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Mr Warren's Travel Blog!

Mr Warren is taking a year to travel the world. Follow his journey and his exploits through his regular blog....

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Tuesday 15th February

Well it has been a week of travel, and little else really. La Paz to Copacabana, Copacabana to Cuzco (some cool Inca Museums and storms), Cuzco to Lima, and finally a flight from Lima to Quito, Ecuador.

During this time we have visited Inca Museums in Cuzco, securing all the knowledge we had learnt from our Inca trail a month previous. Cuzco has been my favourite city so far in South America. I love the people, the history and also the view from our hostel has been amazing, watching the rainy season in full flow (see photo of a storm brewing in distance at night).

So now we are in Ecuador, a relatively small South American country, but one of the most diverse. We have only been here 36 hours, but have visited the old colonial town and its many convents and churches. Also, appealing to my geeky nature, we have visited the equator! The middle of the earth!

During our time at the monument and equator museum, we learnt about the different weather patterns in the two hemispheres and the classic demonstration of the direction the water takes down the plughole from each hemisphere. Also, pretty cool to place a foot on either side of the world. Didn’t feel too different to be honest, but due to the strange downwards gravitational pull we were able to balance an egg on a nail (okay I couldn’t, but a few lucky people managed it, much to my annoyance...grrr...too competitive from all the Beaver Road football and cricket matches...). On the way out we asked our driver to detour to the many volcanoes that surround Quito. Here from the top we could see the flat crater of the volcano Pululahua, which erupted 2500 years ago. Now the flat crater has been cultivated by the locals for farming, and has remained dormant.

Now I leave you for a week, as we head off into the Amazon Rainforest. Fingers crossed for many animal and plant sightings, and less of the huge insect and arachnid sightings. Maybe even the chance to catch a huge piranha?

Well, although this entry has been short, I hope to fill your boots in 7 to 10 days, with stories from the Amazon.

Friday 4th February

So after a couple of days rest from the Inca Trail, we have quite a big decision to make. Either we were to take our time heading back to Lima via Peru’s beaches or, as we were so close, we could hop over into Bolivia for a couple of weeks to see what it had to offer. We fancied some beach time over the next couple of weeks, but a quick check of the weather report online (it is called the rainy season for a reason) and after a chat with some friends we had met from Bristol, we made the choice to head for Bolivia.

Now the bus service in Peru is not as specialised as it is in Argentina or Chile. The roads, also, leave a lot to be desired. But the overtaking manoeuvres of the drivers themselves are the most worrying...well frightening. Add to that landslides due to the rain, and you have a cocktail of ingredients that means daytime travel is the safest (in the loosest possible terms) way to get around.

We break up the trip from Cusco to Copacabana (Bolivia) with an overnight stop in Puno. Not the most attractive of cities, bearing in mind it overlooks Lake Titicaca, the supposed highest navigable lake in the world (it isn’t but don’t tell the locals). We arrived on the 24th January, a day for ‘fiesta’ with dancing groups, brass bands and blessing of miniature objects to bring good luck. Certainly brightened up Puno, for a few hours.

Up early the following day to skirt around the western side of the lake, and to approach the land border with Bolivia. Pretty simple really, as we were well organised. Peruvian police stamp, Peruvian migration stamp, followed by Bolivian immigration stamp and Bolivian police stamp. Ten minutes later, we were in Copacabana, a beach side town, surrounded by a hill on either side and a view of the Southern part of the lake.

We decided to stay for two days, but wished we hadn’t! Rain, rain, rain, plus the owner of our hostel was the Bolivian ‘Miss Trunchbull’. She scared the life out of me, threatening me that my bags would be left on the street if I came back from dinner too late. I hoped this was not the sign of things to come.

