So when we last posted we were just about to head out for a star gazing tour, and i think we can both definatly say it was one of the best things we´ve done so far! The sky was incredible, and the French astrophyscisist (?) who took the tour was lovely and explained all the constellations, where the important stars are located, the planets, the milkyway, the galaxy and beyond... We even got to see another galaxy through one of the many incredible high powered telescopes! The next day we headed to death valley (meant to be mars valley, but a mispronounciation many years ago left it with that lovely name) for some sandboarding action! It basicaly like snowboarding but on sand, we had lots of fun and only one pretty impressive crash from Anna! Then a bus to moon valley to watch the sun set over the Atacama desert and the mountains - amazing. The next day was more action with cycling and a bit of rock climbing as we decided to go over rather than under a mountain, both were equally scary and we didnt actually reach the top. oops! After some amazing empanadas, icecream and brownies we hopped on a surprisingly comfy 22 hour bus to Santiago!

We stayed in a lovely hostel called Hostel Forrestal, in the student area of Santiago. There was a particularly lovely lady who ran the hostel but kept insulting our lack of Spanish, don´t worry we will be fluent upon our return! We enjoyed wondering around the city, in particular the massive parks, many plaza´s and finding ourselves a decent supermarket! (It´s the little things!) We enjoyed a couple of nights out with people we met in the hostel and a couple of friends of friends who were kind enough to show us the city. We enjoyed getiing to practice our salsa again!

We headed over to Valparaiso on the coast and stayed in the sunshine hostel (cute!). However, despite the optimistic name of our hostel it rained the whole time we were there, but we didn't let this dampen our spirits! Valpo (as the cool kids refer to it) is a really arty city full of retro shops, amazing graffiti, good views (or not when covered in mist) and a cafe that stole our hearts with its incredible hot chocolates. We also popped to Vina del Mar which was cute but probably best visited when you can appreciate it properly from its beautiful beaches!

We crossed the border into Argentina and arrived in Mendoza, the centre of wine country! Another city with an amazing park, big avenues and lovely plazas. A day spent exploring the city and then to the most important part of our stay in Mendoza; a day cycling around all the local vineyards! We tasted wine, chocolate, olive oil, liquers and then some more wine! We became experts in tasting red wine and then forgot it all as we got merrily drunk at Mr Hugos later, tehe.

Today we are off to experience some horse riding amongst snow capped mountains and tomorrow we head to Bariloche to do some trekking in the mountains and visit frozen lakes!

Big love, hugs and kisses to all!

Anna and Emma
xxx