We were invited to stay in Vina Del Mar by our friend Felipe who we met in Colombia. We ended up staying for 6 nights, we had such a great time. We were completely spoilt!! Felipe works for the Chilean Navy and as we arrived mid morning, he came to pick us up from the station fully suited in his white kit and hat! He had to go back to work for the rest of the day so just left us his keys and said to make ourselves at home. We were so shocked at the Chilean hospitability, it is just amazing! Felipe had a lovely apartment and we were lucky enough to get our own room each! Plus shower and towels, it totally beats being in a 10 bed dorm, thats for sure! It was amazing. When Felipe got back from work we all went to the supermarket to stock up, then on the way home he took us to his mothers house to introduce us. She was so lovely, she kindly offered to take us on a tour around nearby arty city of Valpraiso in the morning! Once we got back to Felipe`s he started to cook us dinner, his girlfriend Gabriella arrived and we all sat down and he got out the wine...Felipe loves his wine, as we discovered in Colombia, so Hayley was in her element sipping expensive red wines, he knew I only liked Late Harvest White Wine so he had got me in some of that! Our dinner was a typical Chilean dish, one we thought looked somewhat interesting, to say politely. It was a mix of ´choclo' which is kind of like mashed sweetcorn, then with chicken AND beef!! Strange to us as we dont mix meats here...strangely enough it actually tasted really good!! Valpraiso was a cool city, lots of great graffitti on the walls, it was really hilly so lots of walking!!! Though to be honest it had been hyped a lot to us and I was lightly disappointed and glad we hadnt booked a hostal there for a few days! That evening Felipe cooked for us all once again (we always offered but he refused saying we were "his guests") so we couldnt do more than sit down with a glass of vintage wine! The next day was a public holiday in Chile so Felipe had organised a BBQ for us and his other friends, so it ended up being another full day of eating, drinking and more eating! And then onto cocktails...his house was stocked with everything. We didnt even leave the house this day, it was a laugh though and his friends were lovely. They spoke little English so between that and our "pocito Espanol" we made it through funny conversations! The sun decided to come out for the next few days in Vina so we had breakfast at the beach then got a tour of some of the northern beaches. We cooked for Felipe and his girlfriend Friday night and shared more bottles of wine and conversation! On Saturday Felipe's friend, Felipe who we had met a couple of times already in the week invited us both out for the day (Felipe was at Gabriella's family gathering) and he offered to show us the Aeronaval base where he worked and then take us for lunch! The base was really interesting, its the only place in South America where the have the official helicopter rescue training with simulator and massive swimming pool. The work they do is amazing out on the field! Then he took us to "The Officers Club", private Naval club for lunch, it was amazing. A traditional Pisco Sour to start (yum!) three course meal with wine then drinks after at the bar. He wouldnt let us pay for a thing, it was really all about treating their guests, we were gobsmacked (but also loved it of course!). That night we went to a trendy bar and then club in Vina's Casino with Gabriella's friends. We had originally planned to leave early on the Sunday but Felipe's mother invited us to a family lunch which we couldnt turn down so we stayed another day and had yet again another amazing lunch and drinks.

After a week of pure indulgence, and probably leaving a stone heavier...we left to go further north to La Serena, we just stayed overnight here as it was 10 hours from Vina...In the morning we went to Pisco Elqui, in the sacred Valley Del Elqui. The accomodation was more like a peaceful retreat rather than hostel with gorgeous grounds and a pool. The food was amazing too. The rooms were beautiful and it was only a 3 person dorm! Pisco Elqui is famous for star gazing, apparently its one of the best places in the world to see them so we went to an observatory to get a closer look and saw various constellations and even Jupiter and the lines on the planet. The town is literally in the middle of a valley with not much light and for the earlier part of the night the tall valleys block the moonlight so I guess it adds to the darkness making the stars stand out!

The next day Hayley and I went horse riding, it was just incredible. It was just us two and the local gaucho, who owned the horses. We watched him prep the horses, we chose our horse and had a quick lesson then off we went. The landscape was just stunning, a beautiful valley and we felt so small looking down across the village. I felt sorry for my poor horse as we climbed steep valleys, but the view at the top was just incredible. So peaceful too. It was quite scary riding down through the rocky terrain, but it was so much fun. After a while we both got used to it and got more confident, it was hilarious. On the flatter parts we even galloped! Hayley nearly went topless as her bikini top came underdone, I nearly lost my camera as always trying to capture the moment, it was funny stuff. And amazing having a private guide. We went through the vineyards and rivers and saw so much of the area. We also stopped off at the oldest Pisco Distrilliry in Chile for a taster! We didnt want the day to end, but in typical,laid back Latin American ways we got an extra 2 hours overall anyway! I want to do more horse riding now, but this was definitely the ideal surroundings to feel like a proper cowgirl in the wild!

The next stop was Santiago, via another overnight bus. This one was possibly the worst journey yet. We didnt sleep at all, it was awful. We were staying with a guy Rodrigo, who we met in Torres Del Paine, he lived right in the city which was great. He gave up his room for us two and he slept in the spare room which was really sweet!! We just crashed out for the rest of the morning and slept til 2pm as we were exhausted. Ro took us around the city so we could see some of the local sights and grab some food. On our way home Hayley and I stopped for a Happy Hour cocktail (or two) and we sampled Amaretto Sours for the first time...and fell in love. A few of these knocked us out and we were back in bed by 10pm. Oh the hard life of a backpacker!! The next day Ro took us around the city some more and we sorted our last minute plans for MYSTERYLAND....

So at 6.30am Saturday morning Hayley and I got into our festival gear and headed to the train station to travel an hour outside of Santiago the attend Mysteryland Festival. It was a spur of the moment decision after Dash Berlin (one of or favourite DJs) event was cancelled the night before in Santiago and we were told about this amazing festial instead. So glad we went, we had one of the best days ever. We took a bottle of rum, pineapple an a few snacks and camped out pre drinking and playing card games to warm up at lunchtime. Various groups came to join in our fun, even more suprised when we said we were from England...it seems so far away and crazy to some people but they also love the fact we are in their country! We were sat near the tents so when the music started pumping we really got in the mood and started to drink up then went to join the madness. It went on until the early hours, there were about 7 different stages and areas with different electronic music. Marco V and Eddie Halliwell played in the Energy tent so we made sure we were front row! Marco V noticed us (we had already met him in both London and Ibiza!) and gave us a wave, at the end of his set he pulled us backstage to speak properly, say hi and more importantly find out why the hell us crazy girls from England were over here in Chile , it was pretty surreal! We spent hours dancing, talking to people from Chile and Argentina and just soaking up the amazing friendly vibe, the sun was shining, the drinks flowing and Mark Knight ended the festival in the main outdoor stage, with a firework finale...it was amazing. What a way to end our time in Chile...we loved every single day there!

So after leaving at 7am, we got back mid morning to the city (hitched a ride with some Djs back to Santiago city...saved the 2 hr public transport journey hehe) then we grabbed some lunch there and headed to the coach station for an 8 hour trip crossing the border from Chile back into Argentina as our next stop was Mendoza!