Chile

San Pedro de Atacama

Sunday 22nd April

So another bus journey over, and we are dropped off in a dusty carpark, where there are a few hostel owners hanging around for some business.

We had make a booking with one of the hostels that's slightly out of town, and were expecting to be picked up, however they didn't show. On the basis that there's no taxis in sight, we don't have a map and feel completely lost, we take up the offer of a room from the guy that owns Hostel Iquisa, which he says is nice, central and 5000Pesos each per night. He's also got a van to take us there, so we accept.

It's a small place, that looks out across the desert to the mountains and seemingly there's noone else there.

The room is fine, and the shared bathroom also looks okay. No breakfast here, but we have full use of the kitchen. There's also three cats, all responding to the name 'Mooncat'.

We drop off our bags, and follow the crappy map towards town, but go slightly wrong and end up missing the centre. Thankfully the two dogs that followed us know the way back, and we soon hit the 'highstreet'.

Not your usual highstreet mind, we are in the middle of the desert after all. However, there seems to be quite a lot going on - lots of tour shops, restaurants/bars but all on a small, dusty, scale. Looks like an interesting place to hang out for a few days.

Because our time here is quite limited we make enquiries as to the local tours - we aware of the Moon Valley tour, various geysers and ruins. Of course, this is also where we pick up our 4x4 trip to Uyuni, Bolivia.

Also, we're low on Pesos, so make a beeline to one of the two ATM's in town. One's Mastercard, the other, Visa - both of them quite near to the main street.

Booked our Moon Valley tour, and had a bite to eat at the excellent 'Todo Natural' restaurant.

Then, an early night and to take things easy at 2500 metres.

Monday 23rd April

Visited the Archaelogical Museum, which contains the collection of Padre Gustave Paige, a Belgian missionary who lived in San Pedro between 1955 and 1980. Lots of other interesting exhibits - pottery, textiles, miniature Inca artefacts, Paleoithic tools, skulls with headdresses, jewellery, and paraphernalia for smoking hallucinogenic drugs!

The museum details the development of pre-Hispanic Atacameno society. We learnt that there was human occupation of the area approx. 11,000 years ago.

At that time it was more humid, as the ice age was ending, and large glaciers melting meant that it became more wet. Nevertheless, the flora and fauna was the same, just more plentiful.

The weather changed, to like what we have today, around 6-8000 years ago.

Lunch followed, then we booked our 'Salt Flats' tour, after having read therecommendations/cautions book at the tourist office. Clearly, 'Estrella del Sur' came out well in the reviews, and we were pleased to book with them. Lionel was very friendly, and explained the 3 day/2 night very well. It's a little more expensive than most of the others, at 49,000 Pesos, but we reckon it'll be worth it and will keep our fingers crossed.

After lunch, our afternoon trip out to the Moon Valley heads off.

First stop, we head to a viewpoint of the surrounding mountain ranges (The Andean Mountain Range - a chain of volcanoes) - excellent sight/site, and our guide gives us some information of the surrounding geological area. Also had a view of the Salar (Salt Flat) de Atacama.

We're told that 40% of the world's Lithium is mined in the area.

Back in the bus we head over to Death Valley - stunning reddish landscapes. Excellent fun running down the high sandy slopes - this is where some of the sand-boarding tours come.

Moving on, we drive on to Moon Valley (Valle de la Luna) itself and we start by walking through a small canyon network, which are mainly made of salt, though they have a coating of sandy dust covering them. Apparently, after rain, the place turns white!

At the main viewpoint in the Valley, we start by walking from the carpark up to the top of a huge sand dune, then along to the 'medium' (exertion required to get there) viewpoint, where we have excellent 360 degree views, as the sun slowly sets in the distance. Fantastic landscapes, and the setting sun turns the surrounding hills a gorgeous red. Gets a bit bloody cold after the sun sets!

The tour was a good as was promised at the office in town, and we'd highly recommend Cosmo Andino. They're a little more expensive, but it paid off.

Back in town and we head straight for Todo Natural and enjoy an excellent 3 course meal with wine, for under GBP10.

Tuesday 24th April

Paul woke up, under the weather - a bit achy-breaky, bad (loose!)stomach etc. As a result we decide against hiring bikes, and he stays in bed while Chris heads into town, visiting the Church, which has a roof made from thick cactus bark.

Some nuns came into the church in their dazzling-white tunics (how do they keep them so clean in this dusty place?) and started praying. Couldn't believe it when a photographer came in and started to film them inside the church, at the altar, withthe priest. A little hypocritical when there's a big notice directed at tourists, deeming photography/filming forbidden as it 'harms the saints faces'.

After, Chris went along to the cemetary on the edge of town - lots of simple crosses placed on mounds of earth with colourful wreaths wrapped around the crosses.

Nice Chris also picked up some food in town for lunch.

After catching up on some diary, Chris walked to Pukara de Quitor, 3kms out of town - a 12th century fortress, which was restored in 1981. Not a huge amount to see, mainly consisting of low walls, so some imagination required.

The fortress was stormed by the Spanish under Pedro de Valdivia -1000 defenders were overcome by only 30 horsemen, but they were helped by Indians.

Despite the altitude, it can get very hot under the bright sun, so Chris very glad of a lift from a passer-by back to town.

In the evening, Paul well enough for a walk into the town and for some food, again atTodo Natrural. This time, the excellent food accompanied by a local group who played a handful of traditional tunes, on guitar, drum, flute and panpipes.

Fairly early night ahead of an early start for a trip to the geysers - pickup at 4am!!!

Wednesday 25th April

Paul still not in great health and decides against joining the daytrip to the El Tatio geysers.

The pickup was on time, and the minibus makes its way through the darkness up to 4300metres - the worlds highest geyser field.

Due to science, the geysers are more active just before sunrise, though Chris was a little disappointed, as she had expected/hoped to see huge spurts of water, but the highest here only about 2 metres. All the same, the site was impressive - lots of little geysers, coloured streams caused by the minerals.

The site is a little dangerous, as there's no safety rails around the geyser holes. It comes as no surprise to hear that there are regular accidents!

After the geysers the trip continues to a nearby hotspring, where we enjoy a dip. Also here, the French geyser - so named after the first (French) person to fall in and perish.

Apparently, geysers are formed when a frozen underground river makes contact with hot rocks.

On the journey back to San Pedro, the group stops at a small village, inhabited by only a few folk, making a living from the tourists. It's a sweet reed-roofed village, with a delightful little church.

Chris had her best cheese empanada here!

On the last part of the journey back, we stopped to see a 'hundreds of years old' cactus, and also persuaded the guide to show us a waterfall a little downstream. Couldn't believe we were sitting by a waterfall in one of the driest areas of the world.

Paul felt better for the extra rest in bed, and was on better form in time for late lunch, again at Todo Natural. Probably wasn't the best thing to have after a dodgy stomach, but we enjoyed a complementary Pisco Sour. Hey, maybe it's just what Paul needs!

Not much done for the rest of the day - we get our stuff ready for heading out on the Uyuni trip, and into Bolivia.

to be continued on the next thread...

Wednesday 11th April

Santiago, Chile

The journey is fine and the three of us get a fair bit of sleep, before pulling into the central bus station at about 7am. Strangely no movie last night, nor any meal, though we're given some breakfast - cheese and ham rolls, juice etc.

We hang around at the bus station whilst Theresa sorts her onward bus journey to Buenos Aires, another 24 hours away. Gulp. She is convenienty booked on the bus heading out at 10.15 am, so we hang around in the food court nearby and wait until after the bulk of rushhour before making our way into the city.

Goodbyes to Theresa, we've had a nice week with her - once again, we're grateful to be meeting so many good people. Theresa's help with her excellent Spanish has been most appreciated, though the three of us will remember her, on occasion (well, 1), misuse of both mathematics, and English. And she said 'bugger' a lot. Looking forward to meeting up again in London in the summer.....

The metro station is just a couple of minutes away and we're only a few stops from Universitad de Chile station. The metro is still busy, but is fine/cheap, and the journey soon over. A little daunted to be back in a big city and not yet having our bearings.

Went around the houses a bit to find our recommended hostel, though it's actually called Hotel Londres Plaza. A big place, though not sure if it's that busy. We get a double room with TV (not Cable) and view overlooking the cobbled courtyard outside. Breakfast is included and the shared bathroom is fine. A little more expensive than recently at 16,000Pesos (around GBP16).

After checking-in we shower and head out before nodding off. Glad that it's got warmer as we've headed north, though would welcome an extra couple of degrees - either way, it's tshirt weather.

First random observation is the number of blind people we have come across in the first 5 minutes of being out!

Head towards the Plaza de Armas - keeping an eye out for Starbucks, we're sure there's one around and would both enjoy a Frappucino right now.

Also very busy in the city centre - strange for mid morning during the week. We walk on towards the art gallery, Bellas Artes, but don't go in, and instead try and track down the Cerro (Hill) Santa Lucia - a 'rock' in the centre of town, some 70 metres high. Obviously originally a natural feature, though lots of manmade features, and a few buildings. A fortress at the top (that you can't get in), a small church, a huge stone gate, statues and garden features.