So from Copacabana we booked a ‘chicken’ bus to La Paz (A chicken bus is the term used for the cheapest bus you can find, that really isn’t safe enough for humans, and would be better suited to transported chickens around), thinking that it was only three hours, and that nothing strange could happen...of course it did. We were bumped off the bus after an hour, only to watch it board a barge, and sail off down a river (refer to photo). Thankfully a nice lady told us that we needed to get a river taxi, to follow it for when it hit the other side of the shore! Bizarre! Alas, two more bumpy hours and we hit La Paz, Bolivia’s capital, and the highest capital city in the world.

To be honest with you, I hated La Paz to start with. A bit grimy, some unfriendly people and a few dodgy characters loitering around when we took our camera out. But over the four days we were there, I slowly grew to like. Needed to remember that Bolivia is a poor country and has had quite an unstable past with its governments. The city itself resembles a huge bowl, with the main centre at the bottom and districts of the city sprawling up the sides, quite an impressive view. We did the usual touristy things, museums, churches and street market. Met up with a few other travellers to discuss where to go and what to do and they pointed us in the direction of Uyuni.

The overnight bus (only option) to Uyuni was terrible. All good up until 2am, and then the road disappeared and we were on desert tracks that shook the whole bus like a washing machine. 6 hours of spine-shattering later, and we arrived in Uyuni, a desert town originally based around salt mining, but now based on tours to visit the salt flats. This was to be a great couple of days, visiting the hallucinogenic salts flats and the old train cemetery. The salts flats we visited in Chile had nothing on these. Because of rainfall, the salt had dissolved to form a totally flat and white landscape that stretched on for miles, creating some bizarre and mind-boggling images. The reflections of the rainwater made buildings appear out of nowhere, and we could get some cool perspective shots (see photo of my wife standing on little-old me). On to the train cemetery, where old decommissioned trains are strewn across the landscape, stripped of anything worthwhile. It was like the best playtime ever, as we were left to scramble over the old machines, Mr. Dale, you would have loved it!

Our time in Uyuni was done, not because we couldn’t have spent days at the salt flats, but because the only food available was pizza. Now I like pizza, but two days in a row is enough. We booked another ‘chicken’ bus to Sucre, Bolivia’s original capital city, until the title was taken by La Paz. The desert road out of Uyuni was fine, but up in the mountains it did get slightly dodgy as the dust turned into mud, and our bus wobbled onto two wheels, and a bit close to the edge, a few too many times for our liking. Eyes closed, i-pod on and fingers crossed for the next five hours. At one point they stopped the bus to tighten up the wheels! Happy days!
Safely into Sucre, and a big sigh of relief. Instantly preferred Sucre to La Paz, streets were cleaner, people were friendlier and there was just less hassle on the streets. We spent a day orientating ourselves, and then booked onto a one day trek outside of the city.
The trek began with a visit to an old cement factory. Why? Well twenty years ago while dragging away from a mountain side the raw materials they needed, they hit a huge slab of limestone. No good for them, and they left it. After a few months of rain, which washed the limestone, footprints began to appear as if they were climbing the rock-face. These belonged to dinosaurs! I don’t know how clear they look on the photos, but pretty impressive to think how they have been preserved all this time, and as the mountains have formed, these footprints moved from horizontal to vertical!

Continuing the trek we walked through different valleys, past small Bolivian villages and down towards some waterfalls. A great trek, that removed some old cobwebs from the Inca Trail. The tour company was also good, as although we paid for the trek, the company uses volunteers as guides, and then at the end of our trip, the money it cost us, is given to a local village. Great idea.
On the way back from the village, a storm broke out, and we were stuck on a Micro (local bus) as the water level on the street began to rise. Did get pretty hairy at one point, as we asked the locals and they said they had never seen it so high! Thankfully our driver finally used his common sense and headed uphill away from the impending flood and we finally made it back to the sanctuary of our hostel to watch the storm unfold.
Our little venture into Bolivia is nearly done. Over the next week we travel back to Lima, Peru to fly to Ecuador. It has taken time to adapt to, compared with Peru, where everything is on a plate for a traveller.
P.S. There has, however been one issue that has really bugged me whilst being here, and I feel I have to mention it. It is how badly they look after their wonderful landscape. From every bus trip we have taken, rubbish is strewn everywhere across the countryside. People stop at the side of the road and through their rubbish down a mountain side. On one bus trip a mother and daughter sat in front of us. The daughter finishing her lunch opened the window of the bus and launched wrappers and bottles out on to the side of the road. The mother then turned to her with a frown, I thought to tell her off, but no, she was mad because the daughter hadn’t thrown her rubbish out too, which she then duly did. Turning to look behind us at the other passenger’s response, and they were all doing the same!

