Ovalle 1

'44 people alive and well. On highway.' Said the Tweet paralleling that of the miners last year. There followed numerous calls from concerned Chileans concerning our welfare.

Be assured that all is well.

Yesterday was quite surreal for a number of reasons.

Perhaps the arrival of a different (smaller) bus, and the subsequent necessity of sharing seats due to lack of compartmental spaces under the bus, was a hint that the day would be a little more chaotic than a rest/travel day was intended to be.

A 2 hour drive through the vineyards of Chile was a beautiful context to the start of our time at Vina Del Mar.

Vina is set on the Pacific Coast, and is renowned for its specacular beachside premium hotel and celebrity spotting.

Surreal moment 1 - playing Uno on the beach with 10 other players!

We arrived back at the bus at 430, only to discover that our original, bigger, bus was on its way from Santiago.

We were 12 people missing.

At 550 the 12 people arrived, their absence due in part to the scorching temperatures and in part due to the news of a coastal evacuation in Concepcion (1hr from Coronel).

Surreal moment 2. Being on the coast and hearing of a Tsunami warning.

At 556 the second bus arrived.

Surreal moment 3. Unpacking a crammed bus in the middle of a car park!

Thus we set off on the 5 hour journey to Ovalle.

Surreal moment 4. Letting a wayside tradesperson onboard the bus to sell us traditional Chilean confectionary - think 2 biscuits squished with caramel and enveloped in clouds of meringue.

And so the journey continued. Very quickly the mountains rose on either side, and what once had been vineyards suddenly became sprouts of cacti and swathes of sand. As the sunset over the Pacific, the landscape turned an incredible mix of orange and purple.

Finally the burning sky gave way to a heavenly panoply of stars.

Surreal moment 5. Still no news from earthquake hit Concepcion - the phonelines were down and there was no news from family and friends of those on the trip.

The clock in the bus clicked over to 2210. (We should have arrived in Ovalle).

The bus stopped in the middle of the wilderness. The drivers got out. With a tool kit and a torch.

The tweet was sent.

A tube had broken and the bus overheated. We were 2 hours from Ovalle.

Surreal moment (lost count). Standing in the middle of a cactus filled landscape watching the stars and talking about how many English football players I know (my six-degree of separation to the world cup well and truly discharged as a credible source!)

Eventually, with a fixed bus and 44 tired tour members, we arrived in subdued fashion into Ovalle at 1am.

We have a packed itinerary today, and the temperature is now soaring. We leave on our 12hour journey to Antofagasta tomorrow night.

Viva Ovalle!

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