Travel Blog

Right I’ve had bugger all time to get on the internet recently and I’m sure when you read this entry you’ll see why. After spending a marathon session on the internet in Lima which is where I left you last, we embarked on a travelling session that lasted the guts of 3 days. First we flew from Lima to Sao Paolo through the night on Friday. At Lima airport we encountered the worst run checking in system I have ever seen. Thanks to this and the complete carnage at the emigration desk and security checkpoint, we only barely made our flight. And that only because we skipped ahead much to the annoyance of other passengers. Arriving in Sao Paolo, it wasn’t long before we found ourselves on a 24 hour bus to Cuiaba on the outskirts of the Pantanal. But not before we got a bus from the airport to the bus terminal only to find out we needed to be at a different bus terminal and had to get a metro there. The 24 hour bus journey turned into almost a 28 hour bus journey. When we arrived at Cuiaba, Julinho, our Pantanal guide, was there to meet us. However he promptly informed us that we’d be embarking on a further 1hr 15 min drive to Pocone where we would base ourselves for the Pantanal tour. However at least the drive (it was dark at the time) was interspersed with stops to look at the various snakes crossing the road.

Once we checked into our lodge at Pocone, Julinho took us into town to see their version of carnival celebrations. We were delighted at this since we were gutted over missing carnival in Rio. Julinho also informed us that the celebrations in Pocone were arguably better than Rio because the town was so small making the festival more traditional and not just for the tourists. Sure enough once we´d had dinner we witnessed the full extent of Pocone´s carnival. The main attraction was a live band playing on a stage in the square. They had a big horn section & lots of singers and almost sounded like a ska group. After dancing for a bit we responsibly decided to hit the sack as we were up early the next day for Pantanal fun.

What made the first day of Pantanal so good was being introduced to countless new species. As we drove through the wilderness which I can best describe as the wild plains of Africa, we saw everything from Caimen (a type of alligator), Capybarras (the world´s largest rodent) and howler monkeys to toucans, macaws, parrots, hawks, falcons, cuckoos, woodpeckers and lizards. We also saw, according to Julinho, some species of bird that would have made a birdwatcher weep! Oh and plenty of ants, termites and spiders. The pantanal was so teeming with life it´s hard to describe what it´s like to experience so much wildlife jumping out at you from every bush, tree and lagoon. Also the noise of each animal´s distinct sound combined is deafening. About mid morning we stopped at a bridge over a river. The sun was high in the sky and viciously hot. Julinho urged us to take a swim in the river at which we laughed. There was no way we were going to go swimming in a river that contained Caimen! After a while we realized he was being serious. After he assured us that Caimen were not man eaters and the river was perfectly safe, we reluctantly jumped in. The water was refreshing but a light brown thanks to the calcium content. We were more reassured when Julinho jumped in after us and eventually we relaxed and played around without regard for the lurking Caimen.

At lunchtime we arrived at the place we would stay for the next 2 nights. This was a farm belonging to an elderly couple from the Pantanal called Gloria and Tutu. Julinho had befriended them and persuaded them to let us camp on their farm. He believed that this would result in us having a more rewarding Pantanal experience. You see Julinho was born and grew up in the Pantanal. He learned everything he knows from his village elders and can, in a split second, name any species just from the sound they make or a fleeting glimpse of their feathers. So we got to see how this family lived their life. They use cows and chickens for meat, chickens for eggs, cows for milk and grow all their own fruit and vegetables – including oranges. Yum! Apparently they only travel to the town once every 2 months. After lunch we drove to an area of the Pantanal that contains the greatest concentration of macaws on the planet. Macaws are beautiful blue birds that glide gracefully through the air while eagerly chatting away to each other. We were awed by the sight of dozens of them playing in the trees and stayed until sunset. On the drive back to the farm we tried to catch a glimpse of the elusive Jaguar but to no avail. That evening at dinner we experienced the full wrath of Gloria´s cooking. The woman is a master chef and had cooked us far too much food, all of which was made from the fresh produce of their farm. After watching a bit of the live coverage of the carnival in Rio on TV we hit the sack.