Friday 21st January

The Inca Trail

Day One
A 4:30am start, collected from our hostel, equipment check and off to collect our porters. A two hour drive along with a quick breakfast and we arrived at Kilometre 82, the start of the Inca Trail. Here is just one of the points where many Inca people would begin their pilgrimage to Machu Picchu.

The Incas created a ‘road’ system which made it easier for people to travel through the wild, rough terrain of the Andes, bringing gifts to the Royal Incas situated in the Holy site of Machu Picchu. Now this might not seem like much, as the Romans created roads etc. way back, but when you see the size of the mountains they crossed, you can begin to understand why this trail is regarded as such a huge achievement.

And at Kilometre 82, along with 6 other trekkers, our 2 guides, and most importantly our porters, we set off on the first 16km, climbing a steady 750m upwards. A sunny day, new people to meet and fantastic views – a great start on our journey. We camped out under a full moon at Yuncachimpa, after visiting the Inca site of Llactapata (An important Inca administration point, surrounded by the Urubamba River).

(Before I forget, the porters are amazing! They join your four day trek and carry huge bags of equipment up the trail – gas bottles, tents, cutlery, pots, food, tables and chairs. They are unbelievably quick as well, racing past you as you puff and pant with your walking sticks and boots, while they do this everyday...in flip-flops!!! Legends. Although I decided to carry my own bag all the way, as I was a bit unsure about paying a porter twice my age to lumber all my kit up the track, they were definitely needed for the trek to run smoothly and were stars of the show in our group’s eyes).

Day Two
Up bright and early at 4am for the toughest day of the trek, a climb up to 4200m, through Dead Woman’s Pass. Now this truly was a hard day. The climb, which was to take most of the morning was a shock! The increasingly thin air, along with the humid weather made it uncomfortable, but as with all good walks, the views from the top were totally worth it. Of course, once at the top, there is only one way to go, and the descent led us past waterfalls and back into the rainforest for lunch (prepared by our porters again) at Paqaymayu. This campsite it particularly dangerous during the wet-season, due to its proximity to the waterfall, so rather than a siesta, we decided to carry on up the second main pass.

A good decision by our guide, as the mist swept in, and we found ourselves amid a storm that would last the rest of the day. We past the old Inca watch tower of Runkurcay, nestled in to the hills with views down three valleys. Any possible threat to the Incas could be spotted at least 5 km away, unless it was a day like ours, where we struggled to see past 5 metres. Still in this watch tower, the windows were lined up perfectly to show the shortest and longest days of the year, due to the suns position in the sky. This aided the Incas in knowing the time to grow their crops as it showed the end of the wet season, and the beginning of the dry season.

After 9 hours of walking, we set up camp at Chaquiqocha, and were rewarded for our hard work with great views of the snow-capped mountains of the Andes, plus the good news that we could have lie-in the following morning...well...still 6am...

Day Three
Wide awake, breakfast done and wet-weather gear on again, we set off on our third main day of hiking. Passing through Inca Tunnels and lush rainforest, we visited the Inca sites of Phuyupatamarka and Winay Wayna. The sites were becoming larger and more important the closer we became to Machu Picchu. All with the terraced steps for farming, and lined up again to appreciate the sun’s movements across the sky.

A much easier days trek, and thankfully we were rewarded with the afternoon for free time. We spent time playing cards, drying our clothes and hoping that the weather would be good for the following day at Machu Picchu. Day three had been a washout, and with such low clouds surrounding us, the signs we not good.

