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I think last time I wrote we were on our way to La Serena...feels like so long ago now. We were only in La Serena for 1 night but that was enough. its a really small town. very sweet but not much to do. we spent our first day there on the beach and the next day was quite cast over so we went to the cinema. they have laods of english films here! locals must hate always having to watch films in subtitles.
from there we went up to San Pedro de Atacama which is in the north of chile. The drive there was absolutely stunning. amazing rock formations and flat desert land that went on for miles. there are no roads so it feels like ur the only ones travelling in the middle of no where...very surreal. and then u just arrive at the little town of san pedro. its so tiny and consists of 1 main road of restaurants and tourism offices and then a few hostels dotted around. all the building are built of sand and mud and again there are no real roads. its a great place to visit but i dnt no how people can live there! theres nothing to do other than work in a fruit and veg shop! our hostel was really lovely. basic, but had small rooms set around a little courtyard. and the bathrooms were really clean so i was happy!
after spening alot of time in various tour operator offices we booked to go sandboarding and then to the valle de luna (moon valley) in the evening. sandboarding was so much fun...other than the tiring walk up to the top of the sand dune carrying your board!!! definately worked out my little legs! the view from the top also made the journey worth it! i became quite good, but the better i got, the worse my falls were!!! managed to get sand everywhere! then we went to the alley to watch the sunset. i thought the guide was joking when he pointed at a huge rock and said ´now we climb´, but he wasnt. it was so scary rock climbing up with no equipment!! but he had wanted to take us to a place other tours didnt go and at the top im so glad he did. there were 10 of us sitting on top of a big rock formation watching the sunset over the desert, whilst sipping on a pisco sours (the local drink...not so good for the climb back down).
the next day we got up at 3.30am to make a trip to el tatio del geysiers. We were told it would be cold bu tI had no idea it would be as cold as it was. silly really as its about 4500m above sea level and it was 5am wen we got there! everyone was looking at us as we arrived in not many layers and then probably had a good laugh as i wrapped myself in about 5 of the blankets on the bus! the geysiers was a really cool thing to see. huge steams of smoke rising up from the ground, and the heat that was generated from standing close to it was amazing. but u couldnt stand there too long as it gives of sulphuric acid fumes..nice! on the journey home we visited the smallest town in the world..population = 6!
That afternoon, Barney and I were standing in the street decided where to go for dinner when across the road, i spotted richard walk out of a cafe!! was the wierdest thin as I had just got a message from him saying he was further south than us. So good wen things like that happen! so we went out for dinner with him and friends which was so good to catch up again!
the following day we left for a 3 day tour to uyuni. we have just arrived in uyuni and we are glad we did the tour but it is no way near as nice as they make out wen u book it. u hear horrendous stories about drunk tour guides etc and luckily we didnt have any of that, but our promised english tour guide didnt speak one word of english and the hostels en route were awful! not really worth the money. there was a girl on our tour who spoke really good spanish so she translated everything for us.
on the tour we went to various lagoons that varied in colour (from green to red) due to the mineral content. we travelled for miles across various land types - desert, greenery, rock formations. the changes in scenery were stunning. also saw some more geysiers but the smell there was even worse..like rotten eggs. Today we went to the best bit...the salar de uyuni - largest salt flats in the world. It was an amazing site. u see pictures of it but its so much greater in realy life. the white salt land goes on for miles around and theres one little island filled with cactus that reach about 20m high. we had alot fo fun created lots of photos.
so resting tonight and then onto potosi, further in bolivia...so far u can definately see the difference between bolivia and other parts of south america. so much poorer.
will write soon. love to all xxxxxxx
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