Clean socks on the winter solstice

We crossed from Arica in Chile to Tacna in Peru on Thursday, which despite our preconceptions was very straightforward. Not the sort of chaotic Southeast Asia style border crossing we were expecting, but rather an organised collectivo journey through border controls and then an acceptable bus journey to Arequipa. We got a bus with Cromotex, who we'd never heard of, for 20 Peruvian Soles, about half the cost of the others, so we partly expected chickens and hay on the roof! But no, it was a proper bus, although not entirely without incident. The air conditioning seemed to be broken, resulting in a truly tropical environment onboard, two passengers near us had a run in with Peruvian law enforcement, and the road into Arequipa was crazy, with side-by-side trucks around blind corners causing a standoff when other trucks came the other way. OK, so maybe a little bit of SE Asia flavour after all!

We spent two days in Arequipa. We both really liked the city, with it's art deco archtecture and backdrop of snow-capped volcanoes. We took a tour of the cathedral; on the roof we were told how the bell tower fell through the roof during an earthquake in 2001, but was hastily rebuilt - a lesson for Christchurch perhaps?

From Arequipa we got an overnight bus with Cruz del Sur to Cusco. By far the best bus we've ever been on. It was more like a flight, complete with departure lounge and airline food. And it felt like we had got to another country, although we hadn't left Peru. The barren deserts we replaced with green, terraced hills, and the western clothes of Arequipa replaced with colourful traditional Andean garments; even well-dressed businessmen have one token alpaca poncho or scarf. We arrived the day before the annual Inti Raymi Festival, an Inca festival to mark the winter solstice, and today was the main event. It was great to join the thousands of people in the walk up from town to the Inca ruins of Saqsayhuaman (pronounced 'sexy woman'). We braved the crouds on any vantage point to get a glimpse of the proceedings - rows of people dressed in Inca clothes doing a kind of swaying dance to pipes and drums. The small pleasures of life still remain, with the great excitement of collecting our clean laundry. One pays for the laundering service by weight - that is the dirty weight!

On Wednesday we start the Salkantay Trek, a five day trip crossing the 4600m Salkantay Pass and ending at Machu Picchu. More on that next time...

Us in the main square in Arequipa

The Inca constellations

The Inca constelations explained

Cusco main square at night

Breakfast at 1500ft above New Zealand

We've just arrived in Arica in northern Chile after five days in San Pedro de Atacama. Arica is a very different place in that there are less stray dogs than people here.

Our first day in the driest desert in the world it rained twice, causing the whole place to virtually shut down. We couldn't hire mountain bikes due to the mud (?). We did manage to go on a tour of the Valle de la Luna just outside town. It looks more like mars than the moon, with red rocks and sand dunes interspersed with white salt pans; an amazing landscape with no evidence of life anywhere. The guide was an entertaining Frenchman and the driver managed to avoid the many cliffs en route, so we decided to go with them for two other tours in the Atacama.

The first of these was to the Altiplano lakes, firstly to Laguna Miscanti at 4300m. We left at 6am to get there only to find we were too early and the gate was locked. The driver said it was a half hour walk to the lakes, so we set off with breakfast along the snow-covered road. Quickly realising it wasn't a half hour walk, we stopped for a very cold breakfast! Luckily the gate was then opened and we could drive the rest of the way and thaw out in the van! We had amazing views of the lakes, but couldn't get here because of the snow. After walking briskly back to the van and then panting like dogs for the following 5 minutes due to the altitude, we went down to Laguna Chaxa and saw loads of flamingos close up on the lake which was surrounded by jagged salt crystals stretching towards the snow-covered volcanoes around the edge.

The final tour was to the El Tatio geysers, the highest in the world at 4200m. This time it was a 4am start to get there at dawn when there is the most steam. We arrived in the dark for another cold breakfast, -15C this time. As the sun came up we were surrounded by an ice-covered basin filled with steam vents and pools of boiling water, the edge lined with volcanoes. An awesome place and definately worth the ridiculous early start, cold and thin air! We returned to San Pedro via a snowy plateau at 4600m and picked up some tasty goats cheese empanadas on the way.

Then it was an over night bus, along roads that would make a New Zealand ski-field road look like a snooker table, to Arica. The buses may be luxurious, but the roads seem to make up for that at times!

Valle de La Luna.

Valle de la Luna.

Valle de la Luna.

Salt basins, Valle de la Luna.

Sunset near Valle de la Luna.

Laguna Miscanti, at 4300m in the Andes.

Flamingos at Laguna Chaxa.

On the jagged salt of the Salar de Atacama.

Laguna Chaxa with volcanoes behind.

El Tatio Geysers at dawn.

Looking very cold at -15C!

View of the volcanoes from 4600m on the way back from El Tatio.

Relaxing in the hammocks in San Pedro.

Clever UV warning system in San Pedro.

Singing Carabineros and llamas in the sky

We arrived in Santiago on a typical sunny, and smoggy, day, and had great views of the Andes as we flew in. We spent the next few days exploring the city. This included a visit to Cerro San Cristobel, which was almost above the smog line and had great views of the city and the mountains behind. We were followed around by one of the many street dogs. On our wandering around Santiago, we saw packs of dogs chasing cars, a load of marching, singing Carabineros (policemen) in the main square, hummingbirds and of course more smog!

From Santiago we got a TurBus to La Serena, about 7 hours north on the coast. Chilean buses are like business class on a plane, and that's only the third best tickets! We did see some eonomico buses though with hay on the roof. La Serena is a chilled out town on the Pacific coast, which is really busy in summer but quiet this time of year. We checked out some cafes and the two museums in town, as well as some beach visits. We took a tour up the Valle de Elqui, east of town, and visited a brewery, which did good stout, a pisco (made from grapes but tastes a bit like cheap vodka) distillery, and had lunch at a place that uses only solar ovens and water heaters to make the food. In the evening we went up the the observatory at Mamalluca, and looked at Saturn and some nebulas and stars through the telescopes, then our guide told us about the Inca constellations of the llama, baby llama and snake. The Inka were the only people to use the dark patches between the stars to mark out their constellations. Check it out; the snake sits just below the southern cross and the mother and baby llama are nearby!

View from Cerro San Cristobel over the Santiago smog to the Andes.

View of he Santiago smog.

On a dam in the Elqui Valley.

Elqui Valley.

The street outside the brewery in the Elqui Valley.

Water heater at the Solar Café.