Yes, yes, little Paul, big Joanne, very funny. It's obligatory to attempt some sort of hilarious photgraph at the salt flats in Uyuni and this is our meagre contribution. 

The latest addition to the Bolivian Railways locomotive fleet, due in service late 2006. Actually, this is the train cemetary in Uyuni where, plugging into the whole 'Paul and Joanne like trains' vibe, the guides for the Salar de Uyuni tour took us at the end of the day.  

Bolivian chap loading salt onto a truck in the Salar de Uyuni salt flats. 

The carriage that took us from Calama to Uyuni. It's not connected to the rest of the train because some chaps in hard hats are shunting around out of shot on the left while we clear Chilean immigration. Apparently the bus journey along this route was much worse... 

The view from the train we took between Calama, Chile and Uyuni, Boliva. The journey itself took about 23 hours, including a six hour spell in a Bolivian rail yard, but was worth it for the views around sunrise as we trundled through the altiplano. As you can see, we were shackled to the end of a long goods train. 

Sometimes wen you're driving around Chile extraordinary things happen. For example, a volcano erupts in your line of sight. This one went off as were driving back form the geysers pictured below. Apparently it hasn't blown for six years so our guide was understandably delighted. Frankly, so were we. 

Llama, Atacama, Chile, showing the correct amount of disdain towards gawking European tourists. 

Geysers at Taito outisde San Pedro de Atacama. They got us up at 4am to go and see this. It was just about worth it. 

JP on a bike again, this time on her way to the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon, i.e. it looks like the surface of the moon) near San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. This bit of the journey is pretty flat but later it got a bit trickier, a bit sunnier and a bit hotter. And lots of big lorries kept going past kicking up dirt. 

Sunset, flamingos, salt flats, volcanoes, etc. Salar de Atacama, Chile. 

No swans, so their understudies, the flamingos, filled in at the Salar de Atacama salt flats in Chile. This lot flew through the sunset in a rather co-operative fashion. 

Salar de Atacama salt flats, outside San Pedro de Atacama. Most of the scnery in this vicinity looks like this. By local standards the sky's particularly cloudy in this picture. 

A train in Temuco station, Chile. One like this took us from Temuco to Santiago. I might have mentioned that I like trains.  

Villarica, the volcano we almost climbed (see below). The white stuff coming off the top is partly smoke from hot magma and partly snow being blown off the side at high speed.  

This is Villarica, the volcano above Pucon, on our second attempt to climb it (the first having ended before it began with rain at 4am). Despite the cheery smile from JP we're on our way back down having not reached the summit again, this time due to high winds. We got about three quarters of the way up, where it was blowing a hearty gale, and the guides said it would get much worse further up. The tour company did take us all out for free breakfast, though.  

Whilst in Pucon, and while it wasn't raning, we hired some bikes and went off round the locality in search of excitement and lakes. This action shot shows Dr Pomfret ready to tackle a bridge for those 2.40m high and under. A close shave. 

Moody little wrecked ship in one of the channels along the route of the Navimag. 

This is the Navimag, a ferry/container ship that plies its way between Puerto Natales and Puerto Montt in Chile. We spent four days living on this curious amalgam of the cruise ship and the livestock transporter. What you can see behind JP are lorry-loads of sheep, horses and cows who joined us for the trip, albeit outside and with slightly less room. All 'cattle-class' type puns have been deleted form this entry for taste reasons.  

Sometimes when a bus stops en route between some small town in Argentina (El Chalten) and another (El Calafate) something photogenic happens. 

Dr Pomfret enjoying the bracing air near El Chalten, Argentina. We spent three days in this charming spot, each of them with more distressing weather than the last. The walk on which JP is pictured was supposed to take us to Mount Fitz Roy, the glorious peak towering over this small town and a Mecca for trekkers in Patagonia. What we saw was some mist, a bit of rain and some horizontal snow (pictured). Some people we met had arrived the day before us and talked this route in glorious sunshine, then showed us the pictures to prove it. Pah. 

The Perito Moreno glacier, Argentina. This is reached either by hiring a car in El Calafate and driving there, thus allowing you to dictate the pace of your day, visit other areas around the glacier, see it form different perspectives, etc. Or, if some verminous Venezuelan vagabond has nicked your driving licences, you can get the tour, pay through the nose and be left at one lookout spot for three hours. Now we have about forty five photos of this view.
 

Debbie, me, Joanne, Sean at the end of our four day trek around Torres del Paine. Those big rock things on the right are the Torres. Worth the effort, I'd say. 

Sunrise at the Chileno camp on the morning of the fourth day at Torres del Paine. 

Debbie, Sean, me, JP, Niall and Sean at the mirador on the second day in Torres del Paine. Niall's got the Irish tricolour in his hands, thankfully not unfurled for this photo. 

Torre del Paine, taken on the second day of our trek. I don't think the rich autumnal colours of the trees has really ocme out as impressively as it did in the life.