Desert Cruise

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We spent a couple of (relatively) quiet days in Santiago which we really enjoyed. This included a day trip to Valpariso on the coast, the city is made up of 42 hills set around a bay, each with its own village connected to the city by 19th century funicular railways. We had a go on a couple which didn't appear to have had any maintenance since 1900.

We also scaled the San Cristobel mountain in Santiago by funicular and cable car. At the top we lazed by an open air swimming pool for a few hours.

After looking at the various options for vineyard tours we decided to do our own public transport version. All went well until our agreement with the bus driver to stop at the Concha y Toro vineyard (conducted in our best Spanish) somehow failed and we ended up having to get a second bus back again after overshooting and ending up in the countryside. After that the tour was really good fun and we managed to sample a few types of wine and looked around the vineyard and the "Devil's Cellars", so named as the owner started a legend that the Devil lived in his cellars to stop the locals sampling his wine.

Our travels continued with a trip North through the Atacama Desert (the driest place on Earth!) to San Pedro de Atacama which we used as a base for a couple of trips into the desert to see some amazing landscapes and geysers.

On Monday we had an early start to cross the border from Chile to Bolivia. At the border control we transferred to a 4*4 Toyota LandCruiser with another couple and our Bolivian Driver guide Jose (who else!) who was to guide us back to civilisation over the next three days. This has been the highlight of our trip so far.

The Bolivian scenery was amazing as we crossed from desert to mountain (breathtaking views at 4800m), lakes of many colours and the final day crossing the incredible Uyuni Salt Flats. Luckily Jose had an i-pod lead so we were able to share music tastes, we had several hours of quiet disapproval at the contents of our collection until it found The Beatles, at which point Jose upped the volume and started dancing, luckily there was nothing but flat salt to be seen for miles. I don't think that we will ever hear Yellow Submarine in the same way again.

When we arrived in Uyuni we were glad to have booked onto the tourist bus to La Paz. This bus is the latest in Bolivian luxury, we were treated to half an hour of eating and drinking and watching the original Live Aid video before we set off. Unfortunately the luxury was a little spoilt by 6 hours of bone-shaking driving through the night before we got to a paved road!

We are now soaking up the manic atmosphere in La Paz before we head off to Lake Titicaca in the morning.

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Photos

Uyuni Salt Flats
View from Isla del Pescado

Salar de Uyuni
3 days in the desert puts a different perspective on things!