Calama, Friday

1357 At small restaurant having cazuela vacuno, pollo asado and rice with a diet coke. Only got up about 1, bit slack but meh, no huge plans for today, will just wander a bit for afternoon, maybe beer or two tonight but obviously have to be up early. Slightly torn to enquire at some other company and throw away the TurBus ticket but seems a waste of money.

1442 Food not bad, and for 4k (1k of which was drink) with jelly & cream as desert fairly good value. Paid at counter as other people seemed to but left 400 tip on table. Place is Restaurant Mapasu on Vivar.

2053 Just come out after fruit binge - perhaps overdid it a bit, as hoping to compensate for probably not eating any tomorrow - and surfing and shower and photo uploading. Still bit slack. Locked key in room when it was for some reason on bed and I had to dash out urgently to bog, fortunately they had spare. At American Pub for somewhat pricey litre of Heinken at 3.7k, will make it 4.1k with tip left on table, waitress wanted paying when she brought it, think was same when here in 2011. Just me here and one raucous other table.

Walking round today found plaza and then Ramirez (street this place is on) and memories from being here in 2011 came flooding back. This is a couple of mins walk from hotel.

Waitress asked where I was from, I think she said she was Bolivian but bit noisy with music and the raucous group so didn't hear that well. Incidentally, ISTR reading on web when researching something that the infamously brutal passenger train from here to somewhere (Uyuni??) in Bolivia no longer runs. It was never very frequent anyway IIRC.

Bit nervous about beer after that unexpected toilet urgency and tomorrow's early start but take it easy, maybe just have this one, we'll see. This is barring accidents my last night in Chile this trip, about this time tomorrow I should be in Peru. I was going to come out for lomo a lo pobre tonight but as I was shovelling down the last of about 850g of grapes at about 8pm and feeling a bit stuffed I figured it would be foolish on multiple grounds to do so.

I am toying with staying an extra night in Tacna on 'not haring around too much' grounds, especially now I may well arrive too late/tired to do much on Saturday night. However, I am not absolutely sure how much stuff there is to see. I suspect as a completely new town to me (I just passed through in 2010, online hotels there were super pricey/scarce at the time so I crossed straight to Arica, not to mention was in a slight rush to get down to Santiago for my Easter Island flight) it would easy be worth an extra night. I am inclining to seeing how I feel when I get to the hotel tomorrow night and maybe asking them then, rather than booking online, I might get it cheaper that way and if I can't get anything I can just go on anyway.

2254 Back at hostel. Just had not-desperate shit and that was reassuringly ok, the one earlier had put wind up me a bit. Anyway, strongly inclining to booking extra night in Tacna now so let's try and write more after.

2255 Thanks, Gmail app! Thanks to tendency to scroll up to top if no to address entered (where random keypresses intended for the body of the email turn into an address book lookup) plus no confirm on send, I just emailed all the previous part of this blog entry to Hotel Riazor in Rio de Janeiro. Still, they never replied to my e-mails in the past if I remember rightly. But what a fucking usability disaster.

2303 OK, booked that. Partly due to feelings tonight that I'm haring around too much I decided it was more important to lock in an extra night than to save maybe a couple of quid booking it in person not over web. Towards end of litre one of the legs on my plastic chair was buckling (!) - I'm not that fucking fat, nor do I think I was leaning back in it. Some slightly 'rocker' looking maybe 30ish chap came over and suggested I double the chairs up as they were weak. We shook hands but he didn't overly push any friendship on me, but this made me think about wanting to hang out more and rush less. I dithered about another drink but earlier toilet doubts plus early bus made me dubious, I came back, perhaps fortunately as for first time noticed the sign saying when check in/out was also says 'close 11:30pm', I had assumed it would be midnight at earliest so good job I did come straight back. I think the Tacna hotel is 24h reception. Moreover modulo knackeredness from travel would be nice if I can go out for a few beers tomorrow night, it being Saturday, and even nicer if can get into a chat, which I can't do if I'm worried about getting up or dashing off. OK, I was definitely going to be in Tacna Sun night anyway but before I booked to stay there Mon, I would have to be booking onward travel on Sun and I might also be leaving early Mon so Sun would be my only chance to see the place during the day so it would all be super rushed and that's what I need to fight against. This way I'd still *like* to get onward travel sorted on Sun, but if I am knackered after bus+night out I don't *have* to, and even if I do sort out onward travel Sun (possibly pmish) I have Monday to do general tourist wandering.

