http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Chile , Coquimbo Region en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:56:53 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:56:53 UTC And here are the photos from La Serena... http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-350482.html So our journey Northward started with a trip South it sounds a bit backward but then again you somtimes have to take a few steps back to get forwards. We headed for Vina where they have a large bus terminal and where our bus for La Serena would be departing. Tur bus was our choice of bus company and they turned out to be as good as ever with the traditional supply of dubbed movies and varying bo http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-349165.html In the end I spent 3 days in La Serena mostly walking around the city and chilling out.The observatory tour was very interesting looking at the moon planets and star constellations through telescopes and a presentation on how stars are formed. Though by the end we were all pretty frozen by the end and the pisco served in the bus after was a welcome warmerFriday washellip. So as Friday was http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-349094.html So Im not going to put up any more photos for now... I have tons and I want to go over them on my own computer... But Ill give you all an account of last night.Yesterday day we mostly just hung out. Went to the mall to pick up a few things but nothing interesting really. It was the night that was interesting.In the evening was my classgraduation. Getting ready I put on my skirt and my comfy n http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-348518.html About a month ago me my room mate micaela and sara her friend from michigan went to la serena. We took the last bus at midnight and got there at about 7 am. We left our bags at the bus stations and went to explore the city. The streets were literally empty because no one wakes up tell after 9 or 10 or even later so it was kind of nice to have a peaceful city all to ourselves but we coul http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-344903.html I guess even when travelling we can have one of those days.So after getting locked out of my room at 7 this morning went down to an Internet cafe and half way through the session the keyboard messes up and I lose all the standard symbols and get a completely random selection instead. Plus it had no usb port so I couldn'tt upload any photos. Then had to call my bank which cost me a small for http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-342711.html Hey everybody...So after 21 hours of travel time and going through 4 countries we made it to Santiago Chile...Our travel agent neglected to mention that we were flying from LAX to Costa Rica to Peru and then finally to our destination in Santiago...We arrived at 2am totally wiped out from our journey although Lacsa TACA airlines had very impressive food and free wine and took a shuttle to the c http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-332578.html I spent the first few days of the vacation in La Serena visiting with Lauras host family which was a lot of fun http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-324967.html Watched a little of the opening of the Olympics then had to take offhellipdrove through Vina del Mar then Con Con. Interesting drive along the coast saw the seals sunning themselves on the rocks then we headed straight up Route 5 ..the PanAmericanahellipthe road goes straight as the eye can see. From Santiago to La Serena is a dual carriageway which goes for miles and miles and miles. Arri http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-318772.html Me hablo Espaol pero solo un poco Espaol. Cuanto Cuesta una habataccion por favour. Puedo tener la cuenta gracias.Frightening truely frightening. Almost as frightening as trying to pronounce the average item on a Chillean menu. Take the nation dish of Chorrillana as an example a feat which we have been attempting with vigour since returning to the mainland. Theres a y sound in there bu http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-304862.html We arrived in La Serena at about 7am after a horrendously long 18 hour bus journey from San Pedro. The bus was okay apart from the fact that Luna and I were sitting very close to the loo which smelt pretty bad for the whole journey. And if that wasnt enough we kept on getting disturbed by people coming down to use the loo slamming the door maybe 23 times it didnt shut very easily or standi http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-290484.html Ive now arrived in La Serena after a 7 hr bus journey along what can only be described as a never changing lanscape of mountains and cactuses on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other.Ive managed to find myself staying in another Hostel where I am the only one there I seem to be developing a knack for it and it is also the coldest place on earth It feels warmer when you go outsid http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-288071.html Arrived in La Serena by plane from Santiago.Checked into best hostel so far run by Germans no less.Had our first Kompleto a hotdog with guacamole tomatoes and mustard a local favourite apparently. Pretty dam good.Visited one of the many observatories that night and looked at some stars and planets through a 12 telescope 200x magnification. Was amazing saw Jupiter and Saturn too http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-287652.html La SerenaMidway through the rain we decided to flee to the desert to the north. Six hours up the PanAmerican Highway is the coastal town of La Serena. La Serena has the distinction of being one of the oldest cities in Chile and has a slew of churches that show off hundreds of years of architectural style. The older ones are squatty fortresses that bear witness to the localsrsquo historical http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-282510.html La Serena Chile http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-282328.html Samedi on est partis de Santiago pour aller vers le nord et le desert dtacama. Le plan est de prendre un bus pour Antofagasta et un autre pour San Pedro de Atacama. Seulement