The night had passed quite well and we both managed to get some sleep. I was probably a little to big for the seat but had still slept till about 8am.

We were given our breakfast, which was juice, peanuts and a big oatmeal cookie, before we stopped in Copiaco where a few people got off and others got on. We then continued on our way and they put on 2 Fast 2 Furious, which was luckily in English for us to watch.

After the movie there were only a couple of hours to go and we looked out at the dessert and waited for the journey to end. It hadn't been that bad and we shouldn't have another one like this until we go to Igazu.

The rest of the journey took quite long but we finally arrived 45 minutes late. We got our packs on our back and then headed off to find a hostel. There was one in the book that was quite close by and although the street numbers didnt make sense, with the help of a German girl we found it.

The hostal was quite nice, as it was family run, but there were no ensuite rooms. We were too tired to care and took it anyway. After settling into the room we quickly freshened up and went out to sort out our excursions and get some food. We had to be quick now as we did not want to waste any days.

We went to the tour shop recommended by the hostal and booked a tour to the observatory that night and a tour to Elqui valley the next day. We then headed into town to find some food.

The town was quite small but had some modern shops. It was only a few blocks around the centre but there didn't seem to be many restaurants that looked good. We ended up at a small cafe where I had the set menu and Shivani had a big salad. It wasn't great but we were hungry.

We then walked round the shops and Shivani bought some new underwear. After we headed to the bus station to book our bus for the following night. This would save us some time and a nights accommodation. We ended up booking a cama seat so that we would hopefully get a good nights sleep.

We then headed to try and find the supermarket, which was supposed to be behind the mall. We couldn't find it but came across a McDonald's. Shivani was really excited and ordered a frapachino. After that we walked round the mall for a bit before coming back to our hostal.

We didn't have long to wait before our trip. The driver came to pick us up and after picking up a couple of others we headed to the observatory. It was a cloudy night in La Serena so we hoped they the trip wouldn't be cancelled.

As we drove out into the valley the skies cleared and just as it was getting dark we arrived at the observatory. It was a small place in the hills and built specifically for tourists. There were quite a few other people there but luckily they spilt us into English and Spanish groups and the English group was smaller.

We then got taken to the telescope where the guide explained a bit about stars and showed us Venus, Jupiter and the moon. It was really interesting to see through a telescope. After the guide took us outside and showed us some constellations. It was almost a full moon so we couldn't see all the stars but could see the major ones. They also had a smaller telescope where they showed us some clusters and then the moon, which we took pictures of through the telescope. At the end of the tour they showed us video explaining about different stars and telescopes. By that time it was almost midnight and we were pretty tired.

After waiting for the driver, we headed off back to the hostal. It was a long drive and the mini bus was not so comfy so I couldn't really sleep. We eventually got back to the hostal and quickly got into bed as we would have quite an early start the next day.