12/09/07 - Crossed the border from Peru to Chile, not realising that it was still going to take us ANOTHER 35 hours to get down to Santiago - NIGHTMARE....so as we arrived in Santiago, (after totally mis-judging how long it would take us) , we had been on a total of 3 different busses, and on the move for 48 hours!! We can safely say that we now absolutly hate busses!!(And mummy thompson i know you're gonna find this hard to believe but kate didnt wash her hair for THREE whole days!!)

As we flagged a taxi down, we were still unsure of where we were going to stay as it was 5am anywhere would do...and anywhere turned out to be a garden shed with two bunks in it and a door leading off this room with some guy in it?! very bizarre, we moved first thing the next day!

So Chile...very different to Peru. MUCH more expensive and very cold! It's very Westernised with McDonalds, KFC, Dominos and Burger Kings on every corner. And yes Hayden there are coffee shops with lap dancers on the tables, but we didnt have the pleasure of having breakfast in any of them!

The highlight had to be skiing in the Andes, which turned out to be much more expensive then we anticipated so ended up just doing a day trip, but it was FANTASTIC!! And luckily i (kate) had the camera so only Ed's falls have been captured - although its a wonder the camera didnt break the amount of times she went flying with it in her pocket!

We took a trip up to see a 14 metre high Virgin Mary and saw some great views across Santiago. We were there for their Independence Day, although not a lot seemed to be going on...everything was shut and no-one was about, Kate thought there must have been something good on the tele?! The day after was another national holiday to celebrate the armed forces and that was fantastic! The whole of Santiago was like a carnival, with shops, stalls, rides, entertainers and people flying kites EVERYWHERE - easily the best day there, just chilling out, enjoying the atmosphere, along with a few cold beers dished out by men carrying them up and down in buckets of ice!

So after only a few days in Chile it was time to head to New Zealand...and OH MY GOD how excited are we!!