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Firstly, an apology.  I have just re-read my last two travelogues and have come to the conclusion that they were possibly two of the worst I have ever sent, so very boring. So I will attempt to keep this missive concise and captivating! 

I have traversed Chile in just two weeks. Why? I hear you cry.  Well, it's just about the most expensive country I have travelled in outside of Western Europe and somehow it seems a little too western to be interesting.  I have had to re-acquaint myself with a diet based on bread and pasta but I have managed to consume a bottle of decent red wine every night. Which was nice.

My first stop was San Pedro de Atacama, a very small tourist town near the Bolivian border.  It is a strange town in the middle of nowhere and seemed to be full of young Chileans. It was nice to descend a little, down to 2200 metres, which is still almost twice the altitude of Ben Nevis. This did not stop me breaking out the shorts and vest and lounging in a hammock in the sun! 

Valle de la Luna, Atacama desert

After passing quickly though Calama in the Atacama desert, a dusty town with lots of wire fencing and the occasional deserted fairground (think Mad Max), I dropped - both in terms of latitude and altitude with Anto being at sea level - to Antofagasta, described in the Lonely Planet as chaotic and not worth visiting. Well I agree with the latter statement but I did not see justification for the "chaotic" slur. It was a big port town with the usual shopping malls, brand names and supermarkets. 

I stopped for a couple of days in the resort town of La Serena, although being the end of winter out here it was quite deserted.  Its also the best place from where to access the Valle Elqui and it was quite nice to actually see some lush green scenery.  

After exploring this area I continued South, not stopping until Valparaiso, the big port city close to Santiago.  It was a living, breathing city, not pretty but really interesting to wander around.  Close enough to almost be a suburb of Valpa is the posh resort of Viña del Mar, very similar but the opulence is evident, the streets are wider and cleaner and the people seemed a little snooty.  Further inland, Santiago itself is a very boring, very western city and probably the least interesting capital I have visited in South America, yes less so even than Lima! I wandered around, going in and out of shops where I had no intention of buying anything and generally loitering in the public areas. 

Needing to relax my next stop was Pucon in the Lake District. An absolutely stunning town nestled in-between Lago Villarica and Volcan Villarica.  Its just a small town but it has the feel of somewhere in Switzerland or Austria with the log cabins and the heavy German influence, all the signs are in German as well and the presence of strudel, kuchen and wurst is palpable.  This was far and away the highlight of Chile, in fact a highlight of South America so far.  There was something eminently satisfying about sitting in front of a log fire, sipping a fruity Chilean Red whilst outside the wind is whistling through the trees and a fresh layer of snow is eradicating all evidence that anybody was in the town during the day. 

Volcan Villarica from Pucon

A brief stopover in Valdivia followed, described in the Lonely Planet as "possibly Chiles most beautiful city".  I did not think so.  It wasn't particularly ugly but the fact that the big attraction is the fish market tends to indicate something.  Although watching sea lions come out of the river to beg for scraps was quite cool.  The main centre was a concrete edifice more Soviet Seventies than Latin American.  It was however quite a relaxing stop. 

I finished my first Chilean experience in Puerto Montt.  Another quiet and relaxing place, although I did get invited to an all-night disco by some students, it was quite nice just to wander around.  From Puerto Montt I visited the island of Chiloe, not quite as interesting as I had been led to believe but I did see some stilt houses (Big Wow!) and a fort (hold me back!) 

So it was with little regret that I crossed the Andes once more and arrived in Bariloche in the Argentinian Lake District. Not without one final Chilean experience at the immigration.  I have never experienced such organisation and efficiency.  They lined us up off of the bus in seat order, handed the guy a list of passengers and processed us one by one.  The steward on the bus even filled out our forms for us, obviously not trusting stupid gringos to spell their names correctly. I have never been so insulted in my life and I honestly felt as though I was being interned in Auschwitz or something as I was called up to the desk. 

Some observations on Chile:

- it has a strangely youthful population, almost 50% of all Chileans seem to be in their twenties or younger.- in addition there also seem to be a large number of pretty young girls attached to fat, older men and with a couple of sprogs in tow, and perhaps one in the oven as well. Are these all love matches?

- there is a national obsession for soap operas bordering on the dangerous and there is currently a "soap war" covered in the papers and on the news, similar to the Blur vs. Oasis thing but inimitably less cool.

- Chile has a definite middle class and therefore the working class does not pride itself in the way it does in countries without the bourgeois.  This means you see trashy families with five kids, all dressed in shell suits (that often don't match) and "Wisconsin state BBQ 1996" t-shirts, being loud and obnoxious and smoking roll-ups.  Chile is also the first country out here that I have seen bookies in and it was quite nice to wander in and experience a familiar surrounding, though I didn't do my money primarily because I did not know any of the runners or riders, the tracks, going or form.

- it tries so hard to be Western but falls slightly short at about the Great Yarmouth marker.  This means there are bargain stores aplenty (Except in Santiago) knocking off ten kilos of pasta or sixteen litres of Pap (the aptly named national fizzy drink) for about fifty pee.- following the pattern I referred to in my last mail there is a distinct absence of street food in Chile, limited only to the ever present Hot Dogs that are a continental obsession. 

There you have it. Thanks for listening.  If it all sounds a bit cynical, it was my birthday yesterday and in addition to a huge steak I also polished off more (lots more) red wine and so today I aren't feeling the best of backpackers.