The views from the top not particularly impressive, what with the smog all around, blocking the view to the high hills that surround the city, which themselves are the main cause of the smog not escaping the city limits. Whilst the views not that superb, you get a feel for how spread out the city is, and how much of a tiny dent we'll make in it over the next 3 or 4 days.

On the way back to the hostel/hotel, we stop at the San Franciso church, which is actually at the top of our road. It's the oldest church in Santiago, dating from 1618. It's a very simple building, the walls just white-washed. The only really ornate part of the church is the ceiling, which wouldn't look out of place in a stately home.

In one corner of the church is an area that, in one sense, has been vandalised with graffiti, though this must be an accepted way of communicating with God or Jesus - many messages asking Jesus to guard over sons/daughters etc.

Also other messages of 'thanks' to San Francisco and also some curious words of remembrance in respect of deceased dogs. Extraordinary, but we'd be happy to see more of this sort of thing. "our Father, who barks in heaven....Scraps be thy name... ...give us this day our daily chew-stick... ...forgive us our daily poops...etc" I'll leave it there, lest a bolt of lightning strike me down.

For lunch we tried to trackdown Govinda's, an Indian/veggie place. Found it - found it had closed down. Never mind, there's a couple more veggie places in town, and we get a table in one (El Naturalista), though have to wait 10 minutes. Strange to see so many office folks taking lunch way into the middle of the afternoon.

The food is good here, and we're full for 10,000 Pesos, which is a little more than we'd spend for two, especially if no alcohol is involved.

There's a small cinema nearby, and it's 'cheap Wednesday', so pleased to get tickets to watch Spartan gore-epic '300', for GBP1.80 each. Smuggle in some sweets,despite the warning in Spanish that that sort of caper is not allowed.

Enjoy the film, though it's no comedy. Can certainly see the Frank Miller influence - similar use of bloody-ness, as seen in Sin City.

A little tired in the evening, so watch some Chilean telly before an early night. Looking forward to more exploring tomorrow, sooo much to see! Fingers tightly crossed for more blue skies.

Thursday 12th April

Today starts with a 'grande' thank you to my Aunty M who continues to print off our blog and post it through to my ma back at home. Our next cerveza will be 'cheers'd' to you, Aunty Margaret and Uncle John. Of course, we're also pleased that you're still reading about our little diary - sorry there's no pictures!

Whilst on the subject of thanks - cheers Jason for sorting out those muppets at British Gas, and to Piers for emailing the various threatening letters, when British Gas already knew we were out of the country, and ta Neil for letting us know that the Water Company had forced a water meter on you and sneakily fitted it whilst you guys were out. I'm sure a huge leak would have taken days/weeks to see to....

Also, big thanks to Gav for keeping the car ticking over for the last 9 months - I trust that you haven't been doing any wheelspins in my absence!

Of course, closer to home, thanks Ma, for sorting out a whole bunch of stuff, sorry I was blasphemous a little earlier regarding a re-write of the Lord's Prayer. Only three months to go before we're back, and can't wait to see you. Also, Julie, grateful for everything you have done whilst we have been away.

Sorry, that's not an exhaustive list - if you're not mentioned, we do still love you.

Right, back to the trip and, yes, it's a blue sky day.

Breakfast at 8.20am, and after we head straight for the Palacio de la Moneda (built 1805, and restored after the coup in 1973), or 'The Presidential Palace. Watched the ceremonial changing of the guard at 10am (it happens every other day). After the brief change we follow on into the courtyard, though little to see - a couple of old cannons and some stone sculptures. Chris had her picture taken with one of the friendly guards, who, whilst looking quite senior, indicated for Chris to link arms with him.

Thankkfully the guard laughed at Paul's attempt at humour in Spanish - 'Senor, por favor, no tocar...'

On a small mission of our own today - we know there's a few Starbucks in town, though the website doesn't help with directions. No luck trying to find the nearest one, but the walk does lead us to the Palacio Cousino - a large mansion in French Rococo style. Not quite sure what Rococo style actually is, though it's a nice building on the outside.

Dating from 1871, and taking 7 years to build, by Luis and Isadora Cousino (millionaires who made their money from silver mining and wine). The palace amazed Santiago society with it's ultra-modern touches - it has it's own electricity generator and the first lift in the country.

Sadly Luis died from TB at 38, and before the palace was finished. His wife completed the building and lived there, never re-marrying, with her 6 children.

The Palace was bought by the Mayor on the 1940's at a reduced price and it is still used for official receptions. Many dignatories have stayed there, though the only one we can remember is Eisenhower. Sorry!

Queen Elizabeth II was due to stay there in the 60's, but 2 weeks before she was due, a fire destroyed the second floor. Whilst a restoration took place, the municipalidad could only afford to to use pine, rather than mahogany.

The palace is stunning, and the detail amazing. Handmade drapes in each room, tapestries, fantastic artworks. Also chandeliers, including one with 3,000 pieces of crystal, that are individually hand cleaned 3 times a year. All of the furniture was imported from France or Italy, and the main staircase is constructed from 20 different types of marble.

The family monogram can be seen on the curtainsrails, mirrors and doors.

Sweet to see the 'indiscretos' - chairs with three individual seats connected in a circle, designed to accomodate a courting couple and a chaperone.

Well worth waiting the 20 minutes for a tour of the house with an English-speaking guide. It cost 2000Pesos each for entrance, including the tour, and also including some fancy slippers to wear over your outdoor shoes. It felt like we were on a ward.

Later in the aftrnoon we made our way on the metro out to El Golf station, where we think there's a Starbucks. Yep, there is, and we enjoy a Frappucino.

From here we walk out to the nearby (though a 30 minute walk) shopping mall, and did a little light shopping. Managed to find an Apple shop and bought a camera connector, (so to use the Ipod to store photos as a back up). Annoyingly it doesn't work, though it's compatible with both the Ipod and the camera (Canon 350D) - looks lie the Ipod software needs updating. Bugger!

Walked back to the metro, though this time we walk past the Military school. Nothing going on this afternoon, though there's a nice clear view of the mountains that surround Santiago, even though the ever-present smog is there.

Vegetarian dinner, again(!), at El Naturalista - great food again.

After, we pop along, on the offchance, to see if Exodus Kim is at her hotel - conveniently she's in the lobby when we arrive.

Aree to head out to the Bellavista area, just a few minutes away in a taxi, with Kim and Rebecca, who is a leader on another truck.

We find a quiet bar and enjoy some wine and Caiprinha's whilst being entertained by a singer/guitarist. Feel a little awkward that he's not getting our full attention, especially when there's only two others in the whole place. Of course, we clap inbetween numbers - he's actually very good.

Found a second bar where we had some late night nachos. Kim had a steak sandwich, and employed the 3-second rule when she dropped it on the floor.

Back in Kim's hotel room, we try to fix her laptop, and fail.

Walking back to our hostel we are accompanied by a friendly dawg, though we try and shake him to saves his disappointment when he's not allowed into our room. He follows us anyway.

Pleased that there was someone to let us in at 3am, though not the dog.

Friday 13th April

Wake up hungover, and likely to miss breakfast, though luckily there's a few bits and pieces left for us.

Walked out to Parque Metropolitano and climbed up San Cristobal, enjoying views of the spread-out city. A bit of a climb, especially in the heat (though not complaining) - 300 metres up, in total. We would have jumped on the funicular railway, but forgot to get any money out before we left.

Sat at the top under the statue of the Virgin Mary, and enjoyed the slightly smoggy view for a while, before making our way back down to Bellavista.

Both got a bit grumpy walking around, not sure where to eat, but eventually found a place, and ate well, and cheaply.

Took a few photos around town - there's a lot of murals/graffiti on the houses - some actually looks quite good.

Walking back towards town we pass the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (a fine-arts gallery), and decide to go in this afternoon. Not the best selection of exhibits, though the building itself is interesting, with it's 'neo-classical architecture. Was cheap anyway, at 600 Pesos.

Not much happening in the evening - Chris still hungover. Watched CSI in Spanish.

Saturday 14th April

Up late this morning - seem to be sleeping to much, but always good to make the most of it.

Made a couple of calls home today, nice to catch up, but always a pain to find out that there's another problem with an old bill. This time, and now 9 months after we told them we were leaving the country, Harrow Council suggest that we owe them.

Next, went on to the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino - where there's impressive objects from the pre-colombian cultures of Central America and the Andean region. Most of the objects were in excellent condition - few cracks, bright colours and clear designs. The age of the objects went back to over 500BC, or 500AC as they say here (Antes Christo). A lot of the objects were buried with the dead, so perhaps this explains the reason for their preservation.

Interesting to learn that some of the cultures skinned their dead and placed the bones in urns.

Also, learnt about 'vomit sticks' - sticks that shamen would put down their throats to cleanse their stomachs.

Paul left Christine to go around the museum a second time, at her pace, and sneaked off for a crafty (but tasty) Burger King.

We're heading out of town tomorrow, so organise our bus ticket back at the central station. Not sure if we paid slightly over the odds - 10,000Pesos (initially quoted 15000Pesos) each for the 6/7 hours to Mendoza, across the border in Argentina. We seem to have paid a small commission to a couple of guys that lead us to one of the many companies selling tickets.

