Oh Valpo

I survived my 24 hour bus journey! It was intense at times, and I kind of hated myself for not spending twice the money on a two hour flight, but in the end money lasts longer than the discomfort.

And they played some alright films, so I barely listened to my iPod and I didn't touch my book. So I suppose that's a good thing. 

And it was absolutely worth the long trip to be here in Valparaíso. It is such a beautiful city. It's actually vying for the top spot of my favourite South American cities, which at the moment is held by Rio. I'll see how I feel in a few days, but it's close. 

Valpo is a seaside town about two hours west of Santiago. It's funky and arty, and full of interesting graffiti on the sides of multicoloured houses, opposite old colonial churches, all built into a hillside traversed by funicular trams overlooking the Pacific. 

I've fallen in love, and I've been here for seven hours. When I stepped off the bus, into the sun and fresh air (!), it seemed like everyone was smiling. There's a definite feeling of good vibes here, and I don't think that's just me being high off sea level air after coming down from the mountains. 

I've got tomorrow here as well, and then I'll rustle me up a bus to Santiago in the evening. A friend of a friend is meeting me at the bus station and we're going for dinner, and on Friday night I'm going to meet up with the French-Colombian couple I met in Bolivia. A nice final few days in South America. 

So while I'm lying on this very comfortable bed in a Valpo and cheap Chinese food-induced coma, I think I'll prattle on about Chile in general. Oh, but first, speaking of this bed - I'm staying at Casa Volante Hostel, and it's lovely. Very welcoming, great showers, kitchen and common room. And not too expensive either. There's a Miles recommendation for you. 

So Chile. I really like Chile. It's one of my favourite countries I've been to on this trip, up there with Brazil and Argentina for atmosphere and general buzz. 

The people are incredibly warm, welcoming and patient with foreigners who don't speak Spanish very well (ie me). Much more so than in Peru. I often found the average Peruvian seemed to have a bad taste in their mouth when they came into contact with foreigners, and it was the same in Bolivia. I wonder if there's a correlation between the wealth of the population and the friendliness towards tourists. There could be some disdain in the poorer nations. But anyway, that's not the case in Chile, because I've found Chileans to be the most open of all South American people. 

It's a country of incredible contrasts, with the north being enveloped in the world's driest desert, and the south bring home to Patagonia, a wonderland of snowy mountains, glaciers and perfect lakes. Unfortunately I won't make it any further south than Santiago, but I'm hoping that New Zealand will fulfil my need for fabulous scenery. And Chile doesn't have Mt Doom. 

Chile doesn't want you to buy anything. In shops that are any more specialist than an average corner shop, you'll have to tell the person behind one counter what you want, then take a ticket to another counter to pay, where you'll be given a receipt to collect your items from a third counter. Jobs for all! 

Chile is still a developing country, but the government is aiming to become a first-world country by 2020. And it's well on its way. It has a good infrastructure, helped enormously by the impressive Pan-American Highway that runs north to south. Things also seem to work here, which is nice after spending over a month in Peru. And Chile's economy is strong, which leads me to my next point. 

Chile isn't cheap. After coming from Peru, it was a bit of a shock. I haven't spent £10 on a dormitory room since Rio, but northern Chile seems to think rather highly of itself. But it is a nice country, so I'm prepared to spend a bit more to be here for a while before I jet off to the second "other side of the world" of my trip. 

In short... Chile. I'm a fan.

All the Tours Ever, San Pedro de Atacama

On Monday I took the eight-hour journey from Iquique to San Pedro de Atacama, with a change in Calama. I went with TurBus, which is considered to be the most reputable bus company in Chile, followed by Pullman. 

San Pedro is a desert tourist town, sitting at 2,500 metres above sea level, close to the Bolivian border. This makes it an ideal spot for jumping off into a salt flat tour, and either stopping in Uyuni to explore Bolivia, or doing a full circle back to San Pedro. I'm doing the circular route because my flight leaves Santiago in a couple of weeks so I need to come back to Chile. That route cost 1116,000 Chilean pesos with Cordillera. By all accounts that's the most trustworthy company. Be really careful who you go with, because tales of faulty jeeps and drunk drivers abound when it comes to the salt flats. 

But there's so much to do in San Pedro itself too. There are a lot of tour companies offering various packages, but they basically all do the same things. 

