0176 Uspallarta Argentina to Santiago Chile

17th Dec

The morning was bright and sunny for our last pack up in Argentina, and after getting everything organized we set off west towards the Chilean border, and our destination, Santiago.

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, and a seventh wow.  Yup, that is the first 7 wow day I have had on this trip, and it deserves every one of them.  We had been told by other Overlanders that this mountain pass was good, but no one had told us it was going to be THIS good. 

0175 UPDATED Mendoza back to Uspallarta

16^th Dec

During the night, at 2.15 am to be precise, I was awoken by the loudest noise  on the roof above me – Hail and heavy, heavy rain !!  Now I know what it must feel like to live in a house with a corrugated iron roof !  This was rain like we have not seen during the rest of the trip, and my first thoughts were to check what was going on outside with our chairs and stuff.  Fortunately the back of the car awning was under a very robust and water tight thatched roof, so most things weren’t getting too wet, but I did have to quickly lower one corner of the awning so water would not pool in it and collapse it.  Once I had done all I could, it was back to bed, keep an eye on the roof for leaks, and keep my fingers crossed !

0174 - Uspallarta to Mendoza

15^th Dec

Only a short distance to cover today, so we were not in a hurry to leave.  After a few light showers during the night, it was a clear blue sky this morning, with the sun filtering through the many poplar trees in the camp site.  A very pleasant place to start the day !

The shower facilities looked basic, but the shower itself was excellent with lots of piping hot water.  Only problem was there was no shower rose in my shower to the water hit me pretty hard !  But it worked !

We then drove slowly into town, went to the supermarket and veggie stall to try to get just a few basics for the next few days, but they weren’t very good so we left it.  Even tried to have a coffee in a wifi café – But no wifi, so gave up on that too and headed out of town !!

 

 

 

 

0173 Nr Calingasta to Uspallata

14^th Dec 

Uspallarta - Where Brad Pitt filmed 7 Years in Tibet, apparently !!  But first we had to get here.  We woke up with the wind already starting to flap the pop top and fly sheet around, but it was pleasant enough in the sun – Except for some tiny flies they have out here in these plains – Tiny little ones that don’t seem to bit, but they get everywhere and are very annoying.  You either stand in the wind and get blown away, but no flies, or you stand in a sheltered area and get the flies !!  They were so annoying that we ended up eating breakfast inside the van !
 

0172 Talampaya NP to Nr Calingasta

13^th Dec

Remember the cry from Toad of Toad Hall in Wind in the Willows, when he tries to explain the joy of driving in his car on the open road ?  “Oh Joy, Oh Bliss – Oh……..Poop Poop” !   Today was to be one of those days !  A veritable Mr. Toad day.    We were already on a long detour due to roadworks, and today we were searching for a road that we had been told was fantastic – But did not even exist on our map !!  We were going in search of the invisible road, because it was supposed to be fantastic – If we could just find it !!  What an Adventure !   Poop poop. 

0171 Salicas to Talampaya NP

12^th Dec 

Our overnight site was interesting – It seems to be part of an educational system for local children, set up by the owners off their own initiative because they are dissatisfied with what is available within the system.  We will not pretend to even understand the half of it because he was so enthusiastic that he spoke in very rapid Spanish that meant we understood very few of the details, although we certainly understood the gist of it along with his enthusiasm !!  But surrounded by geese and dogs and other farmyard animals, and with the LOUDEST cicadas (or cigarras as I think they are called here), we eventually slept !