The next day was spent much like the first – driving around observing the wildlife and eating Gloria´s incredible cooking. When we arrived back that night there was still no sign of a jaguar although we did see rabbits, foxes and owls. After a spot of Brazilian big brother we headed for the tent. The next day we bid farewell to Gloria and Tutu as they sent us off with a packed lunch and as many oranges as we could carry. We headed for a lodge closer to Pocone where we would spend our final night in the Pantanal. On the way we stopped for another swim at our river. Arriving at the lodge that evening, we chilled by the pool before eating a dinner that sadly didn´t live up to Gloria´s cooking. The next day we went for a walk around the area in which the lodge was based. We came across a colony of animals, whose name escapes me right now, but Julinho was very excited about it. They were a kind of ring tailed lemur. On the way back we came across a man fishing on a bridge who had caught a piranha. Julinho showed us the piranha and told us all about it before announcing that the river we´d been swimming in over the last few days was full of them. Jaysus! Lucky he didn´t tell us that at the time of I´d never have gotten in the water. In the evening we headed for Pocone to Julinho´s sister´s house. Alessandra helps run the Pantanal tour business with Julinho and we all went for some traditional Brazilian food together. Later on Julinho brought us back to Cuiaba for our 3am flight to Rio De Janeiro via Sao Paolo.

The flight was tiring since it was in the middle of the night and we had to change planes at Sao Paolo in the middle of it. We´d planned to get some kip when we arrived in Rio at 8am except our descent into Rio changed that. As we came in, we were treated to a fantastic view of Christ the redeemer silhouetted against the morning sun. As the plane turned for its approach we saw the sugar loaf and Copacabana beach. Feck this! we thought. We´re not wasting a second in Rio with such frivolous activities as sleeping. So no sooner had we booked into our hostel were we on a bus down to Ipanema beach to spend the morning. Ipanema beach is ideal – the sand is soft, the water cool clean and free of rocks & seaweed while the people are so friendly and great craic. After lounging there for a few hours we decided to walk back to the hostel via Copacabana beach. While not as nice for swimming as Ipanema beach, it is still an important part of Rio and a must see. We barely had time to shower before we were off to see Christ the redeemer. We arrived up at the iconic statue of the late JC just as the sun was setting giving us a great view over Rio. From here we could also see a perfect example of the Rio community – a favela (slum) with a run down football court literally next door to a massive mansion with a swimming pool and Olympic race track. The rich and poor living side by side is sadly a part of what Rio is all about.

That night we hit a samba street party but not before a few beers and Caipirinhas in the bar. The bus left the hostel at 12.30am and the street party was happening! It was just great walking the streets with a few beers chatting to the locals and backpackers alike and inspecting the wares the street sellers had on offer. Things got mental, suffice to say we got home pretty wrecked and instantly slipped into unconsciousness. As I mentioned before, every minute spent sleeping in Rio is a minute wasted and so we were up in a few hours later and on our way to the sugar loaf. As we queued for the cable car we eased our sore heads with a couple of ice-creams. Once we had taken the 2 cable cars to the top we enjoyed the breathtaking panoramic view of Rio De Janeiro. Looking out over the city and bay we reflected that it looked otherworldly and perhaps something from a computer game – utterly awesome. After the two cable cars back to the bottom, we barely had time to make it to the Irish bar in Ipanema fort the rugby game. Well! What can I say? The bar was packed full of Irish and English including a large throng outside peering in the window to watch the game. Guinness was not cheap at 16 Reais a pint – almost 6 euro! But I allowed myself a quota of 2 considering the day that was in it. The game itself was great with my Irish flag featuring largely throughout. We all know the score – 43-13 to Ireland – apparently a record loss for England in the 6 nations. After the game the banter was heavy. The fields of Athenry was sung loudly followed by a tame version of Swing low sweet chariot followed by an almighty version of You can stick your f***ing chariot up your arse! So good was the win (especially Horgan´s try – can O´Gara do no wrong?!) that I allowed myself a third celebratory pint of overpriced Guinness. We caught half of the high paced France/Wales game before we had to head back to the hostel for a trip to the Sambadrome. Tonight was the winner´s parade from Carnaval where all the samba schools that won during Carnaval paraded the Sambadrome one last time. This was great for us as we missed Carnaval in Rio. The processions were incredible although slightly marred by the fact that we were so tired. The costumes and dancing were like nothing I´d ever seen before. At one stage one of the floats caught fire which only added to the excitement. After seeing a couple of samba schools we were forced to leave due to our sheer exhaustion. We headed straight for bed.

