely a big place in these parts, but tiny to us considering we've come from Valparaiso and Santiago. We've loved its relaxed pace, lack of traffic and dusty streets. There is a large indigenous Atacameno population here, stalls and souvenir shops selling llama wool clothing and cactus wood trinkets, and all around are mountains and blue skies (it doesn't really ever rain here!). We spent most of the day wandering about, and it was baking hot during the day, now that we're above the Tropic of Capricorn. However, it's freezing at night, being a typical desert environment. We managed a nap in the afternoon to get over the bus journey, and then relaxed for the rest of the day.

Yesterday, we got up in time to watch England finally start to find an ounce of form and beat Slovenia 1-0 in the World Cup. Germany on Sunday now! We're not holding out too much hope at the moment, though I think they can win. In the afternoon and early evening we booked on to a tour out to the Valle de la Muerte (Valley of Death) and Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). We took a half hour walk through a salt canyon, with crystallised salt forming the walls (albeit covered in sand), with lunar-like rock formations, huge dunes of sand and the odd cave/tunnel. It was a very surreal, un-earthly place to walk around, but very beautiful. We got some great photos, especially at sunset, as everything was cast in a red hue. We climbed up a dune to get great views as the sun came down over the Valle de la Luna, nearby valleys, dormant volcanoes and the imposing Andes. It was an awe-inspiring place, and completely empty (save for the tourist groups, anyway!). When we got back, we had a mad rush on, as we only had 40 minutes to eat before going out star-gazing. The Atacama Desert is one of the best places to see stars in the world, as there's so little light pollution. Unfortunately, however, the tour got cancelled, after we had rushed, because of cloud cover! We were pretty gutted, but I suppose it saves money for us in the long run.

Today, we got up at the un-seemly hour of 3:45 to set off on our tour to the El Tatio Geysers. We couldn't even sleep on the drive over, as the road was so bumpy! We had to be up so early as the geysers are known to be at their best at dawn, when it's coldest, and before the wind has got up. And it was definitely cold enough! Jo wore six layers and was still shaking! Our fingers and toes were numb, and our noses were red. It was good fun however, despite the cold. We saw fumaroles letting out vents of steam, geysers spurting water into the air (some starting at a specific time, predicted by our guide) and bubbling pools, ringed by small life-forms that gave the pool's outer circumference distinctive colours. It was very picturesque when the sun rose and you got a really cool contrast between the white steam and bright blue sky. El Tatio is the highest geyser field in the world, at 4300 metres, and whilst we were eating breakfast up there we spotted vicuna, a smaller relative of the llama, which only live 4000 metres above sea level. As the day progressed we also saw the rabbit/chinchilla like viscacha and domesticated llama.

We stopped for half an hour at a thermal pool near the geysers, though it wasn't as warm as those in New Zealand, and I could only brave dipping my feet in (which thawed them out a bit). Jo didn't get anywhere near it! Lastly, we stopped in a tiny village of seven inhabitants who make their living solely by selling empanadas (like pasties) and llama kebabs to passing tourists. Jo and I shared an absolutely delicious kebab, which tasted a bit like lamb but leaner, with onion and covered in salt and herbs. It definitely whetted our appetite to try more llama in Argentina. We're heading there tomorrow, on a ten hour bus journey to Jujuy in the Andean north-west of the country. We'll let you know how we get on there!