Incidentally did see there is a train Arica-Tacna which would be cool but it only goes at 9am so even if I had been prepared to risk it not being sold out it wouldn't have worked this time anyway.

0030 In bed, dunno how soon will get to sleep but I will feel shit in morning anyway and of course I can hopefully drowse on bus. In a way will be quite nice to be on bus listening to music and reading a looking out of the window and not feeling I need to try to get to sleep. But not looking forward to getting up. Anyway.

Calama, Thursday

1332 Place is Comida Rapida Churras.com (!). Bill 3800, made it 4200.

1412 At terminal. Shoulders ache now, pins and needles esque sensation in legs on walk over.

Guide book in fact says some companies have offices away from terminal, though it is not v clear. Anyway, this is the same guidebook which says Calama-Arica is 6 hours but Arica-Calama is 9 hours. Anyway, that's a crock of shit. Pullman Bus only did night service, eg 2245ish departure arrive 0700ish. So, eight hours. TurBus do a morning departure at 0745 which gets in at 1820, so 10.5 fucking hours. Guess which one I just bought. What a fucking crock of shit. I could have gone and walked over to one of the other companies but who fucking knows what they might have. It was only 15k for cama (14900 for semi cama!) and it is just about tolerable, though I will be crossing the border after dark, woo. I should maybe have ditched my accommodation here for Friday night and gone overnight Friday, but frankly I've had it with overnight buses just now with the pains I had last night and today. (Possibly these pains are a result of 'too many overnight buses in too short a period of time', last night was the second overnight bus in three days.) I do wonder if I should have shopped round for an alternate daytime bus but it's a good ten minutes walk, probably more like twenty, to the alternate offices and then what if TurBus sold out in the meantime, or I had to spend the 10.5 hours in semi cama instead, I'd be kicking myself? I can't really blame myself for picking that option, but like yay, that's going to be a fantastic day. I'll have to be up at something like 645 and if I'm lucky I will be at the hotel in Tacna by about 2100.

I obviously couldn't know the mine tour was completely off (and I suppose there is a microscopic chance of it reopening tomorrow and me getting a waiting list place) but in hindsight it would probably have been savvier to have maybe flown up to Arica from Santiago regardless of expense or perhaps just bitten the bullet on a direct Santiago-Lima bus. But anyway, I was trying for the mine and so that's pointless hindsight, plus it was sort of cool to see Vallenar and especially to have the bizarre Piano Man experience at 9am that first morning. I suppose all I've lost by not shopping around is possibly a small cash saving (though 15k doesn't seem too bad) and the fact that I'm spending an extra four hours on a bus and getting to Tacna correspondingly later. This is a bit shit but not the end of the world. I don't lose a whole day or anything like that.

Perhaps I could have decided not to do Calama at all when it turned out I couldn't get a guaranteed tour spot while I was still in Santiago, at which point considering flight or international bus from Santiago might have crossed my mind. But even that is pushing the hindsight a bit.

Anyway, it's 1428. I'm going to go back to hotel and buy some fruit on the way.

2217 Been bumming round in hotel room ever since. Had some peanuts which was bit lardy but still. Feeling tired but generally better, will probably try to go to bed by midnight. Not really done anything productive but it's OK. Bit hacked off about crappy journey to Tacna looming and also feeling bit short on remaining holiday time but this is probably 75% tiredness related so not intending to debate the matter with myself just now.

Quick check of guidebook lists no tourist attractions beyond the mine, so while I hope to be up earlyish tomorrow I intend it to be a tranquilish day of wandering around and probably bumming around in room. Anyway, that is a matter for tomorrow.

0123 Been surfing in bed, got bit of headache but not too bad, anyway, let's try to get to sleep.

Vallenar to Calama

2211 Switching to new email, will leave prev one in outbox waiting for a connection before it slips out into the world.

2301 Yay. No sign of bus. Can't wear headphones any more out of paranoia. Several buses with non-functional LED signs, one was announced as 2240 (my bus's time) but to Santiago and had handwritten sign saying 'Santiago' in front. Was a bus to Calama but I asked out of desperation and it wasn't the 2240 and it left about 2235 anyway. I've never missed a bus yet but there presumably will be a first time.

There is a nice little dog here which seems to be good at playing up the 'lost dog' card. Looks soulfully at people, puts its paw out, etc. I hope someone takes it home eventually.