The next morning we were up early again and on our way to the bus station to get tickets out of Rio in two days time. AT 1pm we were off to the legendary Maracana football stadium on a tour organized by our hostel to see Vasco V Flamengo (the biggest rivalry in Brazil) in the semi final of the league. To say Brazilians are passionate about football is an understatement. The crowd, the noise, the flags, the balloons, the flares, the singing – it all continues for more than 2 hours. It´s actually a war! Thankfully the team we were supporting (Flamengo) won although only after a gripping penalty shoot out. We went back to the hostel on the minibus with high spirits and high hopes for the Favela Funk Party that night. The Favela Funk Party is a party that every favela organizes in a club every Sunday. The one we were off to was the biggest one in the biggest favela. The only thing was that the leader of that particular favela was shot dead 3 days earlier with 70 bullets! :-/ We waited in the bar drinking our Caipirinhas for news of whether the party would be on or not in light of the shooting. In the end we were told that in the professional opinion of our hostel, the club would be no more dangerous as a result of the shooting than normal. In fact they reckoned it would even be safer. So the minibus to the party was full of merriment however I found the club itself to be quite disappointing. For such a big place it seemed quite empty and lacked any atmosphere. Even the topless male dancing competition was kind of lame. The only consolation was that the beers cost only 1 real. Coming home from the party was again more fun that the party itself. A stupid Aussie guy at the back of the bus was trying to be a comedian but the more he tried the more he sounded like David Brent. Hilarious for everyone else on the bus though! Back at the hostel the hot tub which normally closes at 10pm was mysteriously re-opened. However I suspect this was more to do with the hostel-goers pulling back the protective sheet than a good will gesture by the hostel owners. After a good bit of craic I crawled into bed at 7am. Another great night in Rio!

The next morning Fi (the mentler) decided to go on a tour of a favela at 10am. Good luck! I chose to sleep however when the tour was full and Fi couldn´t go, she decided to take it out on me by waking me up. After my initial anger I agreed to accompany her to Ipanema beach. It was our last day in Rio after all. We spent a good while on the world´s most perfect beach – better now that it was a Monday – resting our weary bodies. In the evening we headed for Usco to stroll around before heading on to a Churrascaria for dinner. This was no ordinary Churrascaria though. It was the best and most expensive in Rio. We payed 66 Reais for the meal but man was it worth it! Rog would have been in heaven. As much food as we could eat, the buffet included every type of salad, sushi, fish and meat you could imagine. All the food was of the highest quality. For the meats, waiters came around with the meat on a large skewer like a kebab. You indicated which part of the meat you want and they slice it hot off the skewer and straight onto your plate. Divine! With bellys full we made it back to the hostel for more Caipirinhas but the last 4 nights had taken their toll and so we only lasted till just after midnight.

First thing the next morning we were on a bus to Foz De Iguassu. The falls on the Brazilian side are amazing. Not much else to say really – they´re falls! Not to say they´re not spectacular but there´s little I can say to convey the beauty of them. They have to be seen to be appreciated – like most waterfalls I would have thought. At the moment I´m in the hostel at Foz De Iguassu having just enjoyed a delicious Italian buffet dinner. Tomorrow we´re off to see the Argentinian side of the falls then on to Buenos Aires. It will be emotional leaving Brazil. Although we´ve had so many incredible experiences in South America, I can definitely single out Brazil, specifically Rio, as the highlight so far.

