A thin wallet in Chile

Howdy guys. I just got into San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile, coming from Bolivia (having also been in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador), and wow is it expensive. A bus to Salta in Argentina is GBP 23, to Santiago is GBP 35-45. Eating and sleeping and really pricey too - can easily spend GBP 5 on lunch, and the cheapest dorm I´ve found so far is GBP 6. My question is - is the rest of northern/middle Chile like this? I was thinking of heading down to see Valparaiso before crossing to Argentina but if these prices continue throughout Chile, I´ll have to cross to Salta now.

Thanks for any advice....

It is, although San Pedro may be slightly worse than other places because it is so much more touristy. But in general, Chile is expensive and it gets worse as you move south.

It's true. Chile is expensiver than Peru or Bolivia for example, but I guess San Pedro de Atacama is one of the most expensives cities you can visit here. That is because of the many European and Northamerican tourists that stay there.
If you go to Valparaiso (don't miss that city!) you'll see that is cheaper than San Pedro de Atacama. Actually you can eat a whole meal for only 5 dollars or less and there are several hostals with reasonable prizes you can stay .

Also you can take a bus and visit Santiago (2 hours from Valparaiso) and Casablanca Valley with their vineyards located only 40 minutes away from Valpo.

Good luck and enjoy

[ Edit: Edited on 05-Apr-2009, at 13:44 by turismonm ]