1 week in

---

Ok so one week in and we feel like we left home so much longer ago. Our rucksacks have collected sufficient dirt and dust to not look brand new to this game. We arrived in Santiago and hung out there for a day or two. Discovered a nice neighbourhood called Bellavista with plenty of tempting bars and restaurants to make us want to stay longer. But after our first taste of the local brew we headed out of the city to the west coast to Valparaiso, a quirky city by the sea with venicular railways the local mode of transport. For 200 pesos you can be elevated 200m in 10 secs from downtown to the various neighbourhoods nestled in the 42 cerros, hills.

We stayed in a home from home, Hotel Brighton, a lovely place with a wicked terrace where we drank local red wine whilst watching the sun go down over the city :-)

Colourful mansions sit side by side with tattered shacks and houses, scrambled in confusion along the narrow streets, but tucked away we discovered some gorgeous little bars and cafes and began to like the Chilean way of life.

Our bubble soon burst when we set off for a hippie village by the sea called Horcon. Dreaming of sandy beaches and lazy days we were in and out of the place in less than 24 hours! Check out the photo of Tim sword fighting with the locals. The sword was actually made out of a swordfish´s sword nose bit thing. It was more full of pirates and bandits than fellow travellers and the good life. Can´t win em all though.


After a quick scan of our trusty guide book we headed further north to a town called La Serena, sounded like somewhere we could hang out for a week or two. Nah, not there either and when we were double booked at a hostal, we decided to take the bull by the horns and get low down and dirty in the moutains...

We hired the only car left in the town to rent and drove our way into the elqui valley, home to the famous pisco sour drink, well famous maybe in Chile, never heard of it before, but its good, think margarita without evil tequila! After two your anyones! The valley is also home to the clearest star gazing skies. In the hills lie three observatories where men spend every night of every day star gazing and gringos can join in and see what all the fuss is about. Sadly it was full of cloud when we rocked up but on other nights during our stay the sky was pure magic and we strained our necks staring up at the skies for so many hours.


We stayed in a hacienda on the first night and went on a three hour hike across the foothills of the moutains the next morning after hearing tales from Nigel of southgate NW London, of his six day horse back ride into the hills, we clambered into and over the top of a desolate dusty canyons with stunning views across the Andes. Lots of cactii and the odd interesting plant we eventually came to a river where the landscape suddenly changed to a lush green river walk that ended back at the hacienda (no not on whitworth street!).

We then set off on what was possibly the most spectacular but intense 50km virtually off road drive in the most inappropriate of vehicle, our trusty white Japanese hire car. We only passed three other cars on this stretch,all 4x4´s, now we know that 4x4´s aren´t just for dropping the kids off at school. A few hairy moments were had and at one point (Rosemary look away now!) we even started slipping and sliding backwards down the moutain, Rox loyal as ever jumped out of the car leaving me to it!! But we got up and over the side and it was amazing! A couple of pisco sours later and our nerves calmed.

After a quick pit stop at a fresh fruit juice shack on the side of the road

and meeting a couple of missionaries, who were dedicating their lives to spreading the baptist faith across Chile (no signs it was wanted but hey..) we found our way to a gorgeous hostel. Our very own cabin surrounded by beautiful wild flowers and hammocks and pool with a view to die for, looking out over the beautiful elqui valley surrounded by the Andes. As you tilted your head up from the mountain you could see the brightest blue skies and if you luckily enough a condor or two like we did (or we´re claiming to anyway).

---