Two days ago I did a tour to Moon Valley, where it's rumoured George Lucas filmed some of A New Hope. And walking through the jagged peaks and sandy rocks, I was half expecting a Jawa to pop out. We also went into a really tight salt cave, where I had to bend double to one side to get through. And that tour ended with one of the most spectacular sunsets I've ever seen. The sun goes down behind the mountains on one end of the valley, and illuminates the volcanoes on the other, sending them orange and then purple, while the clouds above turn red and the ground below glows yellow. Absolutely amazing. And there's a section of rock that juts out over the valley, which makes for a pretty great photo. 

That cost me 10,000 plus 2,000 pesos for entrance to the national park, with Maxim Tours. Note that the tour I did didn't include Death Valley, even though I´m pretty sure they said it would. 

Yesterday I got up early to do a tour to the El Tatio geyser field and watch the sunrise. We got up to leave at 4.30am with a hostel pick-up, and did the 90 minute journey, climbing 2000 metres to 4,300. And it was so cold! Minus 13 Celsius. And thanks to the mild winter in the UK this year, I haven't felt cold like that for almost two years. And I didn't have gloves. Not fun. 

But the sunrise and the geysers were really interesting, and there was an option to swim in the hot spring there. On the way back we stopped at Machuca village, a beautiful place which is home to a total of six people. 

That tour cost me 17,000 plus 5,000 pesos for entrance and included a good breakfast, with Desert Adventure. 

And tonight I'm going star gazing. The Atacama desert is one of the best places in the world to see the night sky, due to the lack of light pollution, the amount of cloudless nights and the predictable winds from the Humboldt current from Antarctica. 

Everyone I've spoken to has said it's amazing, and through the largest visual telescopes in South America you can see galaxies, shooting stars and the rings around Saturn. 

I went with SPACE (San Pedro de Atacama Celestial Explorations), which is highly recommended by Lonely Planet. That cost me 18,000 pesos for a two and a half hour tour in English including a hot chocolate. The tours are weather-dependent. 

As an update, the star gazing was absolutely fantastic. The sky is a complete blanket of twinkling lights. I heartily recommend this tour. 

There are a whole host of other things you can do, but I just don't have the time or budget. Other highlights for me would be sandboarding, a late-night desert party (so disappointed I can't do that!) and Cejar lagoon, which is Dead Sea-level salty. A lot of people hire bikes and do the trails round here, which is a lot cheaper than doing organised tours, so that's a good way to keep the cost down, because catering to tourists, this town is not cheap! 

After star gazing this evening I'm going to get an early night and then it's off into Bolivia! So excited to see the salt flats. I'll be back on Monday, hopefully with a good story or two! 

Tacna, Peru to Arica, Chile by Bus

Yesterday I left Peru and the five weeks there behind me, and entered a new country! I was really excited to go to Chile, if only for a change of scene. But also I can't wait to explore the Atacama desert.

I got a Flores bus from Arequipa to Tacna, which was advertised as taking five hours, but actually took six. The journey south was through very rugged terrain at times, the road clinging to the sides of valleys seemingly made entirely of golden scree. Then we went into the desert proper, and I had my first views of all-encompassing, horizon-hugging nothingness, only broken occasionally by the waltz of power cables across the landscape. 

I met a very nice couple on the bus, Amy and Cody, and they were going to Arica as well, so we tackled the border together. Arriving at Tacna you need to cross the road to the international bus station and find one of the many people asking if you want a colectivo to Arica, which is basically a taxi which they fill with people and then go. It cost us 20 soles per person. 

They take your passport from you to print off a small form which you need at Chilean immigration. Keep that safe! 

It's 20km to the border from Tacna, and then a further 20km to Arica once you're in Chile. Despite being directly south, Chile is in a different time zone, and due to daylight saving time we lost two hours, despite my iPod insisting Chile was only an hour ahead. There is a digital clock when you go through to prove Apple wrong. 

Then our driver took us to the bus station in Arica and dropped us and our bags there. The three of us bought tickets for our onward journeys, Amy and Cody to San Pedro, and me to Iquique for this morning. 

We walked along the beach, just in time to see a gorgeous sunset, and had dinner near the main plaza. Arica is a really relaxed surfing town, and I liked it a lot, even though I was only there for one night. 

It was also really nice to be back at sea level, as for the last four weeks I've been at least 2,500 metres up in the mountains. But oddly I didn't feel any different, other than not being out of breath after taking two steps. I guess I had properly acclimatised to the thin air, which I suppose is a good thing. 

Right now I'm lying on a very comfortable sofa by a window overlooking the front patio of my beach-adjacent hostel in Iquique, and tomorrow I'm doing a tour to the nearby mining ghost towns and oasises. No complaints my end.