Chillan, Talca, Santiago, La Serena, San Pedro De Atacama, Arica

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Leaving Pucon was another episode of Cecilia holding the bus up while I was busy getting up late. As the buses in Chile run like clockwork (amazingly comfortable - Europe could learn a lot) it has been a small feature of the journey so far!! Heading north back to Santiago we took in two stops to Chillan and Talca. Chillan was an interesting market town containing a school filled with mosaics and a pleasant church (South American churches seem to be somewhat graphic when it comes to Christ). A visit to the market ended up with us being treated to drinks by an 80-year old lady at her daughters food stall - phone numbers were exchanged, probably with only an 'Hola!' in mind!

Stopping at Talca we resided in a fantastic hostel out in the countryside with the intention of visiting Valle de Maule - one of Chile's finest vino regions. But yet again we were stopped in our tracks. We had hired bikes and were going to cycle a vineyard circuit including a restaurant but at the 11th hour the mayor of Talca had decided to book all vineyards for private winetasting for the rest of the week! So thinking on our toes we cut our losses again and headed straight up to Santiago and back to possibly the best hostel in the world!

Checking back into Don Santiago we received a warm welcome from Pato and the gang. After missing out on the cycle tour of the wine region in Talca, Pato managed to reserve us spaces at Chile's finest vineyard - Concha y Toro!! After tasting some of the winery's produce we had an additional treat. Being harvest season we were able to taste grapes fresh from the vine - absolutely spectacular! You won't find those in Tescos!

Staying in Don Santiago is like going from home to home. We ended up getting tickets to see Radiohead with virtually the whole hostel going as well. We caught up with friends whom we had met in Argentina and staged a hostel night in where we feasted on the international culinary skills of the residents present!

After tearing ourselves away from Don Santiago we promised to meet up with other residents farther north. But before then we stopped off in La Serena. Whilst being the second oldest Chilean city (meaning it posses superb colonial architecture), the night skies are claimed to be the clearest in the world, meaning the surrounding Andean mountaintops are home to the world's largest collection of observatories. By appointment only I managed to land us a tour of the European Southern Observatory at La Silla. After hiring another car (the only way to get there) we spent an afternoon looking at the telescopes that have shown us so many wondrous images of our galaxy and beyond! Being only another 500km north of Santiago the landscape had changed yet again. Whilst being as warm, the climate is now drier and we had reached the bottom of the Chilean desert. With the Andes standing as impressive as ever, the jagged ice-covered peaks of southern Patagonia and the rolling green forested cordilleras of northern Patagonia have now disappeared. The Andes are now covered with desert sand, dust and cacti - completely different, yet still as stunning.

Before we left la Serena we used the car to visit Ovalle and its local wine festival, Mamalluca (a night-time tourist telescope - saw Saturn and its rings) and the Elqui Valley (vineyards producing wine and pisco).

Heading farther north we arrived at San Pedro de Atacama, a small town bang in the middle of the Atacama desert (the driest desert in the world). Meeting up with some of the residents of Don Santiago, we visited the impressive Valle de Luna (Moon Valley). Sea erosion had formed valleys of towering spires similar in appearance to the crunching ice fields further south. After crawling through caves we were able to admire sunset over the valley on top of a giant sand dune. The next morning entailed and early up-and-at-em trip to the nearby geysers at El Tatio. In the freezing morning air we observed a vast geyser field puffing, smoking and splattering its way into daylight, while the surrounding mountains changed their vibrancy in the early-morning ambiance. After a quick dip in the natural thermal pools we visited an Andean village where sampling barbecued llama (superb) and coca tea (a remedy for altitude sickness - we were at 3500m).

Trying to leave San Pedro was a bit of a nightmare - the ATM had no cash for 3 days meaning I had no cash and still needed to pay for a night at the hostel and half a tour! Initially moving back into Argentina, we had to divert and continue further north in Chile as the bus companies going to Argentina only accepted cash. Using a Visa card for a bus was easy - trying to leave the hostel was a touch more difficult! Naturally they demanded full payment for the night. With no cash we had to put our sale skills to the test as the next bus-load of cash-rich tourists rolled in - so we became room touts! We didn't do a bad job at the bus station either - we managed to get four guests instead of the two they needed!
Departing peso and dollarless, with only a bus ticket to our names, we overnighted to Chile's far north - Arica, the gateway to the awe-inspiring Parque Nacional Lauca and ATM machines!

Taking a two day trip into the park and the surrounding area included a magnificent market (some of the freshest produce I've ever seen, some of the freshest smells I've ever smelt, where tomatoes actually taste like tomatoes!), 7000 year old mummies, Andean mountain villages and the reason for coming - Volcan Pomerade (6240m) and its sister Partinacota (6350m). Partinacota reins supreme over the park, providing the perfect spectacle, the perfect centerpiece, the perfect snow capped volcano. Underneath the dream like Partinacota, Lago Chungara (4500m) drifts peacefully. Chungara is home to Chilean Flamingos and other bird life, while the plains around the lake are home to a vast array of rare wildlife including Vicunas, who share their home with the more common Llama. As visitors to the park are at a minimum it increases the opportunity to appreciate these rare spotting's (up close!) and the imposing, yet graceful Volcanoes.

Back in Arica our bus connection woes continued. We had to wait two extra days for space on Argentinian bound buses to Salta. So we took the opportunity to start making preparations for Bolivia and lazying for the first time on a beach!
Full Photos of Chillan on Flickr
Full Photos of Santiago on Flickr
Full Photos of La Serena on Flickr
Full Photos of San Pedro de Atacama on Flickr
Full Photos of Parque Nacional Luca on Flickr

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