There appears to be a small tear in the fabric of my bag. Seems a bit shit, esp as not aware of having exposed it to any unfair strain. It is only small and it will last out this trip easily I expect (touch wood) but will have to look into the 'lifetime warranty' on the thing when I get home. I wonder if I could find the paperwork for buying it if I needed to. Anyway, sufficient unto the day. Wish this fing bus would get here. It's worse when I can't listen to music for fear of missing something. AFAICT (though I'm not finding the rare announcement super comprehensible) has been no announcement about it. And it's not as if I'm potentially a bit pushed for time on arrival in Calama anyway.

Half an hour ago there was a bus every ten minutes, it's gone dead as fuck since. Traffic congestion?? Fuck knows. Why tell me anything?

2309 Woo, a bus just turned up. It's the 2315 to Santiago. Could there be congestion northbound? I have no fricking idea what the scheduled time of that earlier Calama bus was.

Fuck it, I am putting headphones back on. I tend to hear announcements anyway, plus I am sat out on the small platform area and can see every bus pull in.

2319 On bus, it just got here. A chap checked my ticket as got on so at least certain is right. Seems a bit shit for cama, no overhead rack yet struggled to get my bag under seat, if not for fact have the leg rest 'covering' where the bag protrudes would probably be shittily uncomfortable. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood but super-unimpressed. Oh well, it's not *that* bad even if it really is pretty poor.

1150 Just got to hotel. I have just received an email, sent one minute ago, saying all visits to the mine are suspended until further notice. Life, eh? Still, at least I got it before trogging the two or three kilometres to the bus terminal on foot to be there for 1pm.

Hotel is OK, basic but cheap and clean, as expected, and CLP26k for two nights is not to be sneezed at.

I think I will go get food then trundle back over to bus terminal to buy a ticket to Arica; didn't want to waste time when arrived there as it was about 1115.

1239 At small restaurant round corner from hotel waiting (they said 20 mins; btw I had to negotiate to not get it with sauce or mayonnaise, wtf?) for quarter roast chicken and chips. I have booked a hotel in Tacna for Sat & Sun with free cancellation up to midnight tonight; after this I will go to bus terminal but think plenty of time and also probably best to be in better frame of mind post eating. Guide book says 9h bus from here to Arica, I had been thinking 6. But I still think it's best to do it during day Saturday and cross border same day. If I get a 9am bus would be there 6pm which is about sunset but not end of world. There are buses (cheaper) every half hour or collectivos across border, I have personal experience of latter in reverse direction and have little fear of being stranded at the border at 6pm. I might get an 8am bus if possible, that would be a bit sucky but I can obviously rest on bus and not planning a big night out here on Fri.

Not v comfortable on bus last nights, arms and especially hands and feet sort of numb, fuck knows, no doubt I have some horrific disease. Did sleep but not brilliantly. Didn't get given anything to eat or drink at all.

Anyway, will terminate this entry and start fresh one for today in Calama.

Vallenar, Wednesday

0848 I must be fucking nuts, I'm sat in the plaza (Plaza O'Higgins) waiting for the 9am chimes.

1201 Captured chimes on video (why oh why can't the camera have a sound-only recording mode like the Casio I used to have? The video is 700MB and I feel compelled to keep it, but that's a big chunk of storage when I'm not at home. I also recorded on phone with Smart Voice Recorder but figured quality would be better on camera. I might recompress the video later on, the camera inevitably can't afford the CPU time to do a decently tight encoding). Went back to hotel, decided not to go back to bed, fiddled with that video a little (xz lossless compression didn't help, not much surprise), showered, packed. Chap let me leave bag at hotel when left just now. Going to have pizza then walk over to other side of town where OSM shows a bridge, WTF, nothing else to do. Bus 2240, said I'd be back at hotel 9ish. Fruit mid-afternoon and perhaps lard out on chicken, rice and chips this evening. Eating too much but meh.

Oh, am seriously leaning towards getting an earlyish bus Calama-Arica (say 9am) then I'd probably be in Arica 3pm ish and could feasibly cross the border to Tacna without feeling too rushed or adding stress by doing it at night. I could then spend two nights in Tacna giving at least one full day and maybe most of the following day depending on bus out. That would save 'wasting' a night in Arica, the place is perfectly nice but I have been there before and this journey up through northern Chile has swallowed up quite a bit of time already and probably be better to press straight on to Tacna. Will probably mull this over and try to book something in Tacna once I am at hotel in Calama. No emails from mine tour people to tell me if am on waiting list or not, but I am going to Calama now anyway and I've done all I can and I will just turn up and hope.

1412 OK, had pizza and diet coke and then nursed a large espresso but time to get bill, have slash and go for a walk.

Bill 7250, making it 8000.

