So we arrived in La Serena via the endurance test of a 17 hour bus ride. Chile appears the most developed country we have visited so far in South America, so gladly the roads are in a lot better shape making the journey not as arduous as it could be. The downside of course of being in a economy with more infrastructure is that everything is more expensive, which has been noticeable from the moment we crossed the border from Bolivia.

For over a month we have been at altitude, so it was a breath of fresh air (literally) that La Serena is back at sea level. Strolling down the middle of the main avenue towards the sea there are many statues dotted around until you are eventually greeted by the lighthouse on the beach. The beach itself was quite deserted as it is winter, but being British I thought it was pleasant in shorts and t-shirt, however to be fair this is my standard outfit for every occasion. Nonetheless it was still welcomed to stop in a bar and having a beer overlooking the sunset which disappeared into the sea. The city itself has a very western feel about it and the people are of a whiter complexion, both primarily due to Chiles history when the Spanish invaded and killed off the majority of the indigenous people. It has so much of a European atmosphere that we were able to sit in a cafe on Plaza de Armas (you come to realise that these squares are in every city here) and have an orange hot chocolate that could only be 'drunk' with a spoon!

Since there was no dancing allowed in San Pedro, we thought we would have to do justice to Sara's birthday by having another night out (as if an excuse was needed!) We went via a traditional Chilean restaurant where I had a typical mixed grill all done BBQ style with local red wine - nom nom, this is just whetting my appetite for Argentina! To keep up with our Latin America theme, we then danced the night away with a little aid of a few bottles of rum. To finish the night off our guide JP (Juan Pablo) kindly bought me a shot, which the barman thought it would be a good idea to give me a measure by the wine glass full! Well I can't complain and it did make the hangover McDonald's that more enjoyable since we were deprived of this luxury in Bolivia.

The thing we were looking forward to most was a visit to an Observatory. This area is claimed to be one of, if not the best place in the world, to look at the night sky given it's very limited exposure to light pollution and that it has on average 360 cloudless nights per year. So you could say that it was more than bad luck that it was cloudy the night we were due to go stargazing - gutted would be an understatement. To rub salt in the wound and put a further downer on things, my football team lost and another one of my wisdom teeth decided to start coming through (surely due to all the knowledge and experience I have gained from travelling - no?!) Oh well lets hope for a change of fortune in Santiago.

Xx