Just before bed, we gathered the porters together to show them our thanks for all their hard work. Many of them work as farmers in the surrounding hills and do the Inca Trail as a second job. We pooled some money together as a group and presented it to them along with some speeches showing our gratitude. Very humbling to see how hard they work for very little wages, so it was nice and heart warming to give them something extra for all their efforts.

Day Four
Up at 3am! I repeat...3am! The base camp was a thrive of excitement as all the other trekking groups were up early too, in desperate need to be in the queue for last walk to Sun Gate, where fingers crossed we would be able to see Machu Picchu. The national park gates opened at five and a steady line of walkers made the last hour and half trek through the rainforest, across a recent landslide (rather quickly) and up some incredibly steep steps.

At Sun Gate, disappointingly the cloud had swept across Machu Picchu, and we could only make out the mountain behind the site, called Wayna Picchu. We rested up for ten minutes, and decided to make our way down to the site, fingers crossed the clouds would clear...and they did! The site was huge and looked stunning! A well deserved reward for 43km of walking and the stupidly early starts. Many photographs later, our guide Saul gave us a detailed tour of this Holy Inca site, explaining its construction, importance to the Incas and a brief overview of their beliefs and culture. A fascinating insight into a culture that could survive in such a setting, but not only survive, spread their empire far into South America.

Sunday 16th January

Touchdown in Peru, and the capital city of Lima. A city that is developing rapidly, creating lovely beaches along its coast, and losing its “dangerous” tag through a lot of security and police on the streets.

We stayed in the district of Miraflores, which is close to one of the oldest Adobe Pyramids in the country. When visiting, we discovered that the pyramid had taken many centuries to construct by the ‘Limas’ and was a place of many sacrifices to different Gods and of huge importance in their culture. It was, however, conquered by the ‘Incas’ in 1500 (more on them later), and in more recent times a rich Peruvian purchased the land, and had plans to wipe the whole place clear, to construct many houses. Thankfully the Peruvian government intervened before this was the case.

In central Lima, the streets are packed with people (many of them young children) selling their wares. Shoe-shine boys, hand-made llama sweaters, grilled ‘coy’ (Guinea Pig) etc. are all on offer. It is clearly a poor country, with many children begging or wanting your plastic bottle to re-sell, it’s important to remember how lucky we are in the UK.

Around the central Plazas, lay many Cathedrals. Many of which were constructed during the Spanish Conquest in the 15th Century. The most exciting of these was the San Francisco Cathedral, founded by a group of monks. Inside (where we could not take photographs) were huge paintings depicting many Christian stories, some even with a Peruvian flare (noted a llama in a picture of The Last Super, along with grilled coy on the plates of Jesus’ disciples). The building was fantastic, and under renovation, but beneath the buildings was a darker side. Here the bones of 30,000 citizens of Lima lay in open graves. Arranged in patterns, like something from Indiana Jones. A bizarre and quite creepy experience, we were glad to be back out on the streets of Lima.

Another day of shopping (ZZZzzzz...) and it was time to move on to the city of Cusco. The options were a $80 bus ride, lasting 24 hours, and avoiding landslides or a $100 flight which took 1 hour! No contest! So our plane landed a little bit late (getting used to lateness in South America), in the old Inca Capital of Cusco. It is quite important to understand about Cusco that it is 3200m above sea level. So the air is REALLY thin! Meaning you have to take long and deep breaths to inhale a normal amount of air. Leaving the plane I felt light-headed and my legs felt like jelly. So I slowly wobbled my way through to baggage claim, much to the amusement of the Cusco airport staff.

Instantly I knew I would love this city. It is hanging on to its past, there are no huge skyscrapers, the streets are cobbled and too small for cars, and you are always likely to pass a llama on the street. The walls around the city are built on old Inca sites from around 1400AD, and the people here are passionate about their colourful past.