1912 At place came last night, Billboard on Prat. Having 1(.2) litre of Cristal and no food; I am not hungry having had pizza and fruit earlier, so silly to eat. Walked over to other side of valley, quite nice views and sort of cool to be seeing something a smidge obscure (from a tourist perspective). Then over past bus terminals partly to be sure I could locate TurBus tonight and to see if the old railway station had anything interesting to look at; if it did I missed it. Then wandered a bit, got fruit and water and 1.5 litre diet ginger ale and stood in street for ages eating and feeling slightly bloated and musing over stuff. Then into square for brief sit and use of free wifi for mail before coming here. In square hearing church bells play some tune didn't recognise for 7pm felt slightly sad to be leaving and probably never coming back, but while pleasant and sort of relaxing the place is a bit dull and as I always say better to be sad to be leaving that pleased.

2059 Still got bit left but paid, 2.5k, make it 3k but didn't want to say that to waitress so she will have to trog back over with change which I will leave on table.

2133 At terminal. Left bar 2115, had bag by 2125. Walk over bit dark but loads of pedestrians plus ended up following group of guys anyway so no worries. Two guys in a van asked me for advice, say I was a tourist but would help if I could but they dismissed me. Noticed earlier but again just now there is small shop near terminals called 'Quinta Estacion'. Didn't notice early an oil-painted-ish sign about 'nuestro patrimonio' or something pointing out notable buildings in town. No major details so not a huge touristic loss but still. It mentions the old train station; honestly. the building on the site looks like a small doctor's surgery, I wonder if you can go inside it but it was fair from obvious and I didn't try.

Wish I was at the main terminal not this tiny TurBus one, especially after feeling badly treated when bought ticket here, but meh. Will definitely not rush into buying with TB on arrival in Calama, even if they aren't at a shared terminal there. Touch wood etc but I have two nights there and I would hope therefore that even if I postpone buying my ticket til tomorrow night (not that I intend to, unless I am pushed for time to drop bag at hotel and go to mine tour office for 1pm) I won't be stuck for a bus to Arica on Saturday. Plus I plan to go during the day so semi-cama is super acceptable, clasico also no problemo.

Battery 33% so think wil switch to spare. Recharging both is a minor hassle but probably worth it.

2209 Unusually for me have dug headphones out and am listening at terminal. Half Man Half Biscuit's "Surging Out Of Convalescence" continues to cheer me up (not that I was feeling so down) and has to be a strong contender for personal best song ever.

Vallenar, Tuesday

1514 Had shower and done some illicit laundry. The wifi does work at least.

2109 Had Spanish lesson at 5, came out 830ish with hope of recording church bell version of Piano Man at 9 but it played something else. I may get up early tomorrow to try at 9am. Somewhat lardily I am at the place I failed to get food at this morning for chicken with rice *and* chips and a litre bottle of Cristal (which I am hoping is weaker than Escudo).

FFS in a good way. It's a 1.2 litre bottle, though it's 'only'. 4.6%.

Oh, I wanted to try the ca[sz]uela de ave but it isn't on. That is kind of how I was justifying a second 'proper' meal to myself, on grounds I was trying something new. Oh well.

2214 Not quite finished beer but getting bill, 5.5k. Got to look into cross-border buses from Calama when get back, bit of a drag, also need to check F&CO website etc. Tipping 600. Food pretty good. Also need to mark hotel & mine office on OSM in Calama. Need to be aware re buses so I can try to book one (modulo a major rush to drop bag off and go to mine office) on arrival in Calama. I emailed mine tour place this afternoon to see if I am on waiting list - think already said they never replied to my email saying I wanted to be put on - but not had any response yet.

This is a bar kind of place but it's just me and the owner/waiter/whatever here. Was one other chap in before. I suppose it is only Tuesday and perhaps it's also a bit early. Not a problem, just an observation.

2228 Forcing this beer down a bit as want to get back before too late re possible curfew plus things need to do. TV weather reminds me somewhat oddly that one of the boys I met on cruise in Valdivia said the moai in La Serena is *not* an original (contrary to my belief it was the only one not still on Easter Island) but that the sole such non-EI-resident original was somewhere in England. I suspect he is wrong, but who knows, worth researching at some point.

2243 Back, owner (presumably) chap gave me a tray with teabags and thermos of hot water and couple of biscuits, which is nice. Not going to name hotel on blog, will try to give balanced review if is on tripadvisor but do feel nature of 'private' bathroom highly deceptive and (even without the possibly-only-honest-hotel or possibly-exploitative tax issue) I do feel it's fing expensive for what it is. Maybe Vallenar is expensive, but for this I am paying only a smidge less (CLP40k vs CLP38k/night) than I paid for a fucking apartment in Santiago a block away from the Plaza de Armas. Anyway, less ranting, more getting research etc out of way.

