Happy New Year to everyone !

We arrived in Santiago , Chile on a 7 hour overnight flight from Quito , Wed night , Thurs morning. Not really a good time to fly as the 2 days seemrd to merge into 1 and we were slightly disorientated arriving in & trying to find our way round a new city.

Christmas at the Black Sheep Inn was wonderful but very different . We missed you all ! During our few dys there we went horse riding in the mountains & cycling on dirt roads , very hard work !

We left on Monday for Quito , 2 hours in the back of a pickup & 4 hours by bus. The bus was so crowded that Ady chose to ride on top with the sheep & hens ! Seriously ! The bus then had a puncture which was actually a welcome break. Wonderful scenery all the way to compensate !

Spent 2 enjoyable days in Quito getting ourselves some culture ! Visited several museums & churches.

We are staying in a hostel in Santiago, only 6 pounds per night each, really comfortable. It's a huge 19th century mansion near the centre of the city , houses about 80 peopla & seems to be fully booked all the time. We feel old , most of the other residents are under 30 but no real problems.

It is so hot here , over 90 every day & the heat lasts well into the evening. We hear you've had a white Christmas in some places in UK . It's been really good spending Christmas & New Year in the sun. We've never experienced that before.

Spent yesterday navigating the excellent Metro system in the city visited the Museo Neruda which was actually Neruda's house. Pablo Neruda was the Chilean powho won the Nobel prize for literature in 1971. We learnt of his flamboyant lifestyle & his political activities, he was a supporter & friend of Salvador Allende . He died in 1973 at the start of the military coup. Very interesting visit.

Thank you everybody for your e.mails & comments on the website. You're all very encouraging.

We have watched much television coverage of the Asian disaster. How terrible ! And how upsetting it all is.