My friends from Poland write me that there is minus 20 deg Celsius. It is hard to believe but I had today plus 32 deg in Santiago de Chile. My laundry was dry after just a few hours!!
Well… I want to escape from the heat to the mountains…
Chili is more then 4000 kms long north to south. Distances are huge…
Let you know that domestic flights are very expensive. LAN looks like to be a monopolist. For the flight from the capital to Calama they want 360 USD. I decided to go there by bus – it will be 23-hours ride for some 100 USD.
There is a choice of bus companies. Tour-bus and Pullman Bus have the best reputation. On the long distances they offer standard service but also sleeping versions:
semi-cama is like comfortable airplane chair /37000 pesos/
cama – with more space and your legs are on the chair /54000/
cama premium is like a chairr converrted for the night into couchette /64000p/
I bought the cama -class ticket for tomorrow. – even farther then Calama, because Tour-bus (as the only carrier) has direct service via Calama to San Pedro de Atacama. I hope to send you my next message from the Andes. Lets take a shower now! It makes me a bit cooler…
