I love San Pedro!

If for no other reason but that I no longer have to wear a thermal singlet under my t-shirts & that I can wear my jandals (sorry, thongs / flipflops) around town. The days are lovely & warm & hanging out in the hammock in the court yard of the hostel chatting is awesome!!!

When I got here I was like, oh... Ok..., there's nothing to it... The town is tiny & has dusty streets, quaint little shops & are cute little church which I have to take photos of this afternoon.

Yesterday I stayed in bed till after 11.30. It was cool Jen & I had had the room to ourselves so we just lay there with the door open looking out into the court yard & talking to who ever happened to pass by. I loved the whole there was no rush to get anywhere, because were in the middle of the desert & have already done the salt flats there's not a whole lot to see (except valley of the moon). Daniel walked passed (he was on the tour of Uyuni with me) & I yelled out to him so he decided to stay at our hostel so that took our room total to 3 then Jack (a aussie who also lives in Sydney) had to change rooms so now we have 4 people which is cool.

It turns out that Nick has to be in Santiago the same sort of time as me so he's going to come with Jen & to Salta, 12 hours form here, then were going to go on to Mendoza, 18 hours from Salta... Not sure how long its going to take form Mendoza to Santiago though. We went & booked out bus ticket to Salta yesterday to leave tomorrow (Sunday) & it cost $15000pesos, $34au!!!!!!!!! Oh, my goodness!!!! That is the most I've paid for transport (sin tours) since I've been in south America! But I spose we get lunch & dinner included... & there will be a toilet & comfortable seats :) Every report I've heard form travelers is that the coast of Chile doesn't have much to offer & most people just catch a 24 hour bus form San Pedro to Santiago. I've heard such cool things about Mendoza & this side of Argentina plus Jen was going so I thought I might as well check it out (even if most of it will be form a bus window). I'm actually really happy that Ill have someone to travel with too :) I fly out of Santiago on Friday the 21st but I'm pretty sure its doable... Giving me 1 or 2 days in Santiago... Well see :)

Chris & Nick went & booked a tour of the valley of the moon for us for yesterday afternoon for $3000pesos, just under $7au, which is really good. It was a awesome tour & I'm really glad that I did it. We went to a few different places, but I don't remember all there names cause most of it was in Spanish. The landscapes were awesome, sand, huge rock formations & a really really blue sky. Sunset at valley of the Moon was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. Basically you walk up a really really steep sand dune(we are in the desert)& watch the sky change colours over this awesome landscape. Its such a shame that the photos wont do it justice.

We got back to the hotel just before 7pm & went straight to the bottle shop so we could have a few cheap drinks before heading out. 1 bottle of vodka was only $3000pesos! That's how much ONE drink costs at a bar.

We then tried to find a cheap happening restaurant but the best we could do was $5000pesos ($11au) for a set menu. I had some sort of corn thing for my starter which was really nice then just grilled chicken & chips followed by a desert that I couldn't eat (wheat). Think I'm going to have to go back to the place we ate at the other night, that steak was just unbelievable!

We left the restaurant in search of somewhere a little more pumping but in the end it turned out the restaurant we were at was the most happening place in town so we should have just stayed there...

I wasn't quite so bad this morning. I was out of bed by about 10am & hang out in the sun for a while before going & picking up my laundry ($2500pesos) which wasn't ready when they said it would be. I hate it when that happens, you always think the worst, that they've lost your laundry or given it to someone else. In Lapaz they tried to give me someone else's laundry... Doesn't really give you much confidence, but then, its nice to have clean clothes & not to have to wash them yourself.

Well I've been typing away for awhile & I wanted to go & edit yesterdays post cause there was heaps I missed out but not sure if Ill have the time now.

All in all its really good to just relax & chill out. Oh & plus the bed at the hostel is sooooo great its not funny, its the best bed I've slept in since I've been in South America! Plus they have a kitchen you can use which most of the hostels don't. Its called La Florida Residencial, on Antofagasta y Tocopilla for $4000peso a night. I had a cold shower this morning though cause I didn't wake up before 10am... & they make you pay up front which is also a fist but still, its a nice place & I've met heaps of cool people.

Ok must go now, no reason except its going to cost me heaps cause I've been on line over a hour. Don't you just love internet banking! It makes life so much easier when you're in a different country :)

San Pedro - Chile, Saturday 15th May, 2.05pm