¡Hola a todos! My journey north aboard the Pachamama bus was another fantastic experience. My fellow travellers were, once again, an interesting, friendly and varied bunch. Alas, my driver and guide could not match Yerson and Juan Andres - they rarely drank with us and obtaining information concerning places, peoples, history was unnecessarily difficult. Once again, I was disappointed with the rapid, at times rushed, nature of the tour, with only one and occasi...

¡Hola a todos! It is natural I feel that some experiences on this trip will carry more weight than others and it is for that reason that my thoughts and comments concerning the Pachamama bus journey back northwards to Santiago will be brief. In truth, the journey took only two days anyway and the highlight for me was an evening stop-off at a waterfall, in a log- and stone-built cabin in some woods, within hearing of the pounding torrent. Yes, the falls fell far...

¡Hola a todos! It has been, rather shamefully, quite some time, again, since I last put down some trifling musings and, with some time to spare up here in San Pedro de Atacama, I am resolved upon spending it usefully. Today I booked on to a three-day 4x4 tour of the largest salt flats in the world, ending in Uyuni, just across the border in Bolivia and so I fear that beyond this there may be scant opportunity to blog for some days. I hope to be able to jot dow...

¡Hola a todos! I find myself once more with time to spare, as I sit here in a cosy, floor-to-ceiling pinewood furnished 'palafito' hostel in Castro, the regional capital for the Isle of Chiloe, just off the south-west coast of mainland Chile. Time to spare because, as I type, the rain is lashing against the window-panes outside, sending those inhabitants of this sleepy town brave enough to venture out of doors scurrying about in the street below. A 'palafito'...

¡Hola a todos! Earlier today (although obviously much later for all of you back home in sunny Blighty) I posted a long-overdue blog completing my experiences while in Mendoza. Now I intend to wave Argentina goodbye with a wistful smile and move on to pastures new in chilly Chile (sorry, I simply could not resist). Before I do so, a quick note in answer to a friend who requested that I set up a mailing list, alerting any potential readers out there (you poor sou...