A little wary as we hand over the money...

Back on the metro we go along to another fancy part of town, Providencia, though seems like it's not that busy at the weekend - perhaps just busy in the week with the office workers. Pleased to come across another Starbucks - we'll probably not find another until we get to Peru....

The area doesn't seem that great, so we don't hang around and walk back towards home, via Parque Balmaceda, which is a narrow park area, but straddled by busy roads.

Walked to a grotty part of town to get to Iglesia (church) de Los Sacramentinos. The guidebook describes it as a 'gothic church, loosely designed in imitation of the Sacre Coeur in Paris. Hmm. don't know about that, but the inside is impressive - large dome, balconies, and pretty stained-glass windows. Strange that the outside makes it look quite derelict.

After a food court dinner, we went to the cinema to watch disappointing Ghost Rider. Walked back through the pedestrian area to see lots of folk selling all manner of crap at the side of the pavement, and various street performers. Felt just a tiny bit uneasy walking back through the crowds, but got back perfectly safely to our room.

Sunday 15th April

Travelling across the border to Mendoza, Argentina, today, so up quite early to pack and make our way to the bus station for 10am.

continues on next thread...

Thursday 5th April

Puerto Montt

Didn't plan for Puerto Montt to have much of an entry on this blog, but on arriving at the bus terminal a few minutes walk from the ferry harbour, we find out that the buses from here to Pucon are all full today. There's only one company that goes from here to Pucon - JAC Buses.

Whilst we buy our tickets for the 10am bus for tomorrow, we hang around for todays 10am to see if there's any spare seats. No such luck!

On the way to the (hostel) information stand at the bus station, we are stopped by Heidi who convinces us to check out her hospedaje just a few minutes away.

Yep, it's fine and we pay 5000 Pesos for a double, that has cable TV - always a crowd pleaser.

After dropping off our stuff, we head into town for a coffee and sniff around. Shame it's quite a grotty day, though not raining at least.

Stopped at a small art exhibition, before Paul sat for a couple of hours to get the blog more up to date, while Chris and Theresa took off in a 'collectivo' (a shared taxi) to the small port of Angelmo.

They met a very talkative lady in an artesenal 'aperitif' shop. Theresa speaks good Spanish so could converse with her - chatting about our 'ugly - except Prince William' Royal family and her perception of European girls. She thought Chris and Teresa were German, as they looked quite 'solid'.

She went on to describe Argentinian girls as the ones with fake boobs, big bums and false eyelashes, also that English girls are 'unemotional' and wear little makeup, whereas Italians are nicely dressed. It was hilarious, talking to her and occasionally tasting her fruit/nut aperitifs. The girls bought a bottle of the 'burnt cherry' one.

Walked around the fish market and saw 2 huge seals in the harbour - though the water had a distinct fuel-film on the top and was surely not helping the eye infection that you could clearly see on one of them.

Got a collectivo back to Puerto Montt and collected Paul from the internet shop - a massive 4 hours of blog done today.

Unsure of whether we could use the kitchen at our accomodation, decided to eat out and had a Pizza Hut pizza in the small shopping mall - made the most of their 2 for 1 deal and sat in the food court until two large ones were finished.

Back in the room, and the three of us sit on the bed and watch The Man in the Iron Mask, eating chocolate and drinking 'Burnt Cherry' liquor.

Friday 6th April

to Pucon

Had to wait ages to use the shower - always annoying when someone is pissing around for 20 minutes in there, especially when you are in fact desperate for a piss yourself.

Enjoyed some home made bread for breakfast, then made our way to the bus station to get our 10 o'clock bus.

Left on time, and Paul managed to grab two seats to himself for the first part of the journey - not a lot of leg room on these JAC buses.

'Okay' scenery on the way up towards the lake District,and pleased to arrive in Pucon, where we're planning to stay for a few days. Always nice to have a base for a bit.

Staying here at 'La Casita', just behind the main street, our double room just 5000 Pesos a night. Got use of the kitchen and there's free internet. There's a communal Cable tv, but it's not working, and who knows what might get fixed over the Easter weekend. Looks like we'll need to make polite conversation over the next couple of days. Tch!

We'll be doing some walking from here, so the girls have a look at the forecast, which shows Saturday and Sunday as 'good', but Monday/Tuesday look like rain/clouds etc.

With that in mind, we book up for the volcano climb for tomorrow, though not the 4am start, but the 7am one. Theresa took aaaagggeeeesss sorting out her equipment It's left that she'll choose from three pairs of boots in the morning, depending on her mood, or whether her feet swell overnight. The trip costs 45,000 Pesos, but we get a discount through the hostel, and pay 40,000.

After, we stop at Mamas &Tapas for some '50% off Mexican food', and 2 for 1 cocktails, though it's not a late nor drunken one ahead of a days walking tomorrow.

Saturday 7th April

Ugh, it's too early to hear the alarm. Faces drop further when we realise there's no hot water for a shower.

Arrive at the Politur shop for 6.45am, to find no other bugger around, except some dogs, and we don't think they have paid for the trip.

No problem, as one of the guides soon arrives, and most others a few minutes later. It's confirmed, the dogs aren't on the trip.

Also, Chris feeling a little anxious of the climb ahead of us - the volcano of just under 3000 metres, and, of course, we'll be going 'up', rather than 'along'.

So, we get our equipment on and the minibus takes us to the park. Thankfully the ski lift is working today (wasn't yesterday), so we skip the first 400 metres, and save an hour and a bit.

Initially, when in town, we thought that the weather might go against us, but a little way up the volcano in the minibus and we're above the low cloud, and a clear view of the volcano (Villarrica) is ahead of us.

At the carpark, with about a million others (perhaps 150-200), we are issued with icepicks (a fair bit of the climb will be over ice, though not literally climbing it), before jumping onto the chairlift over the first part of the volcano base.

Thankfully survive the chairlift, despite it stopping briefly about halfway up. Also survive getting off the chairlift, and avoid one of those 'You've Been Framed' moments.

The whole group walked up the first bit together, taking the pace nice and slow along the narrow ledges. No getting out of breath just here then, but it looks a bit more challenging further up.....

First rest-stop was at a derelict skilift that was damaged during an eruption in the early 1970's - great views from here.

As we approached the snow/ice line, we stopped to put on some crampons, to make our walk a little safer, though we are walking up a fairly steep bank, and it'd be easy to lose your footing and tumble straight to hell. Seemed odd (if not dangerous) that some of the other climbing groups didn't have crampons - we'd recommend Politur on that alone.

The views get better as we climb up, though a bank of cloud seems to be following us up the volcano-side. The walk isn't too tough, and the pace steady and safe.

At the top of the snowline and closer to the summit, we remove the crampons for the last 30 minutes, before getting to the summit at about 1pm ) less than 4 hours walking. Whilst it's been quite hard, it has been easier than we worried about.

Shame so many people at the top, and the gases rising from inside the active volcano aren't too pleasant.

We take some photos of the surrounding country, and after some lunch, we are guided to the other side of the crater where we get a decent view inside. There's not a huge amount of lava to be seen from here, but it's stunning to see (and hear) it gurgle below.

I guess it's quite dangerous up here - no rails or anything, and it's very easy to want to crane yourself just that little bit more over the edge. No casualties today, expect one fashion victim. Theresa is caught wearing her green-lens sunglasses over her bi-focals.

Had plenty of time at the top, before gearing up again for the ascent. First a little walk back down to the ice, and from there we get to slide down the toboggan runs. Not perfect sliding, some of us a little to wide to fit the channel properly, so actually quite hard work in places, chugging yourself along. Equally though, some spots quite steep and you desperately needed to use your icepick to slow you down. Really good fun, if not a little tiring.

Some of the slides separated by a short walk/stumble over the ice. Very glad to use the icepick to steady yourself before tumbling.

Took longer than we thought to reach the rock again, and very pleased to take off the waterproofs and cool down a little.

The final stretch was pretty easy going, but again, seemed longer than you'd think. It probably didn't take much less time going down than up, though of course, we didn't take the skilift down the last 400 metres.

Back at the carpark at about 5pm, and ready for the drive back to Pucon - everyone pleased with a great day.

As we said, the climb seemed quite dangerous in parts, but the (3) guides were very attentive and always keeping an eye out. Another reason to recommend Politur.

Back at the shop to drop off our equipment, we're treated to some drinks and we have a little chat before heading back for a shower. Unfortunately, the showers at La Cassita are not particularly hot.

Dinner at Trewan restaurant in town - really tasty set menu - tomato soup, veggie lasagne and fruit salad. Bargain at 3200 Pesos - really good food.

Picked up some food on the way back (for brekky and another planned walk), and treated ourselves to an early night and some rest for the feet.

Great day, and pleased that the weather stayed so good.

Sunday 8th April

Easter Sunday, not a Cadbury's Buttons egg in sight.

Off to the National Park (Huerquehue) today, for a walk around the lakes. The girls head out to sort our transport plans, and we find that the local bus leaves at 8.30 - it's now 9.30.

Instead, we hire a taxi to take us the hour or so to the park - 3000 Pesos, rather than the 1600 on the bus.