entre Santiago et Anto il y a 22 heures de trajet en car donc on a decide de couper entre les 2 et de sarreter a Coquimbo. Notre ami de Santiago Guillermo a decide de nous joindre pour le weekend dutant quil a une t http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/Coquimbo/blog-278763.html Day 191 Saturday 29 MarchId had such a great night I cant believe im leaving town. I should strike whilst the irons hot I would consider abandoning the rest of my trip and staying in Santiago instead. Stupidly though I took the 6 hour bus journey north to La Serena.The buses are so much better over here the seats are huge with loads of leg room and the seats recline right back. Not only do http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-266528.html ... ich bin wieder allein...ich muss meinen Rucksack wieder alleine tragen mein Essen wieder selbst bezahlen meine Naechte wieder allein verbringen...ich bin schon ein armes Ding oderNach der Abreise von Chrig fuhr ich von Santiago aus weiter nach la Serena und dann direkt nach Pisco Elqui im Elqui Tal. Das Hostel httpwww.tesoroelqui.cl war ein Traum und ich hab mal richtige Luxusferi http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-260069.html After a fantastic week on Easter Island it was back to the mainland and the bright lights of Santiago. It was nice to return to a proper bed and hot showers after seven days of camping. Ruth's parents had come out to visit us for two weeks and had arrived by the time we were back in the capital so we lost no time in going to the hotel to meet up with them. We had been in Santiago for a few days b http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-252015.html Hersin yolla vahingossa kolmelta ja kvin katsomassa thti. Skorpioni oli noussut esiin. Hertyskello soitti sitten kuudelta. Tuolloin nkyivt Jupiter ja kuunsirppi ja pian nousivat Venus ja Merkurius. Menin uudestaan nukkumaan ja hersin yhdekslt.Koska aamupala oli katettu valmiiksi ptin kokeilla kuinka se pysyisi sisll. Vatsa oli jo rauhoittunut. Bussimatka La Serenaan kesti melkein k http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/blog-251671.html Tuolla rannikollahan ky niin ett yll merelle muodostuu pilvi ja vasta iltapivll selkenee. Niin kvi ainakin Concepcionissa ja Viassa. Koska haluan nhd kunnolla thti ptin tnn menn sismaahan. Rinkka sai jd Coquimboon otin mukaan vain mustan repun. Olin ensin ajatellut Vicuan kaupunkia mutta Marco kehotti menemn kauemmas aina Pisco Elqui nimiseen kyln asti. Pyshdyin http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/Vicuna/blog-251333.html Kuuden tunnin bussimatka Coquimboon Marcon ja Ricardon luo. Pari tuntia ensin madeltiin Vian esikaupungeissa ennen kuin pstiin kunnolla vauhtiin ja valtatielle. Maisema ylltti se oli tysin erilaista kuin EtelChiless. Viassa ja Valparaisossa oli ollut suhteellisen vehre mutta kun pstiin maaseudulle oli ihan erinkist. EtelChile muistutti KeskiEurooppaa ja tm Vlimeren tienoo http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/blog-251153.html We caught the overnight bus to Copiapo which despite all my best efforts of retaining the blanket and telling David that no one else was giving their blankets back we finally got kicked off the bus at Copiapo at 7.00am We decided to stay here 2 nights as our recovery process involved at least a day on the beach at nearby Bahia InglesiaOn booking our tickets we discovered a hypermarket Su http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-246906.html Rano jsem se probudil na v pokojiku na dvorku a nejak mi trvalo nez jsem si srovnal kde to vlastne jsem. Tak jsem mel v hlave jak musim rychle sbalit a na autobus az jsem v okne zapomnel susici se rucnik. Ach ta hlava. Autobus mi jel stejne jako vcera okamzite. Nerad bych to zakriknul ale zatim jsem na jakejkoli autobus nemusel cekat dyl jak 5 minut. Vyrazil jsem do udoli Valle del Elqui.Valle http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/Vicuna/blog-238528.html We got the night bus out of the desert to the coast to a place Lonely Planet recommended called Caldera......what a waste of time. The bus dropped us off at 6am in the morning everything was closed and the streets full of dogs like Lady and the Tramp. We found out nothing opened until 10am...but we had our fellow German travellers to keep us company I think Sillie secretly fancied Dean. We book http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-234393.html Happy New Year Hope you all had a brilliant holiday season.Yes I have not forgotten that Im keeping a blog but had a hectic few weeks there.... sorryRight after the last update I trotted to the travel agents.... absolutely no flights buses or trains out of San Pedro until Christmas night.... arghhhhh nearly fainted cried screamed etc.... San Pedro is a small place and not very glam http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-232619.html Well after a year and a half after beginning this blog I am finally starting to understand how it works. You will note if you have looked at it before that the order of entries has changed. This is because I have realised the importance of entering the date when I visited a place rather than the date I wrote about it. Its now a bit more accurate for what thats worth. Before continuing w http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-232538.html Today I smelled something that I thought Id never smell again. But before I get to that let me tell you about yesterday first. Yesterday I went on a tour of the Elqui Valley which is a very fertile valley full of different types of fruit orchards near La Serena. The tour was supposed to be in English but at the last minute that was changed so I went on yet another Spanish speaking tour whi http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-231342.html I got to La Serena Chile today at 1800 instead of at 1030. The reason for this long delay is the border between Argentina and Chile. Chile for some reason does not want anyone to bring fruits vegetables or animal products inside its borders which is fine. The problem is they inspect everyones bags with a machine like the one at airports but they do it with typical South American effici http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Chile/Coquimbo-Region/La-Serena/blog-230853.html