Hola chicos! Well since leaving Pucon in the south we have visited the capital Santiago..............a big sprawling city with smog to match! Don?t want to be too negative about the place as our moods were dampened by the continuous rain. It did however seem to lack any real atmosphere. On the positive side, it is positioned at the foot of the Andes and there are numerous places where you can enjoy the incredible views. In any case, we only stayed there a night before catching the bus to the coastal town of Valparaiso. Everyone raves about this Unesco listed town with many colourful houses positioned on hills overlooking the bay. Yes, it is beautiful but unfortunately the weather was terrible here also so didn?t really get to witness the supposed beauty of this place. Our original plan would have been to cross from Santiago back to Mendoza, Argentina. However, due to the amount of snow they had recently received, the road through the Andes was closed so our hand was forced and we had to make our way to the far north to the next available crossing back in to Argentina. So....we only stayed one night in Valparaiso (where we had a few drinks with our German and Canadian travelling companions - see the photos) and then returned to Santiago before catching a connecting bus to San Pedro de Atacama (the entire journey took 25 hours!). San Pedro is located in the Atacama desert, the driest desert on earth. Apparently it hasn?t rained in these parts for over 50 years. Its a beautiful little village, filled with backpackers coming south from Peru and Bolivia and others heading in the same direction as ourselves. After a very long bus ride, the first day was spent wandering around the town and enjoying the 30 degree temperature (which drops to around 0 degrees at night time). The next day we hired cycles and ventured off in to the desert to explore Devils Gorge and the surrounding areas. The landscape here is incredible, in some parts arid and in others vivid green with plants that seem to survive in these conditions. Through Devils Gorge we cylcled for around an hour along a dusty little trail between vertical rock formations. At the end we were treated with incredible views back across the desert and to the neighbouring volcanos. After a 6 hour cycle we returned to the village so Sarah could put ice on her very sore bottom! The next night we visited the Valle de la luna (valley of the moon) to see the rock formations that are exactly akin to those on the moon and watch the stunning sunset which provides amazing pink, yellow and blue colours across the valley. Today we are catching a 12 hour bus to Salta (Argentina). Our trip to Chile has been a little shorter than we originally planned and this is probably due to a number of reasons; the weather in the south and middle Chile was terrible; Chile is quite a lot more expensive than the other countries we have visited; and lastly because we love Argentian and wanted to return for the great food, accommodtion and cheap prices! Yes, we have enjoyed our time in Chile but if we were put on the spot we would probably say that it is our least favourite to date. Anyway, visit the place and form your own opinion, you may well love it. Love Shane and Sarah xx