Got to the park for 11ish and did the 3 lakes walk - beautiful, especially on another sunny and warm day. The 3 lakes, Chico, Verde and Toro all pretty and the track easy to navigate, though the first hour was uphill, but easy thereafter, especially after sitting down to scoff some mini easter eggs we got from the supermarket yesterday. Nice, but not Cadbury's

Saw lots of Monkey Puzzle Trees (ie Araucaria Araucana - Chile's National Tree).

No big rush today as the suggested walking time would get us back to the park office for the bus well before 5.30. So, took our time to enjoy the scenery and good weather. Stopped at a few spots - Lago Toro the fave of the day - glad to have no one else around and enjoy the silence, save for a few fish splashing in the lake.

On the JAC Bus at 5.30 for the ride back to Pucon - glad to get seats as we pick up a few locals along the way. In Pucon for 7pm, and the girls find local church to attend Easter Mass. Paul doesn't believe in God, instead he sits outside and does some good deeds of his own - strokes a dog and helps a boy put his bike on a trolley he is trying to push.

Theresa heads back to the hostel and Paul and Chris go back for some tasty food at Trewan - today, veggie risotto for the lady and Paul has some chicken he's been craving for days.

Chatted with some folks back at the hostel, did some internet and went to bed - the feet really feeling it after today. The cracked heels not wanting to sort themselves out.

Monday 9th April

Weather forecast spot on - it starts raining in the middle of the night and literally doesn't stop all day.

Theresa doesn't bother with a trip to Villarrica, and we meet up mid-morning to try and formulate a plan, though it is cosy sitting around the wood-burner.

Needed to get hold of some cash, and overlooked the holiday weekend and that the ATM's would perhaps run out of cash. Tried 6 and failed, before Paul clicked that there might be an ATM (and one that takes Visa) at the casino. AAhhh, that 'counting sound' - we love it.

With a pocket of cash, we can now buy our bus ticket for tomorrow, to Santiago. It'll be an overnight bus, and our first Full-Cama experience - we'll have a bed on the bus!

Thankfully we're staying another night in town as the company double the ticket prices over the weekend. When we first asked yesterday, full cama was 34000 Pesos, however, Tuesday's bus will cost half that. Tuesday it is, and we don't even bother trying to save a few pounds on semi-cama.

Back for late lunch at Trewan and the set menu again, this time, lentil soup, veggie quiche and fruit salad. The quiche is, truly, the best we have had ever.

Had no plans for later that afternoon, and agreed to head back to the hostel with some snacks and enjoy the wood-burner and chit-chat. Picked up some dog biscuits to feed some our 3.5 legged friends (limping = half a leg) - they seem pleased, but then we can't shake them off and they follow us around. So we shoot them. Not really!!!! Or did we......

The rain didn't stop all day, but it was nice just hanging around the hostel, by the wood-burner.

Tuesday 10th April

Didn't bother getting up too early, no big plans for today, though we hope to see some of Pucon itself. Teresa went off to Tumuco, a couple of hours away by coach/car - we made our way into town. Weather not great today, especially compared with teh first 2 days in Pucon.

Yesterday we saw an internet cafe that does camera pictures to DVD - we need to get some transferred across, but Paul always dreads this deed, it always seems to take hours. At least it's quite cheap here, and the guy suggests it'll take an hour...

Kim (the tour leader from our overland trip) just happens to be at the internet place, and it saves us sending an email to ask 'are you here yet?....'. Pleased to see her and we have a little catch up before getting on with some blog, whilst the memory cards are done.

Plan tomeet Kim in a short while for some lunch. Just for a change, we suggest Trewan... Only four days running!

SOunds like Kim has had some trouble on the last sector, her truck broke down just a couple of hours into the trip. Sounds a nightmare, though all is in hand.

We were thinking about joining up on the trip that goes from Santiago to La Paz (Bolivia), but maybe glad we didn't - the truck is not yet running! Also, we've done some sums, and we worked out that the cost of the Ushuaia-Santiago leg was cheaper doing it all by ourselves. It's convenient being on the truck, but it's been easy getting around so far, and we've not had to camp either, so we'll stick to doing things ourselves in the meantime.

After lunch and a chit-chat, we head off for a walk down to the lake and are joined by a friendly and pregnant dog. Whilst it's dry, it's pretty miserable and the lake doesn't look too welcoming, so not more than a couple of minutes hanging round here.

Picked up some more dog biscuits back at the supermarket, and went back online to catch up further with the blog - we're NEARLY up to date.! Chris sat outside the cafe and was smothered in dogs, who in turn are probably smothered in fleas and ticks. Unfortunately the dogs started to fight over Chris's attentions, so she retreats inside - they in turn sit on the door step and slowly but surely edge their way in.

So, we're now up to date on the blog and we're heading back to the hostel, feeding the little dogs along the way.

Lazed around at the hostel for the rest of the afternoon before making our way, with Theresa, to the bus station nearby, for our overnight (11 hrs more or less) trip to the capital, Santiago. Excited about our full-cama (chair/bed thing) experience - hope we're not disappointed.

We're on the road on time, and yep, it's pretty comfy, though of course not quite the same as a nice bed. Paul's feet/shoes are stinking, so the shoes go in a bag, and the blanket is wrapped around the feet. For the record, Paul's feet are washed everyday. Honest.

See you in Santiago...

continued on next thread...

Saturday 31st March

to Puyuhuapi

Whilst the woman who sold us our bus tickets for todays trip was very friendly, we're still keeping our fingers crossed that we actually depart today.

Thankfully we do, and get away on time at 8am. We were accompanied to the bus station by a group of dogs, in varying states of health, but all had wagging tails, and some had a limp.

Whilst we do get away, there's uncertainty about whe the next bus will come through and pick us up for the onward journey from Puyuhuapi to Chaiten. It might be Wednesday, it might not be - either way, we're only looking to spend a day or so in Puyuhuapi.

The journey along the Carreterra Austral, which was constructed during the late 1970's by the Pinochet Government, was nice, with the early morning blue sky. Although the road has opened up this area, it remains the most sparsely populated areas of Chile - mainly fishing and forestry go on here.

It's good to be on the road, surrounded by mountains, and passing rocky streams. If it was more downhill, I reckon we'd sign up to do this by bike. Maybe...

For the first couple of hours (into this 5 hour trip) the road is paved, but soon after the forest closes in on us and we're on a narrow gravel track. As we get closer to Puyuhuapi we see a couple of hanging glaciers, one of which we can do a return trip to see from Puyuhuapi.

Beautiful, warm, sunshine when we arrive in the small town (though that seems to big a term to describe the place) and we meet Meg (Irish, but living in Spain) who gives us a tip for a good place to stay - Hosteria Carretera Austral (next door to the Police Station). Recommended, very friendly, nive eating/living room area, though no kitchen. The Senora can provide lunch and dinner for a reasonable extra charge. Breakfast is included.

To be on the safe side, we try to sort out our exit bus ticket, and hear that there's a bus leaving tomorrow. A little sooner that what we wanted, but we'd rather that, than be stuck here for 4 days, where we still are unsure about buses as we get closer to Easter. So, we're booked up for the lunchtime bus tomorrow, which probably means we'll not get back into the National Park for a walk to the hanging glacier.

After a spot of lunch at the hostel, we agree to pay a visit to the Termas (thermal springs) a few kilometres back along the track. Meg organsises some transport for us (there's no local bus service of taxis here, though it seems that most hostel owners provide transport, though it's not cheap. We'll pay 3000 Pesos each for the return journey to the springs.

Looking forward to a hot soak - Paul's feet still giving him some trouble after the recent trekking.

These springs are an alternative to the 'resort' that is across the fjord, that also has hot pools. Much too expensive, plus you have to pay for the boat trip across.

These 'new' springs, on the shore of the fjord, are 8000 Pesos per person and are currently open from 9am to 6pm.

We really enjoy ourselves, and get the place just to us. The view is superb, looking out over the lake and the skies remain blue.

Saw several hummingbirds zipping around the Fuschia's.

We leave the springs feeling really relaxed - just what we needed. Enjoyed chatting with Meg.

Snacked our way through dinner, and played some cards Meg also spent some time with us helping with our Spanish. We can now say some things in the past tense, though we can't say them very well.

Sunday 1st April

After a nice breakfast we stroll along the waters edge and around the quiet town - weather good again today, warm and sunny.

Also, a couple of birthday's today, Christine's Mum, and it would have been my dad's 70th as well as my folks 44th wedding anniversary.

We get back to the hostel in time to get our bags to find Meg coming back to the hostel with hers. Eek - it seems that there'll be no bus today, though we are promised (seguro, seguro, seguro!) that we'll have one tomorrow...

Oh well, there's worse places we could be stuck for another night.

With the sun still shining, we find a grassy spot by the water and Chris catches up with the diary and Paul listens to some tunes on the Ipod. We're accompanied by a few different, but friendly, dogs throughout the afternoon.

Puyuhuapi was founded by 4 German immigrants/pioneers back in 1935, so there's a little German touch around the town - street names, restaurants and a hostel run by the daughter of one of the pioneers. They were given land by the government, though had to build from scratch, including clearing the land of trees.