Ok finally I´ve found a computer with a speed worthy of uploading photos. Since my feckin camera broke (in fairness thanks to me climbing up a sand dune at 3am with it in my pocket) there won´t be any more pics for a while. I´ll be relying on Fi´s camera till I get a new one possibly in Buenos Aires but more than likely not till Sydney. Grrr! Anyway enjoy...

Fi and I posing in the middle of the dunes where we went sandboarding
Fi sandboarding
Me jumping out of the dune buggy in a ridiculous way

Our last group photo together on the salt flats tour with the red lagoon in the background. From left to right: me, Mike, Fi, Thom, Steve (Wayne), Janine.

Ok I know a lot of people have been asking me to put photos on the blog. Unfortunately there are few computers in South America that are fast enough to facilitate this. I actually found a net cafe here in Huacachina that is fast enough but of course, the PCs don´t support USB. Great. Still I´ll be in Lima on Saturday with a few hours to kill before our flight to Sao Paolo (I´m going to Brazil!!!) so hopefully I´ll find somewhere there where I can upload some piccys. Hang tight!

Well we arrived in Iquique and it was everything we expected. A big seaside resort full of high rise hotels and casinos. On the upside the weather was great but on the downside the beach was a bit of a disappointment. Too much seaweed and rocks. On top of that we wasted one of our two days there trying to book a bus out of there the next day and some malarone for our forthcoming jungle trip. Still we enjoyed the evening on the beach and afterwards some Chinese food which we had been hankering after for a while but doesn´t seem to be too common in Peru or Bolivia! We had found a bus that went direct to Arequipa in Peru (our next destination) at 10.30 the next morning but the Ireland V France game was starting at 12 that day (or so we thought) and we didn´t want to miss it. So we opted for a bus to Arica, taxi over the border to Tacna and a further bus to Arequipa. Much more messy but worth it to see the match. We found out the next day to our dismay that I had messed up and the match was actually on Sunday and not Saturday.

So we had made the trip harder for ourselves and for nothing but not to worry. The trip was without incident and we got to enjoy a nice Italian meal in Tacna too while waiting for the bus. We arrived in Arequipa around 7am and once again I failed to get much sleep on the overnight bus. I had pretty much given up hope of seeing the French match and so went to bed for some kip. I woke up a little before kick off and decided to hit the internet in the hostel and let sky sports keep me up to date on the boys in green. Just before kick off an Irish girl went legging it round the hostel screaming “The match is on tv, the match is on tv!” Sure enough she wasn´t lying. Because it was a French game TV5 were showing it. Mon Dieu! About 10 paddys crammed into the tv room in the hostel to watch the game. There was an incredible feeling of excitement and nervousness in the room so I can only imagine what it would be like at Croker. We all know what happened next. ´nuff said.

That day we went out to walk around Arequipa and try and get rid of the post match depression but we had still not learned our lesson and yet again found ourselves wandering round a city on a Sunday when everything is closed! We gave up and went back to the hostel for some pool, table tennis, dinner and an early night. The next day we went to see Juanita the frozen ice woman. She was found in 2005 frozen on the top of a nearby mountain and was an Inca girl who had been sacrificed to the Gods. Her body was perfectly preserved and you can still see the crack in her skull where the inca hammer hit her. “It´s ok though”, our guide assured us. “She would have been drunk when it happened!” Afterwards we wandered round Arequipa a bit more and grabbed some food before heading back to the hostel for more pool, table tennis and table football before our bus to Ica.

