Red hot CHILE peppers

Hello blog fans.

First of all thanks for keeping up with us! We've had over 1600 views as of last week, which we were amazed at. So..we have been spurred on to try keep bringing you the latest on our travels. Any more tips of what you guys want let us know. Last feedback via Vic was for more pics of our beautiful selves, which we gave you with out last blog. We aim to please!

Our last stop was San Pedro in Chile! We originally planned to pass through in one day on our way to Salta, but hearing some good things about this small Chilean town, we left ourselves open to play it by ear. So here came our second border crossing, this time Leaving Bolivia. There was so much emphasis from the guides and bus drivers not to take anything from Bolivia to Chile, we ended up declaring Nikki and Rich's entire medical bag, and Mike declared our Machu Picchu soil! I got so worried I darent take my rock of Bolivian salt through and ditched it in panic. Anything to avoid any probing! It turned out all was fine, in fact I think they were laughing at our declarations, and so panic over we drove into San Pedro. A small dusty town with a laid back vibe.

With no lodgings booked this time we took the lonely planets guidance and went to find Eden hostel of the Atacama. Hammocks, small but decent rooms and bright sunshine won us over straight away, and within minutes we were all sun creamed up swinging in the hammocks, reading books, beard blogging and generally relaxing after our intense few days in the desert. It had been really cold in the desert, and now having our first taste of the scorching sun was a real delight. That night we had a stroll up to the Plaza looking for some good grub. It wasn't the best steak but luckily the lashings of pepper sauce and extreme hunger meant it went down a treat. We later went to a bar with another open fire and ordered another bottle of red. After some more lingual break downs we got our bottle from the loveliest waiter. He reminded us all of Martin Bott in looks and mannerisms and made us feel very welcome.

The next day we chilled again in the hammocks, nursing a few delicate heads, with a plan to go sand boarding later in the day. Off we went at 4:00 giving the intense sun time to cool off. We pile into a van with a few Brazilians, Brits and Scotts, and head to some sand dunes. After a quick measurement, and brief instruction from our Belgium guide we were off. Slowly at first we rolled down. Sand getting into just about every crevis it could. The boys soon got confident and went from higher up to pick up more pace, while Nikki and i carried on gliding down with more style than speed!!! ;-) it was great fun. I think the pic of Mike on FB has already done the rounds. Next they took us on walk through moon valley to watch the sun set. Excited we set off, until I saw the vertical side of the mountain we had to climb to get up there. We slowly work our way up, driven on slightly by the promise of a Pisco Sour when we got there. It was lovely..not the best sunset in the world but definitley the best setting for it. All I could think about was how were we getting down? Assured in my mind there would be a longer route back less steep, we stayed a while and soaked in the view, and second Pisco Sours. Off we go back down, and unfortunately I was wrong. We WERE going back down the way we came. Literally on my bottom, rock by rock we decend. Now I know why they give us a few drinks at the top! Back in the van, we have another unexpected stop. This time to some salt caves. I had taken my head torch as instructed, but the others had missed this valuable piece of information and so one torch between the four of us it was. In the pitch black, apart from my guiding light, we walk through the middle of the desert salt caves, weaving in and out of the salt rocks. It soon gets very cramped and clostraphobia was close by. It was ace to be there and another experience we won't forget. We eventually climbed out the caves and laid on the rocks looking up at a million stars. We stayed there until we saw a shooting star which didn't take long. The clear jet black blanket was scattered with millions of twinklie lights that looked so close. One of the Brits pointed out the milky way and jupiter to us, and a few other constellations I couldn't make out. Back in the van we head back to San Pedro and stop at a tiny chicken take away for pollo and Chips. It was a culinary delight, eaten back at hostel Eden under the guidance of the head torch wrapped around the parasol.

Day three in this sleepy village we decided to rent bikes, and head off early into a devils gorge. A track we'd been told about and seeking some more adventure after our action packed day previously, we head off sun creamed up. It wasn't a particularly difficult ride, but was made slightly longer with a wrong turn, snack stops and a rather dramatic fall by myself at the feet of some Chilean men. Mental note...don't try go up ramps then change mind mid course. Second mental note bikes don't go backward easily! Devils gorge was cool, a windy pathway carved through the rocks than had us ducking and weaving round dusty cave corners. It seemed to go on forever. We finally reached what we think was the end and turned back. We stopped for some 'action shots' which is when i had my second accident of the day. I have the scab on my shoulder to proove it, but the bump on my head never really materialized to what I thought it would be. Every one else injury free we are back at the hostel in no time. Time for some showers and bevies, we head to Export bar for our last night there. Recommended by a few locals, we had high hopes. We were not disappointed, with a lively atmosphere and good food, we were joined later by our Danish friend Maria who had been on our Bolivian tour with us. It was a great night to finish off a great visit to this funky little place where we recharged our batteries and started off some tans. The next morning took the chilled out vibe away from us as we had a mad rush to the bus stop. Nikki looked like our mule as we scrambled up the mainstreet loaded with our ever increasing bag count. We made it..as per usual the bus was 40mins late. We need to stop taking south American timetables with any certainty! So off we go...in 11hrs time we hit our first Argentinean city.

Lots of love
Caz and crew

P.S nikki's pink socks and burnt nose pick is her valiant attempt to eat all our fruit before our border crossing! Teeheeehee.