2317 OK, it looks like there is probably no bus from Calama to Peru, so although I will see what it's like at bus stn I probably need to go to Arica. Tacna, Peru (just across border) now appears to have semi-cheap online bookable hotels, so I may spend a night or two there. F&CO not too scary wrt Peru through need to check before going on to anywhere. They do make the crossing from Peru directly into Colombia sound a bit dodgy (limited police presence, stay in groups) so although I always assumed I would go up through Ecuador anyway that suggests more so.

I am *not* intending to try to visit Macchu Pichu, unless it is an easyish daytrip from Cusco. If I ever do the Inca Trail it would make sense for MP to be new to be, and if I do the IT I feel it would be prudentish to do it on a shortish holiday (eg while I have a contract) when I could travel with appropriate gear and perhaps 'train up' a little first. Obviously will play things by ear a little but rough plan is something like couple of nights in Tasca (one night if nothing to do there, maybe), onto Cusco (I have been to Arequipa and Puno and Nazca) for a few nights, on to Lima for a few nights then push up towards Ecuador, probably stopping a couple of nights in one place to break journey up. Very roughly (calling it four nights each in Lima and Cusco and shoving in overnight buses) that is a bit over a fortnight. I would be leaving Peru approximately 24th Feb. That would give me about five weeks for Ecuador and Colombia, assuming I either fly back from Colombia to BA or do an intense bus trip across to BA and without allowing any significant time in BA (not a problem in itself, already spent 4 days this trip, but obviously I need a buffer).

Am I spreading myself a little thin? Possibly. But no harm in that, it's not as if I am going to say 'I've been to (eg) Ecuador, not going back' so if I only see a few places it is a taster. The only thing is, by stretching myself am I spending too high a proportion of my time on buses? Somewhat arbitrarily looking at Lima-Quito, that flight is £315. The road distance according to Google is 1812km or 1 day of driving, so on my 'I value my time at £100/day' approximation it is probably prudent to hop that direction by bus doing up to three overnights, as long as the places I visit on my way are at least interesting enough to justify 1-2 nights there on their own merits. If I don't get bent out of shape about getting as far as Colombia, they probably are. Were the hotel cheaper, even Vallenar has been kind of cool to see for 1-2 days/1 night; in a silly way the Piano Man church clock is one of those charmingly obscure discoveries which will be a memory to look back on. (Also Quito is north edge of Ecuador, so naturally if you were bussing it in this south-north direction you would *want* to break the journey at least once or twice so as to see more of Ecuador than just Quito anyway. Ecuador is also not that huge, not to say there isn't plenty to see but for a taster I suspect the amount of travel within the country needn't be hugely time consuming, depending on state of the roads.)

Perhaps (assuming I like Colombia/Ecuador) on a future three month trip to Latin America I might fly into Bogota, head south through Ecuador into Peru, spending most of my time on those three countries, then blat down to Santiago (frankly I wonder if the 22h-ish bus journey would be tolerably un-hellish if you went cama and allowed a night to recover in Santiago) before flying home from there. Of course I also want to do central America and Mexico again. But *as long as I enjoy (most) of the journey and don't get totally focussed on getting to Colombia ASAP* I think it's reasonable to do roughly what I am proposing.

Incidentally a flight from Bogota (though I might want to fly from elsewhere, of course) to Buenos Aires at the end of March weighs in at £360 right now if you pick the right day, though none of those are direct, they generally require a change in Lima and some in Cali as well. There are no direct ones regardless of price. I need to let my subconscious grind over the implications of this, if any. Should I fly up from Lima to Bogota then make my way by bus back south? Does that make any difference? Can't think straight right now and it doesn't alter my plans for next few days.

Looking at map you could maybe do an interesting bus trip Colombia-Brazil-Paraguay/Uruguay-Buenos Aires but it would take weeks if you stopped anywhere en route and if you don't it would be pointless, and I don't want to visit Brazil with my current language skills. You could potentially do Lima/Cusco through Bolivia and Paraguay down to BA (I kind of did the Paraguay-BA bit of that in 2010) but for the sake of £360 and the tiny tiny dissatisfactoriness of not completing the circuit entirely overland I don't think it's worth it. I am sure there's good stuff I haven't yet seen in Bolivia and Paraguay, my travels in both have been limited (especially in Paraguay) but at the same time I'd much rather have a taster of Ecuador and Colombia than do that.