We arrived in Ica the next morning and immediately got a taxi to Huacachina. Huacachina is basically an oasis in the middle of a desert and a few hotels around it. Surrounding the oasis entirely (except for the road to Ica) are massive sand dunes. The place exists solely on its tourism but is admittedly beautiful. Sandboarding, swimming in the hotel pools and boozing are about the only three activities to do there. We checked into our hotel and after a few hours kip, booked sandboarding for that afternoon. We went for lunch in a nearby restaurant that had a monkey tied to a tree in the middle of the garden. He was the cutest thing I´ve ever seen and in the last couple of days I´ve developed quite a friendship with the little guy. I drop by to see him every day and he enjoys looking at the photos on my camera with me (he holds the camera while I press the buttons) and yesterday he unscrewed my bottle of water and drank from it! It´s going to be tough to say goodbye to him. After a few hours of chilling by the pool we went sandboarding. AWESOME! Loved it completely. First they drive you around in the dune buggy a bit and try to scare you by zooming up steep dunes and flying down the other side. It´s pretty much like a roller coaster. When we finally got to do some sandboarding we were all slightly nervous at the steep dunes. Little did we know they would get progressively steeper as we went on! I tried a couple standing on the boards but fell instantly and kind of stumbled down the rest of the dune. I soon figured this was a waste of time and did the rest going down on my tummy which is faster anyway.

I was disappointed when it finally came to an end but vowed I´d be back again the next day. That night we had an all you can eat and drink BBQ at the hotel. The burgers were ming, the chicken was ok but the salads were great. As much avocado as I could eat – Clare you would have been jealous! When the free drink ran out we cracked into the beers and some whiskey that the English lads had bought. We sat by the pool for hours making merry until someone got the clever idea to climb the nearby sand dune. Myself and the two English ran at it. We lost one of the English guys early on but Nick and I kept at it. At first Nick ran ahead and made a lot of ground but I kept going slow and steady and when Nick had ran out of breath I passed him and was soon miles above him. It was tough going though as it was very steep, very tall and sand means for every step you take you take 2 back! At one point the peak looked miles away and I thought I´d never make it. Then all of a sudden I was there. I couldn´t believe it! I looked down and saw that Nick had a fair bit to go. I shouted words of encouragement and finally he made it to the top. We paused for a good while to take in the awesome view.

Then came the fun bit. The hotel we´re staying in backs onto the dune we had climbed so we legged it down the dune as fast as we could and burst through the palm trees to the poolside, threw off our clothes and jumped in the pool. The people still left at the bar didn´t know what was going on but I can categorically say that was the best swim I´d ever had! I was so sweaty, sandy and knackered from the climb. After a shower I went back to the bar for another beer but lasted about 3 seconds before my aching muscles forced me to go to bed. The next morning I slept and slept till Fiona woke me up informing me they were going to eat in the restaurant with the monkey. Monkey! I jumped out of bed and was ready to go. We spent the day chilling by the pool again (not much else to do!) and I eagerly signed up for another round of sandboarding. It was even better than the previous day as the guy brought us to an extremely high and steep slope that we hadn´t gone to the day before. The only thing was it was at the top of a dune where the sand was so soft the dune buggy couldn’t drive up there. So we had to climb it first with our boards and all. Coming down was great but I was so tired from the climb. This combined with everything else from the past few days meant I was up for an early night. I had barely enough energy for dinner – not much of a valentines day!

Right. I´m sick. Sick to the teeth. Those bloody French. How dare they?! This (again) is supposed to be our year. Two years ago the Welsh thwarted our plans with France being the thorn in our side last year. What a harsh way to lose today. Especially since Geordan Murphy was well in with that try. I only hope that England give them everything they deserve. For once I want England to win a rugby match! All I can say to France is watch out for us in the world cup. They´re going to severely regret being picked in the same group as the Irish. Ireland, Ireland, together standing tall!

