Sun, Sand and plenty of Completos

Our next destination was an overnight bus journey away, and we arrived in La Serena at approximately 5am. The buses in Chile are better than any of the megabuses or national express coaches in the UK (and I have been on my fair share); the seats recline, there is ample leg room, pillows and blankets are provided - and from fellow travellers I have also heard rumours of games such as 'bus bingo', and even food being part of the service! However, we know this luxury will not last, as it seems as soon as one crosses the border in to Bolivia, the conditions are more like the London Night Bus. Watch this space for more bus updates.

So we waited until the sun came up (and our hostel opened) and headed towards it. We stayed in Hostel El Punto, a German run Hostel in a good Location. The hostel itself is a far cry from any of the other places we´ve stayed - spotlessly clean and fairly straight laced, compared to the scruffy anything goes type places we intend to frequent, but it was perfect for the beachy get away we were looking for. A holiday within a holiday if you will. We spent our days here walking to the beach, where the shores are white sand with a heavy dusting of beautiful shells along the shore lines. The sea here was much warmer, and calmer compared to that at Viña del Mar, and we managed to survive four days without any red bits! A highlight here was when walking in to the sea, as it was so clear you could look down and see hundreds of giant red crabs scuttling about. Careful footing so as not to be pinched (although the attack of Dave's toe is how we discovered them!) on the way in was easy, but on the way out the waves brought them in nipping at the back of our heels.

The town of La Serena is fairly simple, there are a lot of churches and a lot of market stalls obviously preparing for the high season (starting 15th December) when it is said the population of the city doubles due to tourists. Of course, we beelined for the Archaeology Museum as soon as we arrived (missed you Moll), and were captivated by the displays of finds throughout the ages. Our favourites included a whaling raft, Ecuadorian shrunken heads, and idols from Easter Island. Here seems like a good place to drop this reference too - congratulations to drop this news story in - I'm proud to have been a part of the Kissonerga-Skalia crew in 2009!

There isn`t much else to say about our time here, as we spent it mainly on the beach. But I must mention the local cuisine of Chile. Some say the international dish - the Completo Italiano.

Yes, the Hot Dog. A hot dog, covered with a generous helping of chopped tomatoes, mayonnaise, ketchup and avacado. Sold in any cafe, from any vendor and on every corner of all of our destinations so far, they cost about 700 CLP a pop (less than a pound) and keep you full until dinner time. Yum.