Do need to avoid booking the X-BA flight too late on but I certainly don't need to decide now. I think the main thing is that I don't do too many one or two night stopovers just to allow myself to cover distance; I need to be aiming at three or four in most cases. I will perhaps sketch out a more detailed itinerary based on actually reading guide book in a day or two. But for tonight the lesson has to be that I probably can't get a bus to Peru from Calama so I probably want to go to Arica (during the day; it's about 6h) and either go early enough to be able to cross to Tacna same day or stay one night in Arica, but if I can get a bus somehow I now also know Tacna/Arequipa (worth it if it was direct)/Cuzco would be worth it, Lima would probably cause me to 'skip' Cuzco and that would be a shame.

It's now 2353...

Oh, and frankly I'm probably not up for the Galapagos Islands this time round. Not entirely sure, will see when read guide book, but suspect they are expensive and not entirely my bag and might be better on a future trip. But let's not make any commitments now, wait til read guide books, I vaguely hope to have a dull night in one or both nights in Calama to sketch out an itinerary.

Anyway, let's move towards bed and go clean teeth etc.

Santiago-Vallenar

2249 At bus terminal. Slight doubt over exact location of platform but an hour to go yet so no super worried. Withdrew cash and picked bag up. Tried to send previous blog entry on wifi at Universidad de Santiago metro but all of a sudden it requires web authentication with RUT (Chilean NI number) and won't take my passport no (despite the web page saying 'this is for everyone' not 'this is for every Chilean'). No big deal.

Three I think a bit drunk guys at next table spoke to me not long before left that bar. I was a bit nervous (the need to get bus rather than just being out for night in need of no more than cab home and cab fare in pocket with all time in world didn't help) plus of course the short introductory kind of questions are super-colloquial and to a naturally uninformed third party suggest I speak far less Spanish than I do. Not at all hostile but bit awkward and annoying. Big presence of (silent) fire engines as I walked down to Republica and felt smidge jittery on streets based on what guide book says about Barrio Brasil but got metro no problems.

Battery 31%, think I am gonna switch and then if other one is weak I at least know I need to conserve power. I definitely need to make a point of having a beer at bars more often, just for the potential social contact, don't have to stay out late or get pissed. Anyway, bouncing phone.

2258 Tis OK, other battery at 97%. Just need to remember to recharge it in Vallenar (though it's heartening just how rarely I need to switch to spare battery, today has been exceptional with so much lurking reading on phone with this super late bus, and even today I might well have managed without switching).

2308 I was on Pullman Bus side (semi knowingly) and they shut the gate between this and 'main stn' side, had to go round via street, no big deal but good job not rushing. My bus not showing on TurBus monitors despite showing many later buses, I checked with a woman at one desk and she said it goes from here. Do wonder why not on monitors but meh. Could do w piss but not busting, will go on bus rather than pay, also give me chance to put hidden belt away after got it out to wd cash at UdeS metro and also extract ticket for left luggage.

2318 Incidentally noticed this morning lots of companies offering buses to Lima, Peru. Vaguely tempted to enquire if they stopped in Calama, but didn't. Dunno if Lima is nearest place in Peru or where I want to go, so didn't want to rush into it (and a lot of them said 'direct' so may not stop anywhere). If I can't get a ticket in Calama because it's just not a route or I am not booking sufficiently in advance I will just go on to Arica or somewhere like than and cross border from there. Something to look into maybe tomorrow and worry about when I get to Calama. I do intend to buy a ticket on to Calama tomorrow morning when I am at bus terminal in Vallenar.

I forgot to fiddle around and mark the hotel in Vallenar on OSM or Google Maps but it will be OK, I am arriving in broad daylight, OSM is semi-searchable offline and I am in no huge rush, I also think hotel is fairly near terminal and push comes to shove can get a taxi.

2323 Moved a bit nearer platform 4 where my bus is supposed to go from. Bag a smidge heavy, in part due to excess carrying of liquids; I had about 2l left in flat, but I generally have a 1.6l bottle. Maybe I should make a point of discarding surplus and only bringing 500ml with me. OTOH, in reality the amount of lugging it round I've done has been small enough the extra weight has not been a huge factor, just annoying, so perhaps silly to waste it and also compromise on the comfort of knowing I can hydrate myself silly on bus if I wish. (Though as a practical matter even when I wake up feeling shit with mouth like bottom of birdcage I virtually never take even the smallest swig from my water supply, not to preserve it but because dredging it out seems such a huge effort...)

