arnika round the world

tomorrow I fly out of South America, which is sad but also exciting as Im off to Europe! and seeing mum and sarita. Since leaving San Pedro I had a fantastic few days in Iquique, which is right next to the beach. Had great weather and stayed in a very cool hostel which was about 30 seconds away from the beach and a great view over the water. Superb. It is pretty much a cool surfing place so if I was cool and surfed Im sure it would be even more awesome. But I dont, so  just sat on the sand in the sun and read. The water was pretty cold so didint actually go swimming but all good all the same. Made awesome sandwhiches and had lunch on the beach both days with some cool people from the hostel. And got constantly harrased by an Irish guy about my accent, an Irish guy about my accent!! anyway it was a cool place to spend a few days relaxing. Then I took the soft option and flew down to Santiago where my flight s from tomorrow night. So Im back in the hostel I started at exactly 5 weeks ago, not enought time here but theres always next trip and there is the rest of the world to come!

Check out my photos from South America

Arriving back into Chile was a bit of a shock to the budget. Especially in San Pedro, the most expensive place in Chile. But I was only only here for 2 days and I couldnt be bothered worring too much. Theres not much too the town, little narrow street all made of mud. Dry, dusty and only around because of tourists. However I had a really great couple of days. Theres heaps of restaurants around, all very classy with fantastic food. Myself and Lorana stayed at this very funky hostel and meet up with some people she had meet in Brazil. So I spent the next few days hanging out with all of them. We prety much just ate and drank. It was great. One of the nights we brought the most amazing empañadas and had a little picnic with a bottle of Chilian red wine. So nice to relax and eat great food. On one day we went sandboarding with was totally awesome. On these huge sand dunes in the middle of the desert. It was heaps of fun going down but such hard work walking back up the top! I even managed to stay standing most of the time. After that we went to the Valley of the moon to watch the sunset. Its this crazy valley that really looks like you are on the moon. After 2 days though my money situation was becoming a bit of a worry so I jumped on a bus and headed 8 hours north to Iquique where my flight to Santiago is from. Very clean, beaches, warm, good times. So only 3 days left in Chile! Set up a photo sharing page at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/arnika/ so have a look at what Ive been doing.

Well day one was the crazy stalker and day 2 was the bag snatcher. Fortunately he didn´t get away with anything but yeah good times! actually Chile is generally fine and safe but just those 2 times, kind of funny. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Well I arrived, safe and sound. After a very long flight I´m finally here. Meet up with another 5 people at the airport that were all heading to the same hostel so that was good and have been hanging out ... [Continue reading this entry]