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After leaving a great group of friends behind in New Zealand was wondering how would fare in South America, couldnt have come to a better country than Chile however! It really reminds me of Italy in so many ways from the food to the lifestyle so it felt like a home from home. The initial intention was to stay in Chile for a couple of days and head up north to warmer climes. Needless to say that didnt happen due to being badly jetlagged! Chilled in smoggy Santiago for an extra couple of days watching footie matches which was so much better being behind Europe rather than having to get up at 4am in NZ!
The day trip to Valparaiso was lush with its beautiful, bold and bright buildings scattered over the many surrounding hills. The temperature was colder than I thought in Santiago so headed north to La Serena which was a bit milder. The journey up was stunning with the Andes on the right and hugging the pacific ocean in parts on route 5 Panamerican highway. Stayed in La Serena for nearly a week as it had a relaxed atmosphere, we walked along the avenida del mar for 10km to neighbouring Coquimbo where had some real fresh and cheap seafood. Tried to find a bar that was showing the Italy v Ireland match after but just ended up getting pissed with some funny locals which included a maradona lookalike!! The trip to Valle del Elqui was fantastic and great value for money going past the most magnetically charged area in the world, visiting 3 pisco distilleries and some local towns such as Vicuna.
The coach trip upto San Pedro was once again stunning especially the bit between Calama and SP. Barren, desert landscapes scattered with mountains and volcanoes, it really reminded me of an arid version of New Zealand and equally as beautiful. San Pedro is a cool little town and ended up spending nearly a week there with its hippy, laidback vibe and its cute adobe buildings. Went sandboarding in the desert which was lots of fun in the aptly named Valle della Muerte or valley of death as that was what felt like the first time wend down the dune! The Valley della Luna is named that as it looks like the surface of the moon, we climbed up a small mountain and saw the sunset from there with a pisco sour or two! The hostel stayed in San Pedro was quality and it was perfect for just hanging around especially with 3 comfy hammocks! Watched the England v Italy match in a local bar only to be told at half time we had to leave due to there being a big local match on kinda like Man U v Liverpool. Managed to find a restaurant showing the 2nd half luckily and relieved at the deserved result! We rented bikes out and cycled to some ancient Columbian ruins called Pukara de Qitor which werent that impressive however the mirador walk certainly was, once we got to the top it had awesome 360 degree views of all the Atacama plain and desert. At parts we really felt like where in Flinstones set.
I booked to go on 4 day tour of the salt flats in Bolivia but was gutted when at the border two of my friends went in another jeep as they were doing a 3 day tour ending up in Uyuni whereas we were returning back to Chile. The tour itself was brilliant and with a good group of Brazilians which managed to banter in Spanglish with! The cimitero de trenos was great fun felt like a kid in a playground with the swings on locomotives and see saws. The salt flats or Salar de Uyuni were something else, you see pictures of it but when you get there it simply blows your mind! Had lunch at the Isola de pescado, which is a cactus island, on tables and chairs made of salt. Bumped into our mates in Uyuni and had a brief catch up before moving further south ready for the next day. The second day was just as good visiting many lakes and being blown away by the flora and fauna, seeing first llamas was ace and also plenty of pink flamingoes. We finished the day at Laguna colorada which had vivid blood red water but it was bloody cold due to being over 4000 meters up. The final day had to get up at 5am in freezing temperatures of around minus 15 but it was worth it to see the geysers at first light and then we dipped into the aguas caliente hot springs before seeing a couple more beautiful lakes prior to getting to the Bolivian border. Found out Italy won there which buzzed me up no end then later found out my girlfriend booked flights to come to Rio which buzzed me up even more.
Returned briefly to San Pedro in time for the local feast which again was very reminiscent of patron saint feasts in Italy. It was sad to leave San Pedro as had a great time there and met good friends but it was time to go onwards and upwards after being bloody frozen for so long!! In Arica now, the hostel staying in is run by two cool guys, as soon as arrived I got a liquid breakfast of a pint of vodka and sprite. Needless to say by time the final came on was hammered which numbed the pain of defeat a wee bit. Drowned sorrows downtown later and managed to get a free night accomodation by singing a Spanish song on karaoke although ended up purposely butchering Ricky Martins living la vida loca much to the amusement of the locals.. Off to Peru tomorrow looking forward to it and hopefully heading to the 6th wonder by the end of the week!
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