Dios, el sexo y los tirantes: A Chile 2 weeks

Excuse the pun but it really is bloody cold in Chile at the moment. At least they have fresh vegetables. The avocado is especially good. And real fruit juice. It's all about the simple pleasures.

The 2 best things about Santiago were having a real auzzie dooner and going for real Chilean food with Ignacio and Clare, who we met in Brazil. After a few days in the city, I convinced Erin it would be a good idea to go to the coast as we hadn't seen the sea in a few months. Pichilemu is a really nice little beach town that's full of trendy chicks and pro-surfers in the summer. However, as it's winter, it wasn't full at all - I think we were the only tourists there. I did try to surf but I had to come in after 30 mins as the fog was so thick I could no longer see the beach. Erin didn't mind at all though, as she spent 3 days mothering 2 month old puppies.

Next we headed up the coast to La Serena, where we spent a few days in a department store. After getting some new threads, eating lots of 'completos' and getting some photos backed up to DVD, it seemed La Serena didn't have much else to offer. Everyone said that all the best things to do in the north of Chile were around the Atacama desert, so we went to San Pedro de Atacama.

If you've been to France recently, you will probably have noticed that there aren't too many French people there at the moment. That's because they're all in San Pedro de Atacama. It's not surprising though, as the surrounding area is amazing and it has tons of cool little bars and restaurants. Highlights include sunrise at the highest geyser field in the world, frozen lakes on top of a volcano and sunset from a ridge overlooking a canyon that looks like the moon. Lowlights include sharing the sunset views with coach-loads of school kids and having no hot water.