The joys of 24 hours bus rides.....

Hello everyone!
So here we are, in a new country again! From La Paz we headed down to Cochabamba, where we got tickets for the Manu Chau gig. The gig was brilliant, but we didn't really like Cochabamba. Firstly cos there was nothing to do there. Secondly cos all the restaurants were rubbish and called Dumbo. And thirdly because we had our first encounter with the local police as one of our bags was stolen in the bus terminal that morning. Luckily for us it only contained some clothes and towels and that was about it! Nothing valuable at all! All part of the fun though huh!
So after Manu Chau, we headed further south again to Potosi, to have an adventure round the mines. Tour was brilliant and really interesting. Most of the miners only live to around 50 as they develop Silicosis (they call it sickness of the mind). However we think it might be something to do with the 96% proof alcohol they drink as a rule every Friday!!! Yes we had some, and yes it was just like drinking ethanol!
Once we had looked round the mines we headed out of Potosi to Uyuni, from where you can start the trip around the Salt Plains. Generally at this time of the year, the tour companies do not actually drive through the plains as there is too much water left on the surface from the rainy season. However we were lucky and found a company who would. Had an absolutely fantastic 3 days, looking at the Salar, Lagunas, Flamingoes, Volcanoes, Geysers, Amazing sunsets and sunrises, and lots of rocks that were in Salvador Dali paintings! Also found a shop that sold rum for 2 quid, so spent some of our time a little hungover!
So from the Salt Plains we headed over the border into Chile. Our first stop was a lovely little desert town called San Pedro de Atacama, from where we looked round the Valley of the Moon (more amazing rock formations).
We then got our longest bus ride yet from San Pedro down to Santiago...a really lovely 24 hours. It was quite entertaining though as the bus hostess (who was actually a boy) thought we were hilarious! Boy you really appreciate how small England is when you have to sit in the same seat for a whole day!
Anyway got to Santiago a couple of days ago, and have had a little look round. Its lovely...very modern, which is a real shock after under-developed Bolivia, but its nice to be back to civilisation again! It is way too expensive, so we are tight on the pennies here, but no matter, we only have 3 weeks left in S.A. before heading off to Auckland.
So tomorrow we are off to Valparaiso for 2 days, from where we are also going to Vina del Mar, to watch their local football team (EVERTON!!!). After that we have booked a flight down south to Patagonia where we will spend our last two weeks...looking around Torres del Paine and maybe popping into Argentina.

Hope you are all well. Keep them emails coming. Also if you wanna send us some MP3s via email we would be very appreciative...we are getting bored of Rich's selection now!!

Lots of love

Rich and Zoe

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