Bolivian computers are ludicrously slow albeit dirt cheap which is why it´s been a while since I updated bloggy. After Sucre, we caught a bus to Potosi. There isn´t much to do there but it was really just a stop off on our way to Uyuni for a tour of the salt flats. The one full day we had there we spent visiting the mines. Potosi actually used to be the richest city in Bolivia thanks to the abundance of silver in the mines. Unfortunately now it has been almost completely exhausted and is one of the poorest places! Certainly he poorest place I´ve been to so far. Mining of other minerals still takes place though and touring the mines is a popular tourist activity. We were picked up at our hostel at 1pm (very reasonable since we had been sampling Potosi´s night life the night before) and brought to a small shack where we changed into overalls, wellies and hard hats with lights on the front. Then it was onto the Miner´s market where we were to buy gifts for the miners. Suitable gifts included soft drinks, 96% alcohol and dynamite. I bought a bottle of pop, a stick of dynamite for the miners and one for myself. Dynamite was a bargain at only E1.70! On we went to the actual mines and once I saw the entrance I started to feel slightly nervous - The entrance was low and I could see it getting lower and narrower further in! Feck it I thought. I´m here, let´s go.

I was right. Soon after entering the daylight disappeared and I found myself stooping through a dark narrow passageway deep into the mountainside. The air was filled with dust and aspestos hung from the ceiling. The high altitude didn´t help either - Potosi is the highest city in the world! After a while we arrived a museum on the first level of the mine. It was here that I finally relaxed. I got to grips with the fact that I was in a mine and would be for the next while and I just dealt with it. Luckily though as we soon continued on deeper into the mine to the 2nd and 3rd levels. At the deepest point I was crawling on all fours through holes and passageways that if they were any smaller I wouldn´t be able to fit. Finally we made it out the other side and we all gasped for sweet air. Now for the fun part. We were all allowed to blow up any dynamite we´d bought in the Miner´s market. The guide taught us how to mould the dynamite, stick the fuse in and put the whole lot in a bag of ammonium nitrate with the fuse sticking out. I was already feeling slightly nervous about holding a full stick of dynamite when the miners only use a quarter for one explosion when the guide lit a cigarette and pressed it to my fuse thus lighting it. I was like a little school girl standing there freaking out holding a lit stick of dynamite. Fortunately the fuse was 5 minutes which gave enough time to get everyone´s sticks lit and pose for a photo. Then the guides scooped up all the dynamites and ran down the hill to deposit them at various places. We waited with baited breath and a few moments later BOOM! 7 sticks of dynamite noisily polluted the air and all the crawling through the mine finally seemed worth it. It was great! Back at the hostel we were more tired than we expected and so just had dinner and went to bed.

The next morning we caught an early bus to Tupiza. Again not somewhere with much to do but was closer still to Uyuni. It was however where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their demise and it really did look like a town from the American Wild West. Situated close to the Atacama desert there was absolutely nothing but dust sand and scorching hot sunshine. Not a drop of water to be found! On our one full day there we took a triathlon tour which consisted of mountain biking, horse riding and jeeping. We first cycled for about an hour to a lookout place with breathtaking views of the valley and surrounding mountains. Then the jeep took us back to Tupiza with the bikes on top and then onto another place where there was a dried up river bed. Here we had lunch with the most spectacular surroundings I had ever seen. Little did I know it would get better in the next few days. After lunch we rode horses through more amazing terrain and then we got a jeep to the top of a mountain. This was the best bit as all that was left was to speed down the mountain on the bikes. The feeling was incredible and I was particularly happy since I missed Death Road in La Paz. A great day out.

The next evening we got a train to Uyuni where we would base ourselves for a 3 day tour of the salt flats. If there was little to do in Potosi or Tupiza there was less to do in Uyuni. The morning of the one full day we had there I spent on the internet being kept up to date by sky sports as to the progress of the boys in green against Wales. That evening we did the only thing worth staying in Uyuni for a night for - Minuteman Pizza. Every backpacker we had met that had come from Uyuni raved about this pizza saying it was the best in the world and all the guide books praised it. We couldn´t not try it! It was owned by an American called Chris from Massachusetts and it certainly didn´t disappoint. I´d say it was the 2nd best pizza I´ve ever had - can´t beat my Dad´s Quattro Formaggio! The next morning we began our tour. It seemed like a good idea at the time of booking it to go for the option of leavin at 5am to catch the sunrise over the salt plains. At 4.30 am when my alarm went off the idea didn´t seem so agreeable! We grumbled about the early rise in the jeep for about an hour while enjoying our left over pizza. However when we got to the spot where we would watch the sunrise and the sun began to came up I realised we had made the right decision. I had never seen anything like it. The sun came up behind some mountains and was reflected in a shallow lake that we had driven through while all around me for as far as I could see was a bright white desert of salt. Even the numerous photos I took cannot convey the sheer beauty of this sight. It has to be experienced in person.

