Peru is gone and we are moving on

Our time in Moquigua was just what the doctor ordered. It was almost as good as being in a private hospital. Claudio and his Mum did everything they could to help me recover. He helped to collect the prescription, arranged for a sun lounger to be placed on the veranda so I could laze in the sun and had a nice comfortable chair put in the room. His Mum made the world's best Pisco Sour which definitley aided my recovery.

She also helped to arrange for food to be delivered to the hotel for us and seemed to actually monitor what we were eating expressing concern if we missed a meal. On Monday the 16th I felt able to try and get on and off the shed in anticipation of leaving the following day. Very gingerly and awkwardly I managed to do this and then proceeded to pack the panniers ready for leaving.

An early start saw us arriving at the Chilean border by 11.00hrs. It was a nice, orderly and helpful crossing with both officials and other travellers assisting and advising us. Once in Chile we travelled though some very straight and well paved roads to Arica where we got some local currency and then paid 3,000 pesos for a chicken sandwich at the bus station. It was dam good. The bread had body and wasn't sweet and the chicken was just that - chicken - no sloppy stuff. Delicious. Another few hours found us in Iquique, a much, much bigger city than we expected. It was late, it was busy and we ended up staying at the first easy to get to hotel. Too expensive really but needs must. Here we discovered that the plug points had become roundand three pinned and we had to get a taxi into town to buy adaptors. This proved to be a good experience. We found a great Tapas bar and ate and drank to our hearts delight.

On the way out the next day we ran in to Sebastian and Diego, two guys from Argentina who had stayed at the Hotel Colonial, Maquegua.

We explained that we were riding to Tocopilla, as were they but they had heard that it wasn't a very nice place. How truethis proved to be. We rode together along a lovely coastal road

with high mountains to the other side of us and eventually arrived at this dusty and dirty harbour town where we said our farewells promising to get in touch when we got to Buenos Aries. We then tried to find a hotel. Because my knee and leg were still quite painful and weak Brian left me with the shed whilst he walked round town trying to find somewhere almost nice to stay. Not a hope so we agreed to ride on to the next town, Antafagasta. This part of the journey was more desert and the wind started to become very, very strong and blustery. Brian was having to watch the road ahead and behind for lorries and buses approaching because the cross winds from them were strong enough to blow us right across the road. Antofagasta was yet another big city and the first three hotels we tried were full. Again we ended up in a rather expensive hotel swearing that this would be the last time. We found a nice restaurant a bit further down the road and after a really nice meal we fell into bed. I still couldn't walk very far and sitting on the shed for long periods was making my leg quite stiff and painful once I got off. The strapping helps to support it but causes the skin to become sore so I'm pretty much wrecked by the time we stop.

The following day, after realising that we were 2 hours behind time due to the time zone change, we were off riding through the hot, very hot, desert again. However, at least on this occasion we had something interesting to look at – the 'hand in the sand' sculpture.

It's a very bizarre lump of rock, very large and just out there. Fortunately we didn't need to ride over any soft sand to get to it. Talking of which we did see a road sign for Taltal which would take us off the big, main ruta 5. Brian studied the map and informed me, jokingly, that this was a much more direct route. I'm sure you will all have a good idea of what I said to that and we continued safely on our way. He's such a comedian!

Taltal was lovely. A bit of a sleepy town with few hotels but a beautiful Plaza. The hotel was basic but right on the sea front with a fabulous view of the bay.

The following day was just a short run to Bahia Inglesa, a place that Sebastion and Diego had recommended. We thought that we had missed it at one point but then we came across the road sign and made our way down to a quiet beach town where we got booked in to a cabanas. A taxi ride into the next big town found us shopping in a supermarket and buying way too much food. I couldn't help it. The thought of being able to cook what we wanted and how we wanted it just prevented any rational thought. We spent a couple of nights there, really relaxing because we were in 'our' place. Lovely.

The next part of our journey was to Vino del Mar making it easy to get to Santiago ready to meet Brian's best friend, Richard, off his plane. Thankfully we started to leave the desert behind us and the scenery became a little greener. Brian took this opportunity to 'open up' the shed only to be 'opening up' to a policeman a little farther down the road. He'd been zapped by a speed gun. However, the cop was really nice and understanding. He accepted Brian's apology, explained the speed limit and sent us on our way. The road then became a dual carriage way so Brian could legally ride at 120kph and we made very good time finding our way to the Plaza in the centre of the city. It's a busy place, lots of shops and restaurants.

I've found a hairdresser and had my hair done specially to meet Richard. My leg still isn't 'fixed' enough to be able to Salsa with him but I think he will probably be relieved about that. More drinking time available if there's no dancing. We managed to speak to Colin, Brian's Dad, today to wish him a happy birthday (Skype's great) and now I'm sat watching the Plaza, all the people coming and going in the beautiful sunshine, people sat on the benches chatting and snacking and generally I'm having the time of my life.