We returned to the hostel late afternoon, only to find that Meg had hitched a ride out of town with a group of guys competing in some kind of around the world race. Glad for Meg, but kicking ourselves that we didn't hang around for the same opportunity!

The evening drags a bit, as we try to understand a trashy Chilean soap on the telly. Played Uno for a bit, Paul won some, but lost most.

In bed, things get a little weird (not like that). Paul wakes up at some point, needing the loo, but also wondering whether he has just been dreaming of shaking, or whether there was some sort of tremor. Didn't think too much about it until the next morning...

Monday 2nd April

First things first, what happened last night??

Chris also felt something during sleep and we later find out that there was an earthquake over in Chiloe, a little way away. Nothing seems to be damaged here, just a slight tremor, though our first ever.

Less exciting is that we've also woken to lots of rain and crap surrounding conditions!

Despite the above, we're agreed that we really like it here, both in Puyuhaupi, and this accomodation, though we are keeping fingers tightly crossed that our transport does leave at lunchtime.

We try and get some info from the tourist information, but find out that the office is now shut for the season, and the place where we bought our bus tickets is also closed.

So, we're just hanging around town, and chatting to a couple of guys hitchig their way north - one of them has been waiting since 7.30am, it's now just before midday. Both of them complain that the friendly dogs hanging around them make them less an attractive passenger option. Anyway, they don't have to wait too much longer and they're on the road to....wherever they get dropped off.

We make our way around to where our bus should show, the rain still coming down. 1 o'clock comes and goes, and we get excited as we see vehicles in the distance, but they turn out to be other transports.

However, at about 1.30, our bus arrives, though our second need for luck is that it isn't full already. Thankfully, there's 3 spaces, so we just scrape on.

Meet Aaron coming off the bus and give her an accomodation recommendation, and also a warning about the bus situation in and out of town.

Also, meet Brit Theresa who helps us explain to the driver that we should have been on yesterday's bus, but it didn't arrive. Chris and Theresa sit together on the bus and appear to not stop talking all the way to Chaiten. The journey is about 6 hours, and the scenery a little blocked from the steamy windows in the minibus, but the outside cloud and rain doesn't help either.

Arrived in Chaiten just after 7pm and Thesesa joins us in the hunt for Casa Hexagon - accomodation that Meg had recommended - in fact, we were booked in there last night, but of course the bus let us down.

Thankfully, Theresa has great Spanish and this helps us track down the accommodation quickly. It's a great place, run by a friendly German guy. The house is, unsurprisingly, hexagon shaped and very 'cool' looking. It's also warm and cosy, and there's some friendly faces there - Meg, and Ian and Claire, who we met on the minibus up to Puyuhuapi.

The room is lovely (7000 Pesos per person) and the kitchen is the best we have come across in a while. So good, that we bother to go back into town and get some veggies to accompany our pasta and sauce. We even splash out on some wine, and within the hour, wish we had bought another one. Or two.

Meg shared her lovely home made lentil soup too, so we actually ended up with a three course meal, including some Vienetta-style icecream.

The atmosphere really friendly thru the evening and we go to bed very relaxed, and looking forward to the next day, and some more trekking in the nearby national park.

Tuesday 3rd April

Made scrambled eggs for breakfast - really appreciate the nice facilities here - clean, and plenty utensils.

Our trip into the National Park is with Nicholas, who seems to be something of a local celebrity, at least in the tourist world. So many people had mentioned him as a good source of info, and he turned out to be a really friendly guy, and particularly knowledgable about the local area.

The plan was to meet at his 'shop' around 9.30 and some of the other folks at Casa Hexagon were taking a trip with him too. We were joined on the trip by Lobo, one of the guys we met who was hitchhiking out of Puyuhuapi.

So, we're off the Parque Pumalin, which was created by a US billionaire, Douglas Tompkins. This is seen as one of the most important conservation projectsin the world (it has nature sanctuary status). It is 320,000 hectares of temperate rainforest.

The journey into the parks takes about an hour and we're travelling along a narrow gravel road, inbetween inpenetrable rainforest. Surprised to find out that the 'rhubarb' looking plants, Fuschia bushes and bamboo are native to Chile.

We did a short walk 'Sendero Los Alerces', passing by the huge and ancient Alerce trees. One inparticular is said to be over 3000 years old. Apparently they grow incredibly slowly and are one of the oldest trees in the world. The Monkey Puzzle Tree is also found here, and is the oldest of the tree species - it's pre-Jurassic.

It's a beautiful sunny day today, and we're lucky bearing in mind stats for this area receives over 4 metres of rain a year.

Further into the park we stop at Lago Rio Blanco - a beautiful lake, where we see more green Hummingbirds. There's wonderful glacial rivers, trees covered in moss, bamboo groves, ferns etc.

There's another short walk up to a waterfall, though not a big flow today.

After a spot of lunch, we all do a longer hike - 'Sendero Cascadas' - to an impressive waterfall that has several viewpoints as you make your way up to the top.

Ended the day at the beach area at Santa Barbara - a lovely black sand beach. Unfortunately we didn't see dolphins as hoped, but the sunrise was pretty, despite the cold wind getting up. Back in the minibus, and Nicholas entertained us with a South American '10-string-guitar-thing' (about the size of a violin) - oops, we've forgotten the name of the instrument, but his playing was enchanting.

Really enjoyed our day out, and we invite Lobo back to our accomodation to join us for dinner - there's no one else staying at his hostel.

Got the numbers right on bottles of wine - 3 bottles of red, all turned out to be very good, and only a couple of quid each.

Again, another pleasant evening at the house, and we sleep well.

Wednesday 4th April

Realised this morning that Casa Hexagon is in a beautiful spot overlooking the river, and hills behind. The early morning mist looks pretty as it sits above the water flowing below.

We have arranged for Nicholas to take us to some nearby thermal pools, so get some chores done in the morning, like dropping the laundry off at the power-tool emporium(?).

At the pools (Termas de Amarillo), about 40 minutes drive from town (and passing a clear view of the volcano), we find we have the place to ourselves again. Not quite as nice as the pools in Puyuhuapi, but very relaxing anyway and a great place to unwind, surrounded by green hills.

Apparently you can buy apple empanadas here, but they're sadly sold out today.

Back in town, we're working against the clock to prepare dinner, before we leave to catch our ferry from here up to Puerto Montt, also to do a bit of last minute packing.

Underestimated where the ferry port was, which is a little walk around the corner from the waterfront of the town, but got there in plenty of time.

Onboard (with Theresa), we grab ourselves two bench seats facing each other and spread our gear to secure the area. Thankfully it's not too busy tonight, so manage to keep our space for the overnight trip.

Not the most comfortable of nights, and some other travellers making a bit of noise is annoying. Actually, more embarassing than annoying, when one of the locals (it's mainly locals on board) asks them, on behalf of everyone else, to keep it down when people are trying to sleep.

Curiously, the girls end up mostly stretched out on the benches, Paul gets to sleep sitting upright.

We cruise smoothly through the night towards Puerto Montt...

to be continued on next thread...

Wednesday 28th March

Chile Chico, Chile

Next morning, the twattery continues from the ******* girls - their alarm goes off, which they don't bother to switch off. One of them is whisper/shouting across to her big arse friend to get up, and they do nothing to keep the noise down whilst they get ready. *****!

Anyway, it's a lovely day and we have some chores to do, so we crack on. Relieved that there's an ATM (that accepts Visa) in town, then we grab some food.

One of the chores is to try and sort out British Gas, who, 8 months after we left our house/overcharge us/refund us, tell us that we owe them more money, but after three weeks of trying to get them to explain what it is for, they have since called in the debt collectors. *****! (sorry for the bad language) - it's soooo annoying trying to sort these tiny things out - 02, Morgan Stanley, British Gas - you're all crap and need to get your house in order, and you can start by replying to emails that your customers send you. Though, to be fair, at least 02 replied when I had problems being overcharged numerous times when I sent a text message, they just didn't do anything to fix the problem.

There's a minibus that'll take us across the border to into Chile, to Chile Chico, at 11.30am, so all plans are set,and British Gas should now be off my back.

Meet a friendly Russian couple whilst we wait for the minibus at our hostel.

The border crossings were fine, though the Russian passports generated a little interest! and we arrive in Chile Chico, on the shores of Lago General Carrera, which isn't actually that far from the border.

No real plans for doing anything here, just a transit route.

Sort out some local currency, boat tickets (to Puerto Ibanez for tomorrow),and a small room in a local hospedaje, though held up whilst trying to do these things during siesta.

The accomodation is fine, but basic - we're staying at La Casona and it'll be great for the one night stay. Breakfast is included.

Changing money was a bit of a chore - the bank wouldn`t directly change Argentine pesos for Chilean ones - we had to get a guy in the supermarket to write a personal cheque, which we then cashed. Odd, but successful. There is an ATM here, but it doesn't accept Visa, just the Mastercard derivatives.

Didn't do much for the rest of the day - spent some time by the lake in the sunshine, climbed a lookout point at the edge of town (followed by a friendly dog) and tried to use the slooooow internet.

Read the guidebook and listened to some Spanish in the evening - Chris did a great job of getting the diary up to date - we're miles behind, which means the blog is also behind...