After the sun had risen we continued through the salt plains to a hotel in the middle of nowhere. The thing about this hotel was that it was made completely of salt! Apart from the roof of course. It seemed to me like something out of Hansel and Gretel. The building, tables, chairs - everything was made of salt. We stayed there for a few hours playing football and chilling out. We then continued on to "Fish Island" so called because it apparently looks like a fish from a distance. It didn´t. Still it used to be underwater a few thousand years ago when the salt plains were actually sea before techtonic movement created the Andes and the water washed away. As such the island was made of coral and it seemed interesting to me as we climbed it that several thousand years ago there were fish swimming around it. We had lunch there consiting of lamma chops with spuds and veg. Then we moved on to the edge of the salt flats where we stopped for the day at our accommodation. Before dinner, we had a quick tour of some nearby caves which were slightly disappointing and didn´t seem worth the 10 bolivianos entrance fee. Dinner was more lamma and afterwards we cracked into the couple of crates of beer we had brought - we had heard that once you stop at your accommodation there isn´t much to do so we brought beer to pass the time. Soon about 6 local girls came in and started playing "traditional Bolivian music". This consisted of out of tune panpipes and out of rhythm bass drums. Not to mention the less than tuneful singing! Still 3 young kids urged us to get up and dance and so we danced around in a circle with the kids for a while. Our motley crew had been whittled down to 6 at this stage - us the Candians and the English - and we began playing cards. At 10.30 or so the electricity cut (we were only allowed 3 hours of electricity after sunset) and we continued playing cards by candlelight till about 1am.

The next day the tour continued with us feeling quite wrecked after a pair of early mornings and late nights. The was much jeeping but with regular stops at various volcanos and lagoons. One volcano was dormant and we could see it smoking. The lagoons were impressive with scores of flamingos grazing while being watched by wild foxes. Less impressive was the "Stone army" which to me seemed like a load of rocks in a field! Still I had to remind myself that the scenery was yet again incredible. It´s amazing how quickly you get used to being surrounded by huge volcanos, mountains and valleys. That night despite our general fatigue we stayed up late finishing our beer (no point bringing it and not using it right?) and playing cards again. Since we the next day we would leave the two English lads for good we wanted to have one final night with the 6 of us together. By the time we went to bed, the temperature had dropped drastically from scorching hot sun during the day to below freezing. I slept in all my clothes in a sleeping bag with blankets on top and still I woke up shivering. Another 4.30 am start took it´s toll and by the time we arrived at the guysers shooting jets of steam into the sky we were able for little else than a quick photo and back into the jeep. Fortunately soon after we arrived at the natural thermal springs which quickly warmed us up. We enjoyed a breakfast of cake and juice before heading to our final destination - the Chilean border.

Here we said farewell to the English lads and crossed into Chile. An hour long bus took us and the Canadians (our little group seemed to be diminishing rapidly) to the little Chilean town of San Pedro. The instant we crossed over the border we felt the effects of crossing from Souuth America´s poorest country into it´s richest. The road immediately turned from a bum shattering dirt track to a beautiful paved highway that ploughed through the desert to San Pedro. Unfortunately soon after arriving in San Pedro we felt the negative effects of being in such a rich country. Our lunch cost about 10 times as much as a night out in Bolivia would have cost us. I don´t think we´ll be living the life in Chile that we did in Bolivia or Peru! We booked into our hostel and went straight to bed for a few hours. A set of bus tickets to the seaside resort of Iquique in northern Chile for tomorrow currently reside in my wallet. We plan to relax on the beach there for a few days and maybe even cut out alcohol for a few days. Then again we are in a big wine producing country. Who knows? Watch this space!