Well, I haven't really managed to keep up with the overwrought description of every day of my travels, have I. I just can't seem to keep up with a travel journal. Or perhaps the real problem is that I can't manage to be succint - the way it's been going is that I've been leaving out pretty much all the interesting bits, allowing me to maintain my standard level of verbosity regarding the boring bits. I have taken notes, though - and at some other time when I get off my weak-willed ass will try and write about the good bits. Meantime, the update is that, after two pretty lazy weeks in Arica I've made it to Arequipa, Peru. Man, what a beautiful place...snow-capped mountains hovering over stone monasteries and cobblestone streets. Not good prospects for catching up with any writing. There's volcanoes to climb and canyons to...ah, what's the opposite of climb? Plunge into? Condors to see too, apparently.

Just so I hold myself to account, I've left out half of what I did in Santiago, everything in Valparaiso and Viña del Mar, everything to do with San Pedro de Atacama and the trip to Uyuni in Bolivia, as well as my entire time in Arica. Plus other thematically organised entries I was planning on various topics. Qué flojo soy!