So I havnt written for a while, ive been on a bus- Alot! Took the trip back from Argentina to Chile last thursday. Left at 5.30pm thursday arrived Santiago 6.00pm friday! 24 and a half hours on a bus!!! This time i was not so impressed with the trip. Same bus same scenery same andes. I think i started to get some kind of mountain fever- the last 7hours on the trip you just see orangy coloured mountains with tufs of grass on! Also the border crossings here are ridiculous. No jokes you are shoved off the bus and into a line while they interogate you as to whether you have any fruit or vegtables on you! Stupid. Anyway we were at the border for what seemed like ages! There was a random snow storm and theres me in my shorts straight from bioling hot B.Airies. Good! Glad to be back at the hostel friday night and I chilled out there for the evening. To be quite honest I think i was i was some other time zone and it was strange when people spoke to me in English....

Next morning I jumped on the mini bus to the north. Pachamama is a transport/tour group which runs trips to the north and the south. 9 of us jumped on the tour with our tour guide Antonia and driver Rodrego! First stop was La Serena a seaside town about 7hours outside santiago. Next stop Bahia Inglesa and then up to Antofagasca, and on to San Pedro. Will have to check out the itinerary before I can fill in any more detail ...ive forgotten it all and the leaflets upstairs ..sorry! Anyway was a pretty good tour with a nice bunch of people. My personal highlights were the flamigos at sunset on the salt flats and climbing up a salt mound....we wont mention the fact that I got stuck and had to be saved by the driver who climbed up to rescue me. Note to self- Lonsdale trainers no longer have any grip at all - throw them away!!!

San Pedro was pretty kool too. If you want to know what it feels like to be in the Flintstones you should go there. Its a desert town quite literally. The walls are all made of sandstone and the signage is all in wood, narrow streets, kool lighting-its very unique. Our first night there we went out as a group and ended up at some party on a sand dune- apparently the whole town has to close at 1.00am so instead the locals hike up some hill to build a fire and have a party. All good- got to bed sometime that morning.

To sum up the north of chile...its hot and theres lots of desert! ALOT of desert...! Every day we left civilisation to hit the dirt road for a couple of hundred kms in the scorching heat! Yeah theres a lot of desert! Shall I say that again... OOOOO one really kool thing....A giant hand in the middle of nowhere....its a 11metre high sculpture of a fist- I have some very kool photos of me jumping in front of the giant hand. ...Í guess when your in a desert and all you can see for miles is desert...anything it is pretty kool! :) .

So back to Now....turns out some things arn´t meant to happen and planning and research does pay off... not that i would know! Today I was suppposed to be heading over to Ullyuni in Bolivia for the salt flats tour before heading up north in Bolivia! Not now...as I mentioned San Pedro is in the middle of the desert and it has one unreliable ATM which in case your heading that way ..is currently broken! Of course you could always travel 1hour to Calma the nearest city and get some money! ONE HOUR TO USE THE ATM! ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Next time forward plan---Also should read more... turns out....buses from A to B where i want to go in Bolivia only run twice a week....grrreat! All plans are made to be changed right....so yesterday decided that maybe it wasnt such a good idea to risk missing my inca trail trip or arrive half asleep on a bus 5mins before....and made a very random decision yesterday to head to Arica with on of the guys from the trip! Arica is a beachside resort in the very north of chile where it borders peru and bolivia. Here it is more frequently possible to cross into Bolivia! This way I have enough time to chill out in cuzco before my inca trail trip and I hopefully have eliminated the possibility of being stuck somewhere random due to lack of buses. Salt flats clearly wasnt meant to happen- have taken it as a sign although will admit am a bit gutted....coming back soon!

Today have spent the day climbing a mountain/ on the beach/ and wandering around town! Easy as! Have also planned the next bit of my trip which is to go to La Paz in Bolivia. Its not the capital apparently...Sucre is..didnt know that! Anyway after that its lake titicaca and on to Cuzco where I will spent a few days getting used to the altitude. My ears are already popping as we have been going up and down between 0-3500feet.! Very kool, right off to find some food. Take care guys, not long till im home- as you see nothings changed Im still as unoprganised as normal!

mmwwooaahxxx