Night ride to Iquique

Myself, Chris, Leila and Christina caught a night bus last night, from San Pedro de Atacama to Iquique, which is a coastal "beach resort" city, further north and on the coast. It was two buses, actually; since we changed after one hour, at the mining town of Calama. Buses in Chile certainly are nice, compared with Bolivia: nice, comfy semi-cama (i.e. semi-bed) seats; movies (with headphones!); air-conditioning; and smooth roads all the way. In some ways — although definitely not in all ways — it's good to be back in civilisation.

I was fortunate enough to sleep virtually the whole way, on the ride of 6 hours or so from Calama to Iquique. Sadly, we got to Iquique at the crappy hour of 6am, where we got ripped off on a taxi that took us 5 blocks (for USD$4! Outrageous!). But luckily, we managed to find a hostel to crash in; and crash we did, until about 10am.