LET THE JOURNEY BEGIN

As we came through the border between Bolivia and Chile we sighed a massive sigh of relief as the dirt roads turned to tar.

At last a country where, in comparison to Bolivia, there seems to be a sense of law and order.

Our first few nights were spent in San Pedro de Atacama. Right up north, it was a right little treat for travellers coming in from Bolivia having done the Salar de Uyuni.

Lots of cute little restaurants, some with open roofs where they would light a fire at night, and you can sit around it on cushions drinking red wine until your head starts nodding and you mooch your way home.

Its amazing how you crave creature comforts when you have been travelling for a long time. Tea, toast, toilets that flush and hot water seem like 5 star luxury after spending time without them.

We were lucky to stay with some mates when we arrived in Santiago. They were amazing to us and so generous with letting us use their home as a base while we gallavanted north and south of Chile.

We lurked around Santiago for a few days, went to Pablo Nerudo´s house who is a famous Chilean poet who won a Nobel Prize for literature. His house is one of the funkiest you will ever see. Lots of trinkets which he collected from his journeys around the world, its a great place to just spend an hour checking out all the junk in his trunk!

We also tried our hand at a bit of wine tasting at one of the more well known wine estates in Chile called Concho y Torro. After a separate wine tasting session with Liz and Felipe we reckon we are quite pro and can come up with all kinds of wino talk that makes us sound like experts. Not quite!

After a short break in the US for my sisters wedding we arrived back in Santiago, and went to a gorgeous little fishing villiage called Horcón. The guidebooks dont rate this place very much, but all the better as it was completely off the gringo trail and sold the best seafood empanadas in South America.

La Serena was another gem. We were lucky with the weather, and hired bikes and took off into the sunset. One beach picnic and a bottle of wine later we tried to fumble our way back to the main village only to have Drews pedal fall off his bike. An interesting style of cycling when you only have one pedal.

Star gazing in Vicuña was another highlight. We got to look through these kick ass telescopes in a observatory which was very high tec!, I have never seen the milky way so clearly pointed out and also got to see Jupitor, different types of star clusters, and Scorpio which was pretty mean!

Bike rides through the vineyards of Pisco Elqui, checking out the quirky coloured houses of Valparaiso, hiking through the Andes, getting panoramic view of Santiago from the top of San Cristobel, watching the local fishermen sell fresh fish at a fishmarket in Valdivia and throw the scraps to the sea lions that come up out of the lake, Red wine, great steak, great seafood!! Have you booked your flight yet?

This has been one of the most surreal countries, and the best part has been that our trip has been a little different to the average gringo. Because we stayed with Liz and her Felipe, we got to hang out with Felipe´s Chilean family. Very funny Spanish misprounciations which end up being massively insulting but we have had some serious belly clutching laughs which is always good.

So we wrap up this quirky little continent with one week left to go skiing in Barriloche Argentina will be the cherry on the top of what has been the most kick ass trip through South America.

When a stray dog takes its chances and chooses to lie down in the middle of a main road to take a nap, its a sign that La Paz and its inhabitants are not your average city slickers.

3 months into our marriage, my husband, otherwise known as the Minister of Finance.. had recently updated the travel budget and announced that our days of clean sheets, warm showers and decent food were over.

And so into Hostal Gloria we walked, signed up to the room on the 3rd floor conveniently located next to a heaving disco by night and overlooking the unofficial black market by day. Aah peace and tranquility!

And oxygen deficiency seemed to be a common theme running through our experience in Bolivia. It seems to make people a little loopy to say the least.

If it wasnt the stray dog taking a nap in the middle of the road it was the village lunatic who went round telling people he had just got out of prison and needed some money to see him through the next few days.

We signed up to cycle "The Worlds Most Dangerous Rd". It goes from La Paz to Coroico and is a single lane dirt road with a sheer 500m cliff drop to one side of it.

Its claimed many a victim. Politicians running for government have been known to deposit their opposition over the side of this cliff, busses have overturned killing all their passengers, and cyclists admiring the view have lost control of their bikes and high tailed it off the edge.

Perhaps it was the little 94% alcohol toast to Pachamama (Mother Earth) at the start of the ride that had the gods on our side, but to be truthful, if you are cautious about the speed that you go, you will most likely arrive alive at the bottom. That said, there are some sections of it which are a little hairy, and a moment of lost concentration would add you to the roads list of victims.

I guess the scariest part of ride is not on the way down, but rather the trip back. Having already reached for the oxygen mask once that day we found ourselves with sweaty palms, gripping the seats, closing our eyes and attempting to think happy thoughts as the tour combi weaved in and out of traffic, overtook on blind rises, took corners on two wheels and narrowly missed people walking across the street.

The thing about Bolivian drivers is that they dont get upset with each other when they cut each other off. Its all just a hoot and a wave and we all move on .. heartrate and blood pressure all still in tact.

Upon arriving back into the "loving" arms of our hostel, we spent the next week lying in bed and hugging the toilet. One drop of Bolivias water (even on your toothbrush) will bring the hardest man to his knees. Lets just say it was altitude sickness at its worst. When Drew turns down food, and opts for herbal tea, you know the man is at an all time low.

But the mood quickly took an upward turn as we headed out of La Paz and south to Uyuni to start our 3 day tour of the Salt Flats.

We stayed in a Salt hotel. Literally all made of salt, Salt chairs, salt tables, salt floors, salt walls.. get the picture? It was one of the coldest nights I have ever experienced..we put every bit of clothing in our backpack on before going to bed. And with that, high fived each other, climbed into bed and said goodnight to the other 4 people sharing our dorm with us. Honeymoon sure has its little ironies some days!

It has to be said that the Salar de Uyuni was photographic wonderland. Train graveyards, pristine white salt flats, green lakes, blue lakes, red lakes (yep, when the sun shines on certain types of algae it can make the lake look red), pink flamingoes, a desert crossing and nights spent drinking red wine next to a bonfire with a sky full of more stars than we will ever see, add to that a couple of cacti and a woolly llama and you got yourself a pretty good travel recipe.