It`s good to know I haven`t been missing anything all the time I haven`t been in Santiago. Just wished my friend Ruddy and his wife Claudia lived in Castro, or La Serena, then I`d have stayed with them all the time. But sorry, Santiago is just terrible.

Anyway, I have definitely been far from skyscraper-civilization for long enough, since they looked like big towers of rock to me when I arrived here :) Still under the influence of Torres del Paine and Fitz Roy...

And I have discovered why travelling with buses is much more dangerous than hitch-hiking can ever dream of becoming: The guy sitting next to me on the bus ride from Puerto Montt to Santiago was so ridiculously (wow, that`s hard!) boring, I nearly had to throw him out of the window and so make a killer of myself. Viva hitch-hiking!

Ruddy took some time off from work to come and pick me up at the bus terminal. It was so nice to see him again!!! For those who don`t know, we were good friends in Bolivia 10 years ago, when I was there for a year as an exchange student. Actually, we were in the same class and he did all my homework while I still didn`t speak any Spanish (and probably after I learned to speak Spanish as well...). We went for some food, since I was hungry after sitting on the bus for so long, and then he sent me to his home in a taxi, home to where his wife Claudia was waiting for me with a cup of tea. Brilliant service!!!

After the life-threatening situation on the bus this morning I decided not to jeopardize the lives of any more innocent but boring people and take a plane to Antofagasta. That also means that I can enjoy the evening with Ruddy and Claudia, and sleep in a decent bed!! Tomorrow then I`ll find myself in the far north of Chile, in the tiny winy kruttiputti town of San Pedro de Atacama, simply THE most lovely town in this country (as far as I know). Saturday: The famous and ever-popular jeep trip into Bolivia via the Salar de Uyuni and a bunch of oddly colored lakes and lagoons. 3 days. Vei!!! But, as you probably all know bad things are happening in Bolivia now, floods and a state af emergency in La Paz. I just hope everything is fine with my guest-family there!