Now the only real way to learn about the Incas is to complete the famous Inca Trail. This is something we had to book way in advance, as the walking permits are difficult to get hold of due to demand. Sadly, three days before we were due to start I was hit with the flu. Not the normal ‘man flu’ that is a bit of a sniff and a cough, but a full on wipe-out! So three days spent in bed, desperate to be well for the four day Inca Trail. Thankfully the antibiotics and painkillers worked, and I was ready to begin.

Saturday 8th January

Another long over night bus journey (with the hugest man, who snored like a train, equalling no sleep for 48 hours) takes us from the capital, west to a city of Mendoza. On the map it is frighteningly close to Santiago, Chile – however the huge Andes Mountains separate them quite dramatically.

The climate here is dry, but due to the snow melting in the mountains, the population is well watered due to a huge maze of canals. This irrigation system and dry climate allows the perfect conditions for growing grapes, which Mendoza is famous for...the wine trade! Here, for miles around, 75% of all Argentinean wine is produced. Our plan, to sample some of this lovely wine and understand the process behind its production. Also maybe get out and about for a trek or another stint on a horse.

Sadly, as is always the way with many great plans, our horse-riding and full day trek into the Andes was cancelled due to torrential rain. It hadn’t rained for months during spring, and now on our arrival, the sky had opened. Bringing a touch of Manchester to Western Argentina. This meant however we could catch up on some sleep that we had missed on over the fiesta (not the car, party) season of Christmas and New Year, plus the torturous bus journey with Mr. Snore.

Once the bad weather had receded, we could finally make our way around the city of Mendoza. A great city, with huge boulevards and open spaces. Mainly due to an earthquake in the 1850s, which meant the city was floored, so why do you think they now have such wide streets and open spaces...hmmm?

The parks around the city centre were great, Argentines sat around relaxing, playing chess and reading. Impromptu games of football would spark up out of nowhere.

So on to the wine tour. We visited 3 vineyards in total, starting with the biggest Mendoza had to offer (Selling 250 million litres of wine a year) down to a small family run vineyard, which was more exclusive. The vineyards were great, preparing for their harvest season in late February; there was a great deal of preparation underway. The grapes are picked and stored in HUGE French oak barrels that give the wine the taste your parents may like (your teachers certainly). Obviously we had to taste some of the wine, but only small amounts. It was all about tasting the different flavours...and they tasted really good (much better than any wine I’d bought from supermarkets). Obviously the picture of me by the barrel is just for affect. It was a great way to spend a few days. The owners of the vineyards were very friendly, and the setting was beautiful, beneath the incredibly huge Aconagua Mountain (one of the largest mountains outside the Himalayas, that takes 15 days to conquer!)

Our time in Mendoza was done, and now back in Buenos Aires for a couple of days (and more Tango lessons), we are preparing for our next stop, Peru. It is all about completing the Inca Trail now and learning as much as we can about the Inca Empire. Catch up with you soon...

Thursday 30th December

Well it’s been a while, so Merry Christmas to you all! I hope Santa delivered all his presents on time.

We arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina just over 2 weeks ago now. It is an incredibly lively city, with a great mix of European and South American influences. The streets are more picturesque than those of Santiago, and there seems to be a lot going on behind every door. It’s also incredibly loud! This city is 4th in the loudest cities of the world!

So initially we spent our first few days exploring the district of San Telmo. A working-class area, where on cobbled streets, antique shops and galleries sell their worth. It has a great atmosphere and is a peaceful place to relax from the hustle and bustle! On Sundays the streets are awash with a huge market, and in the evening Tango dancers create huge ‘Milongas’ (A collection of residents, who dance tango in the street to finish their weekend).

Leaving Buenos Aires behind before we returned for Christmas we headed to the border town of Puerto Iguazu. It’s not a particularly happening town, but down the road it has ‘quite’ a special national park. In the Iguazu National Park is one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. Here there are 275 (we were told) huge waterfalls, which drop at heights of around 70 metres. Now in New Zealand we had seen the odd one or two impressive waterfalls, but this was breath taking. I cannot remember taking so many photographs before in my whole life.

