Chile

After another short bus ride we got to our most Southerly destination in South America, and it was bloody cold. Stayed in a really poky hotel with corrigated iron walls!

The whole point of coming here was to hike the Torres del Paine national park and do a circuit called "the W". Hikers from all over the world come here to do this really amazing walk as it is world famous for its beauty. On the coach taking us to the park there were all sorts of people (mostly European or American) in amazingly expensive North Face gear, hiking boots with ankle support, walking poles and special clothing to wick away sweat and keep you cool. Obviously neither myself or Rach are particular campers so we had to go to a hire shop to try and get the gear. It was comical.

There was Rach and I sat next to all these "professional hikers" in our Primark best, two macks that you can pack away in a sack to save space, trainers, enough pasta a sauce to last 5 days and pretty ropy old hire gear.

Got off the coach and promptly got lost as we were the last people to organise ourselves (Eventually I had to tie a plastic bag of rolls to the back of my rucksack in a carier bag and stuff the tent under the flap) so couldn´t follow the professionals. However we soon got into our stride and had 5 days of hiking and camping in a place where views were to die for.

The weather was really changeable, sunny one minute, raininy the next, but we made it to the end without any blisters from our trainers (the professionals looked a lot more in pain than us amateurs). Although we now have glacier fatigue having seen another 2 during the walk.

Back to civilisation, a pizza and then 10 hours of busses to our next destination

I tried to book bus tickets for Chile from Argentina, but they wouldn´t accept credit cards so as soon as the plane landed we got a local bus to the bus station and bought tickets to Pucon for the same night. However we then had five hours to kill so hung about the bus station like tramps eating junkfood at carefully space intervals so we could keep a table in the food hall.

I talked Rachel into getting the cheapest bus available to save money (well over budget at the moment) although turned out to be one of the best and we arrived in Pucon the next day. Did the usual thing of going to the hostel being touted at the bus station and because it was xmas splurged out and got an amazing room with a huge double bed with a feather duvet! Easily the best bed we have had since the UK, and it even had a bath so we had our first since leaving the UK too. The place even had a couple of puppies which kept us amused.

Next day we went on a tour up the local active volcano. It was totaly covered in snow so we had all the gear on, crampons, ice axes the works. However about halfway up this huge boulder, and I mean it was shoulder height, suddenly came over a ridge and started to roll down hill. People were diving out of the way and nobody got hit, but if they had it would have been curtains! Our guides got a bit scared also so took us right of the sort of trail through the snow and we spent the next hour hacking out a trail (it was a 5 hour ascent). Also half way up one of the guides anounced she had no water left and could somebody give her some! Not exactly professional! By the time we got to the top we were knackered but got to witness volcanic lava first hand! To get down the mountain all we did was sit on our bums and slide down using the ice axes as brakes!

Next Day was xmas so we drank all day and made a roast dinner with other in the hostel. Xmas days where you can sunbathe are not proper and we really missed England that day. Boxing day was spent sunbathing again on one of the black sand beaches that surround the local lakes and tomorrow off to Barriloche for New Years eve

As soon as we hit the roads in Chile we realised that at last we had made it to a 1st world country (road markings and signs and everything! including tarmac!) Got stopped at the border and had our bags searched for food and our shoes decontaminated for foot and mouth!

Turned up at this tourist town in the desert. Tried to book a bus out the next day to head straight to Argentina only to be told we couldn´t go for another 4 days. Oh well we spent 4 days eating the best food we have had for 6 weeks. Although the place is so much more expensive than Bolivia the food turned up on beautiful white plates ´drizzled´ with various sauces complimented with napkins and proper cutlery, such a change from the usual restaurant standard. The other noticable thing about changing countries from Bolivia to Chile is that the toilets come with toilet paper and flush!! In the evenings the restaurants have massive fires to heat the places so all our clothes now smell of smoke. It was lovely though.

Whilst we were there in the desert we hired bikes and with sandboards attached to our backs road into the Death Valley to go sandboarding. We were a tad disappointed though as the sand is so damn rough, you have to wax the board at the start of each run and as soon as the wax rubs off (which was approximately 5m down the slope!) the board grinds to a halt and you fall over! The only way to do it is point straight down the slope, don´t turn and go as far as you can till the wax has gone, then hope you go a bit further with the momentum you have built up. Also obviously there are no lifts so you have to walk up the massive sand hills each time - knackering. Wicked scenery but all in all I`d rather be snowboarding.

We went swimming and sunbathing in the local 'oasis'. This was an hours walk away in the desert sun to the local camping ground where they had a swimming pool. In usual South American stylee it was built in the 60s and we lay on cobbled stones round a pool that was chipped and cracked. Rach got burnt and I got a funny tummy from the water (I did however drink beer round a pool so for a moment it felt like a bit of a european holiday)

Went back, ate and drank then ate and drank some more till friday´s bus - we don`t really have many responsibilities here!