"What happened to your face?"

Sara's phone is held out in the air, dance music pumping from it and four of us are running dangerously fast down the steep winding steps of a huge cerro north of Valpo, laughing as we try not to trip over each other. We were loud and excitable due to the two cases of beer and bottle of rum we'd just finished, and the awesome music which had resulted.

It had been a lovely day on the beach with frisbee and ice creams, followed by an asado at Sara's sisters place, where we made our own live music - we were a four-piece band, with two harmonicas, beatboxing and a guitarrana. And sounded pretty good in our opinions.

Now we were on our way into town to meet Cami's sister and her friends. The club had rough stone walls and was set two floors underground, with a long wide staircase at the entrance. It wasn't huge, but big enough. It had a bar, some sofas and two dancefloors - one dancey and one rocky.

O'car and Cami started dancing. And that was it. They then wouldn't stop for four hours straight. Sara and I kept up as long as we could, but it was clear they were unmatchable. I don't think either of them drank a single drop of fluids, while Sara and I were replacing ours with beer rapidly and it was clear my dancing abilities had passed their peak (a polite way of saying I think I may have fallen over).

It was hilarious though, and we all rocked out and went crazy.

At one point Sara and I were sat on the sofas by the bar, at the bottom of the entrance stairs. Somehow we'd both forgotten we were underground, and one of us noticing the stairs said:

"What's up the stairs?"

"Must be another dancefloor!"

"Let's go!"

"Better take a beer!"

And a minute later we were running up the stairs, beers in hand, only to spill out onto the street mayhem of a Saturday night in Valpo. We collapsed laughing at our own stupidity and marvelled at how we could both be so disoriented.

When the lights came up O'car and Cami finally stopped dancing and it was clear O'car had put his heart and soul into it - he was soaked through, head-to-toe. It was amazing. I have never seen anything like it without the use of recreational drugs.

Cami's sisters friends had left earlier and we were all to stay in her boyfriends apartment, back north. O'car managed to skillfully secure us a taxi ahead of the hordes of revellers and we were flying across town in no time.

I once again tried to explain my gratitude and warmth for the amazing time my friends had shown me since we met. I did do a bit better, but in the end resorted to drunkenly admitting I loved each and every one of their faces.

It all got a bit soppy, but our love-in was cut short by the violent rocking of the taxi as the driver swerved around another taxi - both had gone flat out through a crossroads without looking. We all screamed.

The driver, thinking our value of life funny sped up and up, until he was finding the limits of traction round bends and we were being thrown around like ragdolls in the back. It was one of those times when you know there is no reasoning with someone. We had to accept our fate.

We did survive and at the apartment Cami instructed us we had to pass the night porter sober-looking and as if we owned the place. So O'car drenched through with sweat, me with a mysteriously black-stained leg, Sara and Cami trying not to laugh, and us all still hearts racing from the taxi-ride-from-hell sauntered through the foyer like royalty