From the Argentinean side of the falls we could walk to the “Devils Throat”, a huge U-shaped waterfall that completely soaked us, as huge waves of spray surged upwards. Then there were countless walks above and below all the other waterfalls. However, the best part was jumping into a speedboat and going under the waterfalls. It was a brilliant experience! The water was so cold, it was impossible to see, but for that very reason I really enjoyed it!

So after a full day walking through the National Park we were up early the following day to hop over into Brazil and visit the waterfalls from the other side. Here you could understand the whole scale of the falls, as we had a full panoramic view. We could also get up close to the bottom of the “Devils Throat”. Again cold, wet, loud but absolutely incredible to feel that amount of power!

Returning to Buenos Aires for Christmas, the streets were empty as this time of year is very family orientated, which gave us the opportunity to get out and explore without anybody else being around. We visited the Casa Rosada, the Obelisk, Florida St and old docks. The buildings here are something else, amazing architecture.

Boxing Day we headed to Cafe Tortoni: a very old Tango club. Here we watched a fabulous performance by two tango dancers, which has led to my wife pestering me to learn the dance with her ever since. So as I type, I am 25 minutes away from my first Tango lesson. Wish me luck.

So Christmas came and went. It was strange being in a climate of 35 degrees on Christmas day and sun-bathing in a park (I see the UK had its usual ‘melt’ down over a bit of snow).

We wanted to do something else before New Year, as we couldn’t just hang around in Buenos Aires for the party to begin. We grabbed our bags, bought a boat ticket and headed across the river to Colonia Del Sacremento, which is in Uruguay.

On the way over, looking back on Buenos Aires I could not believe the amount of pollution over the city. A huge, thick, brown cloud of pollution hangs over the city, which is ironic when you think of its name.

So arriving in Colonia, we were struck by how peaceful, quaint and very picturesque it all was. A historic town lined with beautiful old Portuguese houses, trees in full bloom and some amazing old fashioned cars (some converted into gardens, idea for Mr. Dale’s four seasons garden?). Plus it had a really quiet stretch of beach which was just perfect to kick back and relax on.

A few days there, and now we are back in Buenos Aires for New Year’s Eve. And now I’m only 15 minutes away from my first Tango lesson...here we go...

...Two hours later and I have some moves to try in a Milonga now!

Tuesday 14th December

Another long bus journey finally arrives in Pucon, a small town in the Lake District region of Chile. Beautiful lakeside town dominated by the Volcano Villarrica, Chile’s most active volcano. After a day scouting out the town, we were up early to climb the 2800m to the top weather permitting.

From the minute we stepped of the mini-bus we realised the size of the challenge in front of us. We expected a slow and steady walk, but were then given a safety helmet, full crampons and an ice pick! As we began to ascend, the reason for this became all too clear. It was incredibly hard going, moving from soft snow to rock hard ice every 20 metres or so, as we zigzagged our way up. Sometimes falling through the snow up to waste deep and struggling to get a full grip on the ice. Unfortunately, we also witnessed a woman slip behind us, and begin hurtling down the mountain face, dropping all her safety gear. Thankfully some quick and experienced guides below us managed to race across the ice and form a human barrier to stop her. Real-life Hollywood stuff! She must have slid down the mountain at least 300m. She was okay though, and this incident widened our senses to make sure every foot was in place before putting our body weight onto it. After 4 hours of climbing we neared the summit but could not go right to the top as my wife’s leg was in too much pain. She had a fractured pelvis last year from a car crash and it was just too difficult for her to do the last 30 minute climb. We were proud of what we had achieved, so rested up on the side of the volcano, taking some snaps before the real fun began.

Moving across the ice to steeper, snowier side we were told that we could slide down the mountain on a plastic sledge. Cue the best hour of “Mario-Kart-style” sliding, skidding and crashing, complete with all the sound effects too. The slides were at a premium, so we zoomed past other people sliding on their bums because our sledges reduced the friction so much. I became a bit competitive with our guide about who could get down the fastest, which inevitably ended up with us both trying to outdo each other, rather than watching for the huge rocks near the bottom. Thankfully we crashed into each other just before we went splat! Probably not the right tactic, but never mind! All-in-all, another quality day in Chile!

