Well we have arrived safely into Santiago, Chile, and it has certainly exceeded our expectations comparing it to the rest of the cities visited in South America. It is very clean, no graffitti, no sign of poverty within the centre and immediate suburbs and you can see the snow-capped mountains from wherever we are.

We are staying in a house/hostel in a lovely area where you can see the mountains from our bedroom window. It´s kind of like a homestay... we have a room in a house owned by a lovely woman and her 2 grown up kids. They have something like 8 bedrooms which they rent out to travellers so it´s a massive house! We even get breakfast in the mornings which makes a nice change and its so clean. Only downfall is sharing a bathroom... we have been used to the luxury of ensuites up until now! We are not bothered though as in a weeks time we will be in New Zealand in campervan with no bathroom!

Haven´t really done much since arriving. Went to a park where we climbed a hill and saw views over the city. What we´ve noticed is every town in South America has a statue on top of a hill (like Rio). This one is of Virgin Mary.

Just taking is easy today. Can´t get used to the currency... its 1000 pesos to 1 pound which is hard to get your head around when trying to work out whether things are expensive. Meals here are not as cheap as Beunos Aires but they are still cheap.

The weather has been a mix... it was so warm yesterday I could have looked out my shorts and t-shirt! Today it´s freezing!

Love to all,
Lee-Ann and AJ