On Friday we took the bus from Mendoza to Valparaiso, a famously scenic route over the Andes. Despite taking the daytime bus to take full advantage of the view and trying reeaaally hard not to fall asleep, the tranquiliser effect of the bus somehow won over and we were unconscious for at least 70% of it. The parts we saw were very attractive though and we had plenty of time to appreciate the mountains during the 2 hours we spent at customs on the Chilean border.

When we got to Valparaiso we discovered that, completely by chance, we'd timed our visit perfectly to coincide with the arrival of the competitors in the Dakar race at the finish line in town the next day. We had a bit of a stroll in the morning, taking one of the funiculars ("ascensores") up to Cerro Alegre and walking across to Cerro Concepcion - cute cobbled streets and beautiful views of the colourful houses dotting the hills. The ascensores take less than a minute to deposit you atop the hill but they date back to the late 1800s and I read a hilariously disclaimer-laden description in one of the guide books that said "despite their rickety frames and alarming noises they've SO FAR proved safe and reliable". So this was probably as close as we came to participating in extreme sports in Valparaiso. It was definitely a good spot for spectating though and the afternoon was spent watching motorbikes, quads, pimped-out minis, and huge monster truck-type things swarming down the street and onto the finish line podium, very cool. Even better, the security teams must only have been paid up to 9pm because they all clocked off on the dot, allowing us bystanders to move aside the flimsy fences separating us from the (at this point stationary) cars and have a chat and a few photos with the drivers - viva Chile! The teams were already looking pretty drained by that time though (it's a long drive!) so when we heard some loud bangs about 4 hours later and rushed up to the roof of our hostel to catch some pretty impressive fireworks, we couldn't help but wonder what small proportion of the racers had managed to resist the call of their PJs and stay out to enjoy them.

Next day we hit the beach in Vina del Mar - only our second beach day of the trip so far before I'm accused of rubbing it in! There was such an amazing cool breeze from the sea and the temperature was so much more manageable than in Mendoza that we massively underestimated how strong the sun was. We'd not been shy with the suntan lotion and that was enough to protect Gerard's nice Dutch complexion but of course it was no match for my delicate English skin, particularly that of my stomach which hadn't seen the light of day in quite some time. Four days later, I'm still red. That night we met up with the American guy and a girl we'd met at new year and indulged in a few too many pisco sours (a deceptively tasty but very alcoholic drink)... When I woke up the next day, sore inside and out, it took some serious willpower to heave up my backpack and head to the bus station to depart for Santiago. Fortunately it was only a couple of hours and the kindly lady that ran the hostel we'd been staying in, no doubt sensing my misery, had given us some cookies to see us through the journey.

One thing that I think is worth noting about Valparaiso: it's lovely! Before we got there we'd read up a bit on the town and had gotten a pretty negative impression, largely on the safety front. Our experience was that it was a charming place with lovely people and, as long as you keep your wits about you (i.e. don't strap your iPad to your head), you'll be fine. We actually had second thoughts about going there because of everything we'd read but we thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent there and at no point did we feel unsafe. For the record!

In Santiago we're staying in a little apartment with a kitchen so we got ridiculously excited about home-cooked food and have been eating in a lot. I'm not sure Santiago is a big foodie destination so we haven't felt like we're missing out on that much - the sushi here comes complete with cream cheese which is just not right. Day one we wandered up to the mercado central, a big fish market, to look at the giant fish, lobsters and sharks for sale. Then we walked on to a neighbourhood called Bellavista which was nice but in a very European way (a lot of polished restaurants with terraces and umbrellas) and felt a bit isolated from the rest of the city. From there we took the lazy way out and took the funicular up to the top of Cerro San Cristobal to admire the views over the city - the ascensores in Valparaiso had nothing on this, we climbed something like 300m at an angle of about 70 degrees attached to nothing but an aging cable. Jelly legs.

Day 2 we walked to the Brasil and Concho y Toro neighbourhoods and up another (smaller) hill, Cerro Santa Lucia. Today we're off on a ceviche (local raw fish delicacy) hunt before we catch an 8 hour bus north to Vicuna so hopefully that doesn't backfire! I have to say we're leaving with mixed feelings about Santiago, it has its charms but we haven't fallen in love with it. We are enjoying Chile so far though and we're glad we decided to travel north here rather than through Argentina where Salta seems to be the only destination of interest between Mendoza and Bolivia (which is quite a long way!) Next stop, stargazing in the desert!