well, as you can probably guess from the title, i have indeed left south america, and returned to scotland, where, on my first day back, after last weeks record breaking temperatures...it rained. welcome home!! anyway, most of last week was spent traveling. i took 4 overnight buses in 6 days. from ica, in peru, i travelled straight down the coast, to tacna, and then over the border to arica in chile, where i spent a day seeing the sights, before taking another bus to san pedro de atacama. chilean buses are so luxurious compared to those of bolivia! san pedro was very cool and relaxing, and i enjoyed doing very little there. from there, i headed via calama (where it has never rained) to la serena, where i visited an observatory. i saw mercury, lots of constellations and craters of the moon magnified 240times!! it was really cool, but heres a tip: if you visit on observatory, try to go when theres no moon, as the stars are much clearer! and then further down the coast to valparaiso, a really cool city, with lots of hills, steps (and asensors, if youre too lazy to climb all the steps!) and brightly coloured houses. i really enjoyed my few days there. my last night on the continent was spent in santiago, with a friend, who very kindly took me out to taste the local wine and pisco sours one last time.... it was realy good fun, and a great way to round off the trip. definitely the best thing i did was the inca trail, and second best was climbing the volcano. im not sure whats at number three. without doubt, the worst thing, on the other hand, was that mountain biking. i utterly hated it, but i seem to be unusual, and most people i met have a blast. i had a great time, eating the food, drinking the drinks (can i get pisco sours in britain?), seeing the sights. and now im back at home, once ive finished my diary, and got my photos sorted, ill start planning my next trip!!! hope you enjoyed reading all about my adventures.