The border between Bolivia and Peru was still shut so we took the decision to return to Chile and go to the border from the town of Arica . This meant a long drive south and then west. the landscape was fantastic, comprising mountains and valleys and volcanos. Lots and lots of sand dunes and of course the Bolivia/ Chile border. This was very chaotic and there were hundreds of lorry drivers trying to cross as well. They were helpful and made sure that we joined th...

We entered Peru on Monday and survived the complicated system at customs that saw us joining about 6 different queues and filling in loads of bits of paper. We made for the nearest town called Tacna, parked and went in search of somewhere to stay. Sadly Peter and Jackie had their truck broken into and they lost all their electrical stuff including their laptop and their cameras. It was a horrible experience and a very unwelcome way to start our visit to Peru. We ...

Leaving Uyuni we head north to Potosi. This was a very wealthy city based on the silver mines which produced the silver for the world and the coins. It is a large city situated on the mountain where the silver was found. The streets were incredibly narrow and steep either up or down! we found a hostel that allowed us to park at the back and charged us for one room which gave us access to a shower. The traffic was dreadful and it was very dangerous just walking al...

Climbing out of San Pedro de Atacama we reached the border post to enter Bolivia. This was a small hut with lots of people coming and going. We queued up amidst all the people on trips in 4x4s and were told that to register the truck we had to go somewhere else, 15km from the border. We entered the national park and had to pay £30 which we thought was expensive as we did not get any info or even a map. as usual there were no roads and the distances are vast. The...

It is almost impossible to try to describe the landscape that we have travelled through in the last week. Going north from the large town of Salta we have driven on roads that were barely there, through towering mountains and vast plains. The scenery became more and more desert like with enormous cacti in a range of colours and shapes. The communities were small and isolated with small mud houses and their animals which were mostly lamas. The Ruta 40 was almost i...