Thursday 29th March

Coyhaique

More chores ahead of our ferry trip to Puerto Ibanez mid-afternoon.

Our crossing is at 3pm - we're told to be there an hour before - why?? Not necessary! Anyway, the crossing is fine, though the passenger area is a little crowded, but we have seats.

A couple of hours later, we're in Puerto Ibanez and our minibus to Coyhaique is waiting for us.

Paul snags a legroom seat and is happy to enjoy the drive with his headphones on.

The scenery, especially as the sun goes down is pretty - the local peaks making amazing silhouettes.

It's about 2 hours drive to Coyhaique, though we were planning to travel with Aaron (a nice Canadian girl who we met on the minibus from Los Antiguos) into town and find some accomodation together - unfortunately, she was booked on a different minibus to Coyhaique.

In turn, we don't get dropped off at the same place in town, and also find out that the Youth Hostel (which we planned to go to together, 2kms out of town) was full - glad we had to phone ahead for their address.

Pleased to find an ATM and load up with cash - our favourite sound lately has been the whir of the ATM as it counts up the money before dispensing.

Found a nearby Hostel, recommended by the guide book - Hospedaje Lautauro. Quite close to the centre of town but seems like the place has changed hands. I wouldn't recommend this place to a dog, unless he already had mange.

It's quite late and we're hungry, but a lot of places in town are closing, so we opt for a bag of goodies from the big supermarket.

As we drift off to sleep, we hope to survive the night in the arctic shithole.

Friday 30th March

Back in to town in the morning (yes we survived, and surprisingly didn't wake up to a frosty coating on our faces).

First chore was to sort out a bus away from here, though the schedules for all the bus companies seem to be up in the air and erratic, and we're also unsure of how things will be affected by the upcoming Easter holidays. The helpful tourist info by the main plaza point us in the direction of Daniela buses, though as we arrive at their office, things aren't looking too good - the bus has no back wheels.

Annoyingly we missed the bus to Puyuhuapi that went at 8.30 this morning, so stuck here another night. We eventually track down a bus company leaving town tomorrow, and get booked up.

Meet Aaron by chance in town - she had a nightmare arrival in town, though thankfully got a cheap hotel room for the night. We meet for lunch, though the 'nice looking' place we go to seems to have run out of the first few choices of dish.

The blog continues to be out of date, so a lot of the afternoon is spent typing, and desperately trying to be humourous. Well, at least I got the facts in there.

Nothing else interesting done today and neither of us looking forward to a night in the grotty hostel, though we do spend some time in the uninviting, but warm, lounge - watching Los Simpsons, in Spanish.

Heading to Puyuhuapi tomorrow...

to be continued on next thread...

Punta Arenas

Monday 12th March

Arrived about 7pm after 11 or so hours from Ushuaia. First thing to sort out was to get hold of some Chilean Pesos.

Managed to find about 5 ATM's, none of which would give us any cash. Seems as though Mastercard/Maestro/Cirrus and more widely accepted (in ATM's at least) than Visa.

Luckily come across a money changer and use, for the first time in 7 months, one of our travellers cheques.

Armed with some local currency, we're now able to hail a cab and get to our accomodation nearby - Hospedaje Costanero, which we booked through hostelworld.com, which is quite a handy site.

Seemed to take quite a while in the cab, and drive us far from the centre of town, though we're about 15 minutes stroll back in.

The hostel is quite basic, but Theresa the owner is extremely friendly and cracks open a packet of biscuits for us, as well as sorting us from a twin bed room, to matrimonial-style, though our room now backs onto one of the bathrooms and the walls seems to be made from thick cardboard.

After paying the balance (you pay the first 10% when booking with hostelworld.com) our two nights accomodation, we're not left with toomuch cash, so head into town to try and find another ATM, which we do, in a pharmacy. Oh, it's good to hear the machine counting up those notes!

Now armed with more money, we sort ourselves out with some dinner from the supermarket.

We're not in bed too late, and the sleep is good after a day on the bus.

Tuesday 13th March

We seem to be the first up for a while, but have the breakfast table to ourselves for a while. Enjoyed a chat with some other travellers.

After, we wrapped up for a walk into town, and to look for gloves, hats and socks.

Took a walk up through the back of town to a lookout, which shows the whole town. Just behind the mirador (lookout) is a small cafe, where we stop for a bit.

After a bit of catching up on the sloooow internet we walked around the main square and the surrounding colonial-style building.

Chris had an expensive, and not as good as Ushuaia, hot chocolate.

A few minutes out of town is a cemetery, with its mixture of colossal mausoleums and small, but well kept, plots. It's nice that the graves are usually accompanied by flowers (sometimes plastic ones) and photos/small personal effects of the deceased.

Spent some more time on a faster internet connection, getting ourselves organised for our next stop for the Torres del Paine National Park, which will be in a couple of days time. Feels good to get a bit organised.

Had a healthy-ish salad for dinner, though both of us conscious that we're eating too much bread/cheese/pies - unfortunately the choice isn't too wide, and Paul is getting sick of meat. If only there was a good Indian around here....

Chatted with American John, who had his day-bag snatched at the bus station in Buenos Aires. He's been 'stuck' here, waiting on a package from New York. I'd be lost without my Ipod charger!

Wednesday 14th March

Puerto Natales

Our short stay in Punta Arenas over and we have an 8.30am bus, heading north to Puerto Natales - our gateway to Torres del Paine. Paul is delighted that we have seats at the front, and legroom that puts a smile on his long face. Well, it is early, and cold, and damp etc etc.

The journey is not particularly exciting, and the highlight is a packet of actually-quite-tasty biscuits, with a cream filling - like a round shape Bourbon.

The bus drops us off by the town square, just after midday and we get to Niko's II hostel just around the corner with no fuss. This was another booking via hostelworld.com - the reviews looked good, especially that someone had said the information for the Park was excellent here.

Friendly Paula checks us in, and the room is nice, especially the Cable TV.

We sit down with Paula to go through our options for the park, and have a think about how many days we'll be trekking - gulp, we're signing up for 70kms over three days, maybe 4. And, the weather is known to be very changeable in the hills!

We've booked to stay in 2 of the 'Refugios' in the park - not cheap at USD33 per person, and we already know that the facilities are basic - however, this seems a more comfortable, though maybe less adventurous than camping. Sod that, if you have to carry your stuff around whilst trekking!

Anyway, back in Puerto Natales, we leave the hostel for a wander around town, and to the shoreline of Seno Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope Sound) - also managing to find the chocolate factory on the way. Well, not quite a factory, but they sell lots of 'homemade' chocolate, and other cakes and chocolate-y drinks.

Took it easy in the afternoon and evening, enjoying the relative luxury of our room with TV. And, probably some chocolate.

Thursday 15th March

Great sleep, woke up late, but just in time for breakfast. Well pleased to get more than the usual bread and jam - this time, with ham, cheese and even a yoghurt.

Got our laundry done here for about GBP2.50 a kilo.

Also got our bookings in for the transport and accomodation for the National Park - Torres del Paine. Saved a few pounds by paying for the accomodation in US Dollars, otherwise we would have to pay 19% tax.

Slightly kicking ourselves that we didn't start our trek today as the weather is gorgeous, but anyway, too late for regrets.

Took lunch at the first veggie restaurant we've come across for a while - El Living, run by an English couple. It's not cheap, but affordable - Chris has a huge piece of veggie lasagne, and Paul, a walnut veggieburger. Enjoyed their piles of magazines, despite some being a few years old.

Sat by the water in the afternoon, though Chris struck by an urgent need for the loo - uh-oh, hope it's not what Paul had...

After the emergency dash, we head to the small town area to get some food supplies to keep us running for the next 3/4 days in the park - plenty pasta/sauce/cookies/nuts/dried fruit. We had been told to get our food in Punta Arenas, where it is cheaper, though we're not sure if it makes all that much difference.

Not looking forward to carrying all the food, as well as clothes and other stuff on the walks. Perhaps we should eat it ALL on the morning of day one!

Get to bed early, and enjoy watching The Terminator. You can guess what 'Yo Regreso' might mean if spoken with a Austrian/cyborg accent.

A little nervous of what we've let ourselves in for with the hike.....

Friday 16th March

Our walk in the Torres del Paine starts with an early drive from Puerto Natales into the park, with all the other hikers.

Up at 6.30 for breakfast and meet friendly Melody and Marcus from Australia. The bus takes us away from the comfort of a warm hostel at 7.30am. The bus costs us 10,000 Pesos (1000 to the Pound) and entry to the park a further 15,000 Pesos.

Nice ride over to the park,which was created in 1959 and appointed a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1978 - it covers an area of 242,242 (roughly) hectares.

We had planned to do the popular 'W' walk, rather than the entire 'Circuito'. Our walk would be around 70+ kilometres over 3 or 4 days. We walked from right to left - partly because good weather was forecast for the first day, and we were keen to get a good view of the 3 Torres (Towers).

Not a great start as it started to spit with rain as we pulled up in to the starting point for the walk.

The valley walk up towards our first overnight stop point was mainly 'up', though not too steep, but quite tiring, with having to carry 15kilo packs. We soon got quite hot, desite the chilly wind.

