At about 4pm the bus approached Uyuni  - a cold, dusty town in the far south of Bolivia - and we could see the god-forsaken place from the hills above, isolated on the dry, frigid altiplano.  Then we were so pleased to see the three large barricades stretched out on the road in front of us and dozens of irate students, clearly determined that none shall pass.  They were blockading there for 24 hours, in a protest against something or other. Our bus was going nowhere until the blockade was lifted.  The choice was between sitting on a below-zero bus all night and yomping with full pack for 8 kilometres to the town through the desert.  We yomped off.  Like fools, we`d bought loads of presents in Bolivia to send back by sea mail in Chile. So as well as our full backpacks I had a horrible, cursed green bag full of stuff to cart mule-like too.

 

Fortunately we were saved about 2 kms into our march by a taxi which had come out from Uyuni to see what all the fuss was about.

 

Tired and cold, 5 of us from the bus shuffled in to a hostel we`d picked out - only to be told by the world-weary owner that he didn´t think there were any rooms and could we leave quickly as he wanted to get on with the cleaning... he was 5 years old.  Surreal. Ordered off the premises by an infant-school dropout.

 

Uyuni`s the kind of place you want to leave sharpish, so we did. We were there to embark on a 3 day tour by 4x4 of the Salar de Uyuni, the world`s largest salt flat.  The landscape was an other-wordly, mad whiteness.  It was a real highlight of the trip so far. We had some great comrades on the trip with us.  Later in the tour we saw geysers, volcanoes, weird rock formations and about a hundred flamingoes. We also sang disco songs in German.

 

There was no heating in the basic lodging where we pitched up and the temperature plummeted to -15 degrees.  I wore all my socks, 2 trousers, so many layers. We tried beer, wine and lots of rum but nothing worked to keep out the cold.

 

Chile

 

The tour finished on the Chilean border, near San Pedro de Atacama, a good place to warm up and relax.  From San Pedro we cycled to the fabulous Valle de la Luna national park.  There were a few clouds and I was going to suggest taking our waterproofs until I remembered that this was the driest desert on earth.  We`ve had a little adverse fortune so far but the first rainfall in 30 years would have been something else.

 

After stopping in La Serena (no central heating in town), we made it to Santiago (no central heating), the capital, where it was absolutely baltic.  Why are we heading further into the winter?

 

Chillan (a k a no central heating): there`s nothing in Chillan. Apart from an absence of central heating again. It seems to be waiting for the next earthquake to level the place so that the architects can do a better job since the last one in the 60s.  We met an Aussie plumber heading home in a roundabout way from London whose claim to fame was that he`s tested all 4 (yes 4) of HM Queen`s dunnies at the new Wembley. He didn´t say whether it was a number 1 or number 2.  Who needs 4 toilets?  I think we need an enquiry. Al-Fayed will have a field day.

 

The Lake District: low cloud, rainy, cold, tea shops.  So the one in Chile is a lot like the English version.  The only major difference is the massive chain of active volcanoes.  Our plan was to climb Volcano Villarica from Pucon.  We were there 3 days and, never mind climbing it, we couldn`t even see it.  The wet town and the (wetter) lake were good though.  We went for a horse ride. It was wet (but entertaining).

 

We found out Valdivia is the wettest town in Chile - after we`d arrived in a downpour.  It was torrential in Puerto Varas too.  A volcano looms over that town as well - apparently. We went on a trip to see some waterfalls.  It rained. It seems to rain a lot in Chile. Time to go to Argentina.

 

Take care

 

James.