Am also thinking I need to look into putting the various 'loose items' in my bag into some kind of container. There are not that many but enough that it makes packing (when I need to empty it to strap clothing bundle in) just a smidge more effort in reality and a disproportionately larger amount in my mind.

2330 I see there is a bus to Temuco showing departure time of 2240. Nice. I don't mind if mine is as late, except that I am going to be worrying I have missed the damn thing, which is a non-trivial concern. I am pretty sure I am in the right place but still.

2344 On bus, as per seating plan have solo seat right at front of bus. Curtains drawn so no view alas. Must set alarm as Vallenar is not final destination, though think staff may alert me when we get there, don't want to rely on it.

2358 Not left yet. Not busting but piss be nice, waiting til we pull out to go. We are just leaving now so... (Paranoia about someone grabbing my bag and jumping off bus.)

0824 Slept but not great. At Vallenar terminal. It's misty and a bit damp and cold. Yay.

0832 Fuck me. TurBus naturally have their own terminal and being here I thought I'd ask about Calama bus before wandering across road to PullmanBus terminal saw as came in. Some unpleasant barking woman served me - there was no queue. She seemed hugely unresponsive to my questions, the display showing service class was unreadable with shitty abbreviations. Because she mentioned one CondorBus service and partly because the one salon cama service she deigned to offer me had one seat free (part of a pair, sigh, though at least it was aisle) I thought I ought to buy it. 35.9k. It also arrives about 11am IIRC (TurBus don't seem to like to print this on their tickets, you just have to remember what they said when you bought it) which is a smidge tight with dropping bag off at hotel if permitted and getting to the mine office to see if I got a standby place (they never replied to my e-mail accepting their offer to go on standby list). Fucking hell, I am developing a real loathing for TurBus. To be fair, maybe they are no more expensive than the alternatives, but I'll never know now. I nearly pretended I needed to go get some cash as a way to back out of ticket purchase but as there was only that one seat (in cama on that service; for all I could get out of barking woman there might have been a trillion seats free on other cama services, and definitely no shortage in semi cama) I said 'oh no, it's OK' and paid. As she sullenly got change I wondered about the arrival time and asked if there was an earlier bus but she waved the ticket at me so I said it was OK. Still, you don't expect good service just because you pay top price for it.

0904 Loitering in plaza to read guide book - I either need to fart or shit and daren't risk trying the former and wasn't going to pay to go at bus terminal. The church bells appear to play Billy Joel's "Piano Man" before the chimes...

Oh, there was at least a slightly scraggly but friendly grey kitten at the TurBus terminal.

1024 OK, found hotel, left bag, used bog, come back out. Spotted couple of potential food places though no source of fruit/veg yet. Went into plaza to record church bells, this time played Roll Out The Barrel. Walked up some stairs to street on hills on one side of valley, not bad view, can see the road bridge which I think guide book mentions as bypassing the town so most tourists driving themselves don't stop here.

Place is a bit dull but it's OK, it was deliberately chosen as the cheapest spot I could find to break journey to Calama. Will try to have a Spanish lesson tonight if wifi works.

Was at Apartments CL, Monjias 744 in Santiago. Lots of different companies seem to do apartments in same residential block, but FWIW that was the company I went with. Their web presence seems limited to being on expedia.

1124 At Il Boccato for lunch, went into some cheap bar type place which took my order for steak and chips then a chap came over and said something about kitchen, evidently not possible. Having pizza española here, after checking it doesn't have mayonnaise on. BECAUSE SOME OF THEIR FUCKING PIZZAS LIST MAYONNAISE AS AN INGREDIENT. I THOUGHT I WAS SAFE FROM THE FUCKING STUFF WHEN EATING PIZZA. (This makes me wonder about the white saucey stuff I have occasionally found on some slightly less than delectable pizzas. But I think that was something else, I did look it up and found a name though it has slipped my mind.)

1159 It's Billy Joel day. We just had a snatch of "Don't Ask Me Why?" on the radio in here. Pizza (ham and chorizo) fairly good, portion reasonable if not leaving me absolutely stuffed. Bought a single green pepper and bottle of water at shop earlier, that's the best I've been able to do on fruit and veg so far. Lingering a little over my diet coke as I still have at least an hour before I want to present myself at hotel (checkin is 2). It is warm and sunny now and has been since at least my visit to hotel, the mist obviously went fairly quickly after dawn.

