Iquique to Arica was a long journey but a little boy in the seat in front of us on the bus kept us entertained. He was about 4 years old and kept popping his head over the seat with a red nose and dark sunglasses on. He must have done it about 20 times and each time Gem found it more funny, to the point where she had tears rolling down her face! When we arrived at the bus station we knew the hostel we wanted to stay in was too far away to walk so we were looki...

We arrived in Iquique at the start of the weekend and checked into an International Hostel called Backpackers. The people working there were lovely and made us feel at home straight away. We signed up for a Paella and Sangria night and met some of the fellow travellers who were staying there. That night after a few games of Uno we had learnt four colours in spanish and numbers 1 to 9, not bad for one night! We helped cook the Paella and helped when no one els...

The bus journey from Santiago to La Serena was very scenic, unlike the deserts in Australia the deserts here have cacti growing everywhere, like something out of a western movie. The drive took us up the coast so most of the time we could see the sea out of the window. By the time we arrived at the bus station in La Serena it was getting dark and Matt took the map to direct us to the hostel we wanted to stay in. 2 hours later and in the pitch black we decided ...

We touched down at Santiago Airport at about 11 in the morning so at least it wasn´t dark. Gem was a bit on edge as we were now out of touch in being in more dangerous countries what with Australia being so safe. We followed the guide book´s advice and ordered a taxi from inside the airport and were given a ticket to pick up the correct taxi outside. We had pre-booked a hostel and gave the driver the address. He spent the journey teaching us some real basic...