Chile, 2001

In March 2001, I went to Chile to join two very good friends of mine, David and Romi, for three weeks backpacking and adventuring in the Norte Grande - a desert region in the North. A major objective was to complete a 700km off-road drive around the Altiplano, an enormous plain 3,000m to 4,500m (10,000 to 15,000 feet) up in the Andes, having made the 1,800km journey up from Santiago. All I can say is, what an adventure!

Here it is in the form of a series of emails home, subsequently illustrated with photos from the trip.

13th March - arrival in Santiago 15th March - La Serena and Igor the architect 20th March - earthquakes, electric showers and a car from hell 31st March - 18 hours on a bus, stolen glasses and the adventure begins 11th April - petrol-flavoured muesli and the fork-lift rescue 24th April - minefields, getting stuck, Chilean police singing Beatles songs