The upward walk wasn't too long, 90 minutes, and we got to the more level walk on to the 'Refugio' along the valley. Paul's boots, despite being fairly worn in, had decided to cause blisters on both heels - annoying, though not too painful......yet.

Pleased to arrive at the 'middle of nowhere' hostel (Refugio Chileno - not cheap at USD33 each a night!), which is in a pretty spot by the busy river.

Got ourselves checked in and had some lunch before getting ready for the further 2 hour walk up to the viewpoint for the 3 Towers. Met up with Melody and Marcus for the walk along.

The path starts alongside the river and makes its way along until you reach a small 'enchanted' forest. Then, the vertical bit! - not quite vertical, but it seems to be a clamber-up, rather than a walk up. It takes us about 2 hours or so to complete the walk/climb to the top, but the views as we ascend are great across the valley below, but the real treat is of course at the top, for the Towers themselves.

Firstly there's a beautiful green lagoon at the foot of the towers, with numerous small waterfalls feeding into it - water from the snow and ice above.

The towers look amazing from here, even with a little cloud obscuring a full view of all three towers.

Thankfully not too windy at this viewpoint, but quite cold, especially where we're a little sweaty from the climb up. Sat on the rocks and admired the view for 30 minutes - really magic. Melody and Marcus left a short while before us as they are camping right back at the beginning of the trail - hopefully we'll bump into them again along the way.

It started to spit with rain as we started the walk back down, and got a little harder as we reached the flatter ground - gave us a chance to wear our ponchos, which we bought back in Puerto Natales. paul decides that XL would have been a better fit.

Caught sight of a male/female pair of woodpeckers as we re-entered the 'enchanted' forest bit - a Black Headed Magellanic Woodpecker (female) and a Red Headed Woodpecker (male - striking colours). Both very busy chipping away at some fallen trunks.

Got back after several hours walking at 5pm. Annoyingly we weren't allowed to use the kitchen facilities as they will soon be used by the hostel to prepare dinner that you can buy - also quite expensive, but actually looks very good.

Finally got into the kitchen at 8.45pm!!, but the pasta took just a few minutes and we were eating by 9pm and in bed not long after. Despite the basic facilities at the Refugio, the beds are really comfy, and you get pillows (you need to use your sleeping bag). Not sure about sleeping in the top deck of a three level bunk - that looks high up there...

Both slept well - very warm and cosy.

Saturday 17th March

Woke to the sound of rain - not what we wanted to hear, though also warmed that we didn't stay in a tent.

Today's leg will be on to the next Refugio - Cuernos, some 4-5 hours away, though again we're carrying our packs.

Thankfully the rain eased off, though Paul's blisters giving a bit of trouble.

We're on the trail by 10.30am - it's dry, and the wind's not too bad.

The opening hour or so of the walk gives great views of the lakes in the valley, and is also quite flat and easy to navigate (all the pats in the park are said to be well signposted). There's also fantastic views of the peaks to our right, where the wind is blowing snow from the top into big clouds.

Reached Nordenskjord Lake and watched the strong winds further up the lake take big misty plumes of surface water across to the other side - gave great rainbows.

As we rounded the far corner of the lake the winds got up, to the extent that we had to hold on, or be blown over - in fact, Chris lost her footing at one point and took a tumble. No injuries, though Paul was told off for walking ahead. "What if I'd been blown into the lake....etc etc".

The walk along the lake took around 3 hours and we had a couple of nice pitstops to catch our breath, and arrived at Refugio Cuernos (another USD33 a night each) at 2.30pm - 4 hours walk, slightly ahead of the suggested 5 hours.

The hostel is in a nice isolated spot, overlooking the lake and surrounded by high mountains.

Very pleased to be sitting down, drinking a cold Coke, and listening to the strong winds blast against the face of the hostel. Not sure if the creaking is supposed to be so louad, and so much movement in the walls. Apparently, we very safe...

The Refugio is very similar to Chileno, though we found the guys running it a little less friendly.

Met up with Mike (Norwegian) and Susanne (German) who are travelling together for a few weeks. Chatted most of the afternoon with them and another German girl, Jenny.

No problems with cooking here, with a small stove being available at any time, though kitchen access somewhat restricted. Thankfully we're carrying some cooking utensils, thanks to Paula at the hostel we stayed at in Puerto Natales (Niko's II).

In bed fairly early, and another comfortable night's sleep.

Sunday 18th March.

Oops, lots of rain and string winds overnight, and today is due to be a big walking day over to Camp Italiano, for the French Valley Walk. Walking on will then take us a further couple of hours to the 3rd and final hostel - all in all, about 9 hours walking today. And it's not looking like stopping raining.

Planned to be on the trail (with packs, though the weight slowly going down as we use up our food supply) by 8am, but hang around until just after 9.

The rain has eased, but it's still coming down. We prepare as best as we can to keep dry.

10 minutes in and our legs are soaked from all the moisture on the knee-high bushes that line the trail. Of course, this same moisture eventually makes it's way into our boots from the top down.

45 minutes into a full days walking and we're already getting uncomfortable - lots of parts of the trail are like running streams - we even give up bothering to try and find the drier edges of the small pools that have formedand walk straight through. We can't get much wetter after all.

The trail is interesting, though the low cloud and mist cover up any interesting views - we're also spending most of the time looking down to see where we're treading - last think we want to do is slip over and cake ourselves in mud. It feels mildly miserable, for these fair-weather walkers.

Both of us already thinking the the walk up the French Valley, which is supposed to be gorgeous, will not happen today. Not when we can save 5 hours of miserable walking (and teh views also not so good in these conditions), and begin the drying process in just 2 short hours.

We don't even stop to consider our options when we get to Camp Italiano, though, again, we are pleased to not be camping on this hike - it looks horrible. We continue the trail towards the last refugio on our trek, Paine Grande, which we hear has a cafeteria.

So, after 4 hours walking, we arrive at the lodge pretty wet and cold - very pleased to be in the warm and to see a friendly face, American John (who we met in Punta Arenas).

The lodge is a lot bigger than the previous 2 - more like a hotel. And, it's a couple of dollars more than the others too, but facilities are very good and there's plenty of hot water.

Once we're dry, we sit by the wood-burning heater, with our boots in front of us - can't even contemplate walking in wet boots tomorrow!

Had a pleasant afternoon chatting with Mike, Susanne, Jenny - playing Scrabble with John etc etc. The line of boots around the fire growing is about 7 deep by dinner time.

Cooked up the last of our pasta in the grotty outdoor kitchen (crammed full of campers, and really not kept that clean), and got back into the cosy lounge within 20 minutes. M&M's are on offer - 2 (small) bags for 800 Pesos. That'll be 4 bags then, please.

John had been camping, but ended up breaking a tent pole. I reckon he did it on purpose to get a nice warm indoor room.

Mike and Susanne very sweet to us - they paid for dinner at the refugio and kindly brought out their desserts for us. Yum, and thanks guys!

Spent the rest of the daylight hours enjoying the view of the windswept lake (Pehoe) from the lounge, met a few other folks. Nice friendly atmosphere.

Go to bed, pleased to be in the dry, but sorry to have cut the route short.

Monday 19th March

Again, not a huge walk planned today, so not up till 9am. First thing we check is how the sky looks - not great,but it's dry...for now.

Also, can't see that the conditions are any better over at the French Valley - of course, we do have the option to revisit the area.

However, today we'll walk to Grey Glacier, another highlight of the 'W' walk.

On the trail just after 11am (a little late) and the wind is up, and of course, we're having to walk into it, rather than it blow us along. The beginning is quite hard going (uphill), and the winds pushing you back don't help. At least it's quite clear in the sky today, with a little bit of sun poking through.

Bumped into Jenny, who was already on her way back from seeing the glacier - she's catching the midday boat.

We're pushing quite hard to get trhough the trail, as Paul wants to be back in time to get the 6 o'clock boat out of here.

Bump into quite a few folks who have decided against going all the way to the glacier face, due to the wind, but we persevere for the time being...

After an hour or so, we get our first view of the glacier - quite exciting, but we want to be at the face NOW!

Pleased that the winds have died down and there's also some more sun, though Chris has a dodgy stomach today.

Got all the way to to closest lookout for the glacier after 3 hours, about 30 minutes ahead of time, giving us plenty time to hang around and take in the view. Also, perhaps a good thing that we left quite late, as a lot of other walkers have made the return journey, leaving the glacier all to us.

The colour of the glacier was amazing, especially with the sun dipping in and out of the clouds. Awesome!

Sat around for about 20 minutes and got some energy for the return trip from some M&M's.

Chris not happy that Paul has walked ahead, again. Paul's blisters are stinging, and also his toes are crushed in his left boot, so he wants to get it over with asap, which is a shame with the amazing views around us.

The return trip took a further 3 hours, so 6 hours walked today - pretty good against the 7 hours that is suggested.

Had considered staying in the park another night, and seeing if we could do the French Valley walk tomorrow, but Paul's feet are in pieces, and we get on the boat at 6pm for the journey back to Puerto Natales. Great views from the ferry, and the bus as we head back to town - nice clear night, and lots of stars out for us.

Back to PN by 10pm - annoyingly had to go into a dorm (same price as a double, but they're full up), but our roommates are great, and don't disturb us from our sleep.

