New Years in the capital... Santiago

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After stopping in Valdivia, Chile and finding sea lions, and then, a quiet fishing pier to sip our box wine, we continued on to the capital (10 more hours in the bus). We spent 3 days in Santiago... the 30th and 31st of December, and then the 1st of January. The city rests at the foothills of the Andes range, which can be seen from the city.

¨There´s something kind of great about being smack in the middle of a metropolis and then looking up and seeing, to your surprise, the second-highest mountain range in the world just a few kilometers away.¨ -lonely planet

After days of exploring castles (drinking the traditional peach syrup and wheat drinks and then, the pisco sours), we celebrated the New Year watching fireworks with bottles of champagne from the streets of Santiago, Chile.

We have travelled north and just arrived in the barren desert of Antofagasta, Chile (19 hrs on the bus), was is a stop-off point for San Pedro de Atacama. We hope to arrive there tomorrow at some point.

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