1229 Nursed that coke, going to get a large espresso and sit it out here, it's pleasantly 80sish with the radio and it's not as if there's anything else to do. Will probably loiter in room once get it if wifi works, after all I will be forced to wander the town after checkout tomorrow so no point overdoing it today, may go out for more food later. I really could do with some fruit/veg, maybe will find somewhere on way back to hotel.

1315 Coffee OK, not that I'm any connosieur, I can't even spell the word reliably. Getting bill then will use bog and see if I can find fruit before going to hotel, if I don't get it sorted out now I will have to come out again 'early' (before shops shut) instead of when I feel like it (which may be never, we'll see) or let it slide.

Bill 7400, not too unreasonable, breaking a 10k and will make it 8100. Battery at 34% but have been reading heavily.

1413 What a fucking crock of shit. It's USD53+19% tax. Admittedly technically it always says this on booking.com but I think this is the first time anyone has charged me the 19% extra. And I have a private bathroom *which I have to go out into the corridor to get to*. Because obviously my main desire for a private bathroom is my fear of cross-contamination from another person's germs, not the convenience of not having to get partially dressed after I have a shower or when I want to go to the bog at 3am. Fuck a doodle do. I did 'argue' about the price but he said it was the tax and I couldn't argue then, despite it being a misleading situation. I tried to keep things as polite as I could - no point being rude and I hope to leave my bag here tomorrow - but I can't deny I was feeling extremely ripped off (it is already fucking pricey and then there's the bathroom shit) and it probably showed on my face/body language.

Santiago, Monday

1258 In queue at 'Custodia' at bus terminal. This is OK but where bought ticket yday still heaving. Quite busy with a general doddering quality, maybe more noticeable cos I am less mobile with bag.

Naturally got up about 1130 after drowsing (tho quite pleasantly) in bed, no problems. They came with the towel cart dead on midday (checkout time) but said just to leave key on kitchen counter, fortunately this allowed me those critical few extra minutes to take a dump...

Got metro over here, thought was surprisingly busy but may be my reduced mobility again.

The luggage store has prices for things like vehicle engines and washing machines (both 4500 a day), unless I am completely misreading the sign.

Not sure what to do today, will probabily somewhat stupidly go to Jerry's for a cheap if not super luxurious bife a lo pobre after this and then look at guide book.

1315 Done, 2000. Some stuff said to me just didn't understand, should have though to turn voice recorder app on beforehand. Still, sorted.

1325 Yeah, at Jerry's, waiting for food.

1400 Looking at guide book, a lot of museums etc are closed on Mondays. So I think I might go over to Cementarios on the metro and have a wander round the cemetery, then time permitting try La Moneda (not sure if have been in there before or not).

1655 OK, just tried to get into La Moneda but I asked one of the guards and it is only open to public Sat & Sun, contrary to what guide book says, tho I am pretty sure it was La Moneda I was at and not the wrong building. I went to the cemetery earlier (almost inevitably had Cemetery Gates by The Smiths stuck in my head the whole time), was surprised to find it had (quiet) roads through it, found the monument to victims of the military dictatorship.

1847 At Restobar Litro's just off (I can see it) Plaza Brasil. Not sure about getting waiter's attention but going to have a beer.

Went to Iglesia San Francisco and (Escudo is cheapest at 2k a litre, I asked, so let's have that) then wandered round small barrio Paris-Londres behind it, saw the plaque at Londres 38 (on floor) but associated 'museum' closed, perhaps no bad thing as today has already been just a smidge on the interesting but morbid side.

Was going to go in some museum next to ISF but it was 1k to go in and it was shutting in half hour so decided not to.

2053 Nearly finished this litre. Tempted to a second. Drinking a bit for sake of it - since I have time to kill - and also bit worried about getting bag etc, but I have three hours till bus goes and I don't have to finish the second litre. I really don't want to spend two or more hours at the terminal by leaving now. Am running phone battery down reading but do have spare, assuming it is still charged - I really should have made a point of switching at some point just to build confidence and give both batteries a periodic top up but to late for that now. (Also once on bus I have my Nook, plus in reality I will probably just put music on phone and not read anything, and playing music is v power efficient.)

2102 Got second litre. Irrationally I immediately start to feel drunk. The damn stuff is 5.5% but even so, two litres (and I've only had one so far) over several hours is hardly a bender of insane proportions. I think this is psychological.

2130 Woo. La Camisa Negra. I am sat outside but music clearly audible out here. Getting bill, not leaving yet but leaves departure open and no way am I having another bottle (still loads of this left).

Bill 4.4k, I think the 400 is 10% tip, that's OK. Will pay it exactly therefore.