Shattered, and with Paul's feet swollen and blistered, we get to bed, pleased that we completed the walk, though it was a 'U' shape walk, rather than a 'W'!.

Tuesday 20th March

Moved into a twin room, with Cable TV - Paul happy to lay up with his feet resting.

Chris kindly went out for someemergency supplies - Coke, Chocolate Milk, cookies, Pringles, then we both collapsed for most of the rest of the day, until we met up with Mike and Susanne for dinner.

Went to a Parilla (BBQ restaurant), though managed to get a spread of food to suit us all - Chris has some mashed potato with her Omelette.. Enjoyed a Pisco Sour, followed by wine, and had a good chat with the guys.

Wednesday 21st March

Chris's cold coming through now and she's not feeling so good. Managed a wander around the small town and along the seashore.

Met up with Mike and Susanne again, this time going back to the only veggie restaurant in town, El Living. Yummy, had soup, and a spicy coconut dish, though didn't stay out too late as Chris not up to it.

Sorry to say goodbye to Susanne (we're on different buses tomorrow), but will be travelling with Mike.

to be continued on next thread....

28th December, Thursday...

Touched down on the remote Easter Island mid-morning, for the start of our last continental leg in South America.

Thankfully, the local hosteliers meet the arriving passengers, making it just that bit easier to secure accomodation, though we did worry that, being New Year, it may be tricky getting a bed.

No problem, and we briefly haggle the price down to US$290 for 6 nights, with breakfast and our very own bathroom facilities at Martin Y Anita. Martin is a friendly chap and agreed to help with our Spanish during our stay.

Similar to other islands in the South Pacific, it´s pretty small and it´s just a few minutes drive to the main urban area of the island, Hanga Roa. The guesthouse has a nice green garden area and our room is fine. Pleased to meet Michael and Stephanie

After a night of travelling and little sleep, we snooze the afternoon away, then at 5 ish we walk to the ´centre´ for a nibble, finding a small restaurant serving pizza. Where we come from, a pizza is round, rather than triangular, so feel a little diddled out of our 6 other slices. The food is nice all the same and we´re joined by two friendly dogs, who don´t understand English.

Of course, the mystical stone statues/sculptures (Moai) are the big draw on Easter Island, and we find our first group closeby along the coast, a few minutes walk from town at Ahu Tahai. The statues have been restored to their original glory, spread over three Ahu (platforms), after suffering damages from previous times - there´s several headless stone carcases lying around the island.

Unlike Tahiti, we´re blessed with long daylight hours, and enjoy the sun until past 9pm. The surrounding countryside very green, with lots more trees than we expected (they were mainly uprooted over the ages). In turn, there´s still a few birds flying around.

Up late on the second day, meeting Michael and Stephanie at breakfast - bread, cheese, ham, fresh juice, tea, coffee etc, as well a bit of sponge cake.

Not in a great rush today, and pleased to chat with the guys until midafternoon before visiting the small, but interesting, museum - of course, dedicated to the history of the island, in particular the history of the Moai, and theories as to their coming.

We read that 2 civilisations formed here, ´possibly´ from SE Asia and built the large stone altars (Ahu´s) and the sculptures (Moai) to honour their ancestors. They usually face inland, despite being often located on the coast. There´s also some, but less, female sculptures - no particular record as to why.

Also in the museum, various exhibits depicting daily life - carved wooden tablets, tools, household items.

By the way, whilst it doesn´t particularly feel it, we´re pretty remote, 1900 km from Pitcairn Islands and some 3700 km from the mainland.

Walked back along the coast, before a bite to eat, then classroom time and to listen to some Spanish. Decide that swatting up until late at night isn´t good for getting you to sleep.

Day 3, slept in, again, before catching up with real life on the internet. Saddam Hussein has been executed.

The island, whilst small, really needs to be expored on a tour, or with a vehicle, so we sniff around for a good deal on a jeep. Not much luck, though we get booked for New Years day, for US$72 for 24 hours. Again, considering our remote location, this could have been a lot more expensive, like Tahiti.

Later in the afternoon, took a walk for several km´s north up the coastal track, though not a great deal to see - lots of horses and cows. And cowshit and horseshit.

Had hoped to see the cave that had formed a window in the cliff face, but it was elusive today.

In the evening, went for late dinner (can´t remember the name of the place, but it was always busy) and had the best meal in a few days. Michael and Stephanie joined us for a drink.

Day 4, New Years Eve - tried to reconfirm our flight at the LanChile, but it was closed. With the limited flights coming through here, we realised, a bit late, that we should get more organised!

Took a walk south along the coast, further Moai and one of those signs with different places pointed out, such as Sydney 10,000kms. Please excuse the inaccuracy in that example.

Whilst not really a beach nearby, we took the Ipod to the coast and listened to more Spanish. Still struggling with verbs. What the hell is an 'adjective'?

Back at the guesthouse we tuck into some cheap Chilean wine and pseudo-Pringles, enjoyed during a game of Uno.

Met with Michael and Stephanie at 8pm and headed down for dinner, same restaurant as last night.

Limited choice on the menu, but tasty stuff nonetheless, followed by dreamy Tiramisu and Icecream. The night went by quicker than planned, so had to secretly crack open our champagne at the reataurant at midnight. Not the most raucous of occasions, but with lovely company, and pleased to be tucked away in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Here´s to 2007 and warm wishes to our families and friends back home.

Shortly after midnight we make our way towards the beach area, armed with more wine and Pringles (sour creme and onion) and chat until past 3...

1st January 2007 - up late, and enjoy breakfast with fellow guests Les and Viv.

Picking up our rental jeep today at 2pm, and happily agree to Les and Viv joining us for the afternoon.

Start off along the South Coast, along a bumpy/potholed road, stopping at Rano Raraku (the Nursery), where the Moai were cut out of the slopes of the extinct volcano. Some 600 Moai (or bits of them) remain here, including the biggest at 21+ metres.

Walked to the top of the crater rim for 360 degree views around the island. Magical, but not like Paul Daniels.

A few minutes away we stop at the Ahu Tongariki - the platform of 15 restored Moai. These were knocked down after a Tsunami back in the 1960's.

Next, along to Anakena beach along with many other Easter Islanders on this holiday-day. Heavy surf, so we keep to the shallows!

Towards the end of the day, we return to the magnificent 15 for sundown and wine, then a final look at the "nursery", under the moonlight.

Day 5 - crikey, up early today to make the most of our few hours with the jeep. Les and Viv join us for a drive to Vinapu where there is an excellent example of an Ahu and its similar carving to that found during the Inca period (according to the very knowledgeable Michael). Also we come across a female sculpture thanks to Michael pointing it out to us.

Next, on to Rano Kau and the 'village', high up on the outer crater edge - gusty up here today. The 'bird-cult' rituals were performed here - whereby the participants swam out to the small islands (Motu´s) to collect bird eggs, and successfully return them ashore.

Heading back to town, as the rain hammers down, we stop at the Lanchile office and get the rest of our flights reconfirmed, also Christine books up for a scuba dive for later in the day.

Back at the guesthouse, we drop off Les and Viv and pickup Michael and Stephanie (by the way, a friendly Austro/German couple) and head out along the north cost track to try and find the elusive cave.

Not quite successful with the cave, though we do locate several other shallow caves.

Several other sites along the way, including Ahu Tepeu, and the seven restored Moai at Ahu Akivi - these are the only examples that look out to sea, rather than inland.

Went to the quarry where the Scoria (Red stone) was sourced for the top-knots - these were the 'hats' that were positioned on top of the Moai.

After using some newly learned Spanish to get the jeep refuelled, we drop it off and head to one of the only fooderies open for a bite. Unfortunately, despite moving our table a dozen times, we fail to find a spot under the tree that isn´t dripping.

After a coffee, we head back to the guesthouse and Christine gathers her bits for the dive, Paul stays in and gets some shut-eye.

Christine´s dive takes her out to Motu (island) Nui and enjoys 50 minutes of pristine coral, though not the most colourful, and 50+ metres of vis. (Visibility!).

Christine now has a new (actually her first) claim to fame - she was diving with a French chap (Orca Dive Shop) who arrived on Easter Island in 1978 with Jacques Cousteau on the boat Calypso. He dived for a number of years with JC - he also holds some record for the highest altitude dive at 5900 metres, in a lagoon in Chile. Whoopee.

The rain hadn't really stopped since early morning, and was chucking it down as we went for, our last, dinner with Michael and Stephanie.

Aaaargh, the Tiramisu place was fully booked, though we got in somewhere nice down the road, though we did return for Tiramisu, though not as nice tonight.

Last day, Day 6 - up early to pack, then Martin drops us off at the airport, a little earlier than we needed (4 hours!) for our early afternoon flight to Santiago, Chile. Quick goodbyes to Michael and Stephanie.

Pleased with our stay on Easter Island, though didn´t get to the bottom of the mystery of the Moai, or where the first inhabitants of Polynesia came from.

Best of luck to Michael and Stephanie on their move to Germany!

Looking forward to using the inflight entertainment on the Lanchile flight - best we used!

Next stop, an overnight stay in Santiago Airport.