22:55 - Just got back from dinner at Liguria. It was one of the places Sally had actually suggested had my flight been on time on Saturday, so glad I got to try it anyways. Food was great, the waiter cute and I sat next to Toby (the tour leader) and got a chance to chat with him. His brother works on the options desk at Tradition and he was curious to see if I knew him. This morning we visited Valparaiso on the coast. It's a couple of hours from Santiago and whe...

22:13 - First day on the new tour! And a very hot one! 35 Celsius!!! But unlike Lima where it was hot and sticky, here it doesn't feel unpleasant as it is fairly dry heat. I got up late and had breakfast in the hotel. As I was due to meet the group at 3pm there was no rush to do anything and as Santiago looks like a standard clean European city, I had no particular curiosity or desire to walk about too much. I did however venture out to try and change money with ...

23:15 - I left Lima this morning. The flight was delayed 3 hours but I managed to get myself into one of the VIP lounges and watched tv/ate etc until the Santiago flight was called. After the 3 hour flight, immigration and luggage, I managed to find the driver and was taken to the hotel. Tomorrow the new group arrives and the Paragonia trip starts. One annoying thing about Santiago is that I have to pay for the wifi and that room service is out of order (chef mus...

00:00 - I had quite a full day today. Pickup at 4am to go and see the geysers and the park around it (vulcanic area in the Andes). It was tiring...I felt a little sick from the altitude (we were up at 4500 metres), but geysers aside, the scenery was again spectacular. I think I might be starting to get boring :-). Today was the day I also officially baptised my treking shoes! We also visited a tiny village that lives on Llama wool and goats. 8-10 houses at most a...

22:15 - Oh boy... What a long ride in a bus! We left at 7am this morning Salta on our way to San Pedro de Atacama (Chile). 8 and a half hours on a local bus (fairly comfortable and air conditioned). The ride took us up into the Andes and the high plains and then back down to 2400 metres (we peaked at 5000 during the journey). The scenery was amazing. Mountains, salt plains, vast flat lands...We crossed the border between Argentina and Chile and arrived in San Ped...