Sadly the next two days were filled with horrendous rain! Rain? Hadn’t seen rain for absolutely ages, and I still hate it. It wrecks playtimes, playing cricket at Beaver Road, and here it wrecks being able to do anything! So stuck in doors, aching from the previous days exploits.

Back to Santiago eventually, after missing our bus, and crashing another night in Pucon! This was to be our last two days in Santiago before Argentina. A mixed couple of days, as the Chileans celebrated Christmas with a huge parade of balloons in a crowd of 400, 000 people which was brilliant and then on our way to the airport our mobile phone was pick-pocketed! By 3 old women as well! Never mind, onto Buenos Aires, Argentina where we hope to see spectacular waterfalls, learn to tango and hopefully hop over to neighbouring Uruguay! Happy days!

Tuesday 7th December

Up early the day after horse-trekking to head towards the salt flats in the heart of the Atacama Desert. Visiting first of all, the Lake of the Flamingos. A fascinating bird, tall, gangly and bright pink. There is a theory behind their colour which our guide informed us, but I’m not so sure! A peaceful lake provided some excellent photos of the flamingos as they searched for food, and rested on one leg.

Then to the actual salt flats itself. Different from the salt flats we may see in Bolivia, as these flats have never seen any rain. Therefore the salt does not dissolve with the water and produce an actual flat bed of salt. These flats were covered in large salt crystals and were quite hazardous to navigate across. With the volcanoes behind, it looked just like images of the moon’s landscape; maybe this is why NASA test drives some of its moon buggies here!

Climbing even higher to 4300 metres above sea level, the air started to become incredibly thin. Each breath we took needed to be deeper to keep up our levels of oxygen in our bodies. With oxygen becoming thinner the higher up you go, why do you think marathon runners like to train at such high altitude? Hmmm... It was worth the climb however, as we came across Lake Miscanti and Lake Miniques. Two beautiful lakes that provided an excellent place to relax after our hike, watching Flamingos and Vicunas (relatives of the Llama) come and go.

On the way back down we stopped to grab a quick snap of the marker for the Tropic of Capricorn, surrounded by stone piles left by other visitors. See if you can spot this on the world map in your classrooms – find where it meets Chile and that is where this photo was taken (thereabouts).

Later that night, we visited an observatory out in the desert to study the stars. With no rain, therefore no clouds, it is one of the best places on the planet to star gaze. It was brilliant! It honestly felt like it was some sort of light show. I had seen many starlit nights in Australia and New Zealand, but this was super impressive. Our astronomer talked to us in great detail about the stars we could see, telling us the distances in light years, sizes etc. To be honest, I tried to take it all in, but I was too amazed at the brilliant laser pen he was using to point at the stars. We then had the opportunity of looking through huge telescopes at what we were seeing. To the naked eye what looked like a blurry grey patch amongst some stars became amazing worlds of distant gas-clouds, colours and super bright stars. Only wish I had a mega-expensive camera to show you how good it was, sadly I don’t ;-)

So our time in San Pedro de Atacama was done, and unfortunately we decided to head down to Valparaiso on a 23 hour bus journey! Also unfortunate for us, was the fact that all the comfy chairs had sold out on the bus and our iPod batteries only lasted for 8 hours. So, we decided to practise our Spanish. Now, as a true British person, I thought you could always travel the world speaking English and pointing a lot, but not here. It’s Spanish all the way. So we are currently trying to learn three phrases a day along with some basic food types (I once ordered two fried eggs on rice because I couldn’t read the menu – unlucky dip I suppose) and directions. It is getting there, but children, if you want to travel down to this part of the world, make sure you keep up Spanish at school, and then you won’t look as foolish as I am currently.

