Finally arrived in a country where pollution matters, police are fairly honest and reliable and life is pretty easy.
The second you enter Chile at the Border you notice the difference, proper computers, bag scanners, formal office, free (very clean) toilets - luxury really. The best thing of all though was the first taste of decent wine in 2 months! We did try a sip of very bad Bolivian wine on the Uyuni trip, but basically in Equador, Peru and Bolivia it is really expensive, so we didn´t bother. At last, here in Chile, wine is cheap, plentiful and really good. We also purchased excellent olives and feta, which San Pedro is famous for - lovely!
San Pedro is a desert town to the north of Chile, but much lower altitude than Bolivia. You roll down the mountains to get here. It offered almost the same a our Bolivian salt flats tour, but at European prices, so we just stayed a few nights to get things washed and to meet up with a guy called Steve and his telescope. We had a brilliant night looking at the stars and moon, as well as hearing a lot of stories from Steve. He has a great meteorite museum with a very extensive collection. Apparently the Atacama desert is the best place in the world to collect meteorites, as the sand is so white, the climate is perfect and they don´t decay.
From San Pedro we got yet another semi cama overnight bus (this one 23hr long) to Santiago!