Valparaiso was an interesting place to hop off from a long bus journey. It looked pretty faded, dirty and incredibly chaotic. We were also greeted by a huge protest as we left the bus station, so on the whole it was a bit of a shock after the tranquillity of Atacama. However, it is amazing what a decent night sleep can bring. Up early the following morning we headed out into city. Valparasio is famous in Chile for its Art scene. On every corner there is a gallery showing local artists' recent creations, and many of the city’s residents paint their house bright colours. For me though, it was the street art. “Graffiti City” as it is known to the Chileans, is created by the fact that many artist cannot afford to show off their work in galleries or cafes. Therefore many of them create their artwork on the street at night. Normally you would think that pointless graffiti stains a city’s beauty, but here it looks fantastic as they all try and out-do each other with the size and complexity of their artwork. I have put a few examples on here for you to see. All-in-all, Valparaiso was a cool city to hang around for a few days, really enjoyed it.

So it was bye-bye Valparaiso and back to Santiago for a few days before heading south to a tiny town called Pucon. Santiago was busy with Christmas shoppers, as the Chileans prepare themselves for this very important time. But it is all about Pucon, and another volcano to climb!

Saturday 27 November

Well after a torturous flight and jet-lag we have begun to discover what Chile has to offer. Arriving in Santiago, our first impressions were that it was chaotic yet exciting. We were staying in the central district in a huge apartment for only £11 pounds a night (more like it).

During our first few days exploring the city, we climbed San Cristobel, a huge hill in the centre of Santiago with a huge statue of the Virgin Mary on top. This dominates the city and is very important to the people of Chile (nearly 90% of the country’s population are Catholic). There would have also been great views of the Andes mountain range to the east. However the pollution from the city creates a low-lying smog which blocks the view. The architecture around Santiago is incredibly pretty, lots of Spanish influence. Plenty of parks to unwind and cafes to stop and watch people pass on by. There is also an incredible amount of stray dogs in Chile, we have seen hundreds. Quite interesting how they wait for the green man and the beep before crossing the busy roads though.

We also visited the Bellavista district, which is a great place during the day but comes alive at night (and when I say at night, I mean it! Most restaurants don’t start serving dinner until 10pm!). Live bands play concerts of Jazz and Salsa music all night long. I learnt pretty quickly that nobody stands still and watches, and soon I joined in the hundreds of others dancing around the district (or my interpretation of dancing). A great night out, with excellent music.

Venturing down to the Bario Brasil district, the streets are adorned with colour and street art. A pretty amazing sight and another great place to spend the evenings unwinding.

So from the capital we headed north to the supposed “beautiful and tranquil” seaside town of La Serena. Well it was our first disappointment of our travels. The beach was a mess with plastic bottles and rubbish, and the town was quite grimy. Adding insult to injury the weather was the worst it had been for months and our accommodation was undergoing building work. Frustrating, but it gave us free time to plan our trip further north, making sure we made the most of the three days we had lost.

So thankfully leaving La Serena behind, we headed north on a 16 hour coach journey. Now normally I would moan about this – imagine if Ghyll Head was 16 hours away. But the coaches here have beds instead of seats, and provide a full meal service (including Vino Blanco). Happy Days! So after a relaxing journey through the desert we arrived in San Pedro de Atacama.

The Atacama Desert is the driest place on earth; see if you can find out how long it has been without rain. Thankfully the village of Sand Pedro is a little oasis in the middle of that desert. Here the weather is amazing, the hostels are filled with relaxing gardens and the people are very friendly.

So relaxing after our arrival in a hammock with a good book, we were up early on the second day to go horse trekking through the desert. Now I have never been on a horse, and had never really considered even trying it. But it was a great way to spend a morning. After mounting the horse first attempt (get in!) I was full of confidence. I started off like a true novice. More like a man in Asda pushing a trolley with a dodgy wheel. But after an hour of getting used to the techniques, it was good fun. I did feel bad for the horse however carrying me around in the driest place on earth, but he was well behaved. On occasions though he did need a bit of a gee up for some of the hills.So tomorrow I have been waiting for since La Serena. A trip out into the mountains around the desert to find lagoons of flamingos and visit some true Atacama villages. Bueno!