0170 Cafayate to Salicas

10^th Dec

We had had an excellent 2 days in Cafayate, a great little town.  If we were not rushing to Santiago could have easily spent a couple more days here.  We packed up and got ready to leave, but I then got hung up on the internet.  For some reason, every time I log on to various email or internet programmes I get emails from both Google and Microsoft telling me there has been a suspicion log on to my account in XYZ city in Peru / Ecuador / Chile / Argentina etc and my account has been frozen and I need to go in and confirm the activity is mine.  This has become an absolute PITA because usually I cannot log on because my account is frozen, and it becomes a game of passwords and access codes !  You would think that by now, after 8 months, these supposedly smart people / computer systems would have put 2 and 2 together and realised that I am actually travelling through all these countries !  Of course there is no email address you can contact these stupid people on directly – I have tried leaving messages all to no avail.  I would SO love to meet someone from Google and / or Miscrosoft so I could bend their ear a little – It is SO annoying when you are travelling to keep having your accounts suspended for absolutely no reason.

0169 Purmamarca to Cafayate

 9^th Dec

Well, today was a VERY different day to yesterday – Certainly no moon walking today, but surprisingly, by the end of the day, we unexpectedly found a pretty acceptable alternative !  Started off slowly, packing up in our little hosteria Bebe Vilte in sleepy Purmamaca, and then went for a wander into town to again try to find a source for come money, and also some Argentine stickers for the car which we had spied yesterday.  The little 17^th century church was open, and was very simple inside, but lovely.  Outside in the yard there is an old pepper tree that is supposedly over 700 years old – If only that tree could talk and tell us some of the things it has seen over the years !  Couldn’t find any money in the village (a lot of the ATM’s over here are not linked to Visa etc) and we didn’t feel that the man who had changed some dollars yesterday had given us a very good rate so we decided instead to press on into the bigger city of Salta and try there.  Purmamarca is a slow and sleepy little town, and one would soon have explored it all – But I guess that is one of the advantages of being in our own car – If you don't like a place, you can move on – You are not forced to wait until the next day for the coach to leave. And if you do like somewhere, you can stay as long as you want !

0168 San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, to Purmamarca Argentina

 8^th Dec

Today we have driven on the moon, and got back in time to have a delicious Chilean Carmenere red wine and a steak cooked to perfection for supper.   We have seen flamingos at almost 5000 metres, and have seen so many yamas and vicunas that we don’t really notice them any more. We have walked on salt flats that stretch to the horizon, driven up and down gorges with more switch back roads than I ever knew existed before, and have seen sights that I never

realised could be so spectacular, over the brow of every hill or mountain we held our breath knowing we were going to see something spectacular.  We have met lovely people, and the border crossing into Argentina was probably the best yet, despite a few laughs.   And at one point on the road, I was in tears because the whole thing was just so overpowering.  Yes, today was a 6 WOW day – I think the first one for a long time.  And at the end of it we dropped down an amazing pass into the most delightful little rural village, Pumamarca, and after asking around we found a delightful little campsite right in the middle of town.  It would take something very special to top today.

0167 Calama to San Pedro de Atacama

7th Dec

Only a short trip today, which was just as well as we still haven’t quite got our internal clocks adjusted after the 2 hour change from Peru into Chile. Last night was cold – I needed the inner liner for my sleeping bag and it was tucked away out of reach !  I had been trying to do my blog outside last night just in flip flops, and my feet got cold – I got to sleep OK but woke up at 2 am and then had trouble getting back to sleep – Cold feet as well as things on my mind, I guess !

Anyway, after reading and lying there for most of the night, eventually got a couple of hours sleep between 6 am and 8 am, when of course I had to leap out of bed and start packing up.

0166 Iquique to Calama

6th Dec

Once all the kids had finished their Christmas party, the camp site was deserted except for the German couple Rolf and Isobel, and their daughter Ellie, so we had a nice quiet night beside the sea. 

 In the morning we awoke to blue skies and set off down the coast road south, towards Antofagasta, and this road was SO much more interesting than yesterday’s road through the Atacama.   Not that it is not interesting to see the Atacama desert at last (how long since I first heard about it in Geography lessons at school ?!), but once you have done about 30 kilometres, it doesn’t vary very much !  It is only the immensity of the desert which is truly awe inspiring. But to get on the coast road, driving along beside the sea, at least gave you something to look at.  I would have to say that it was almost a 5 wow day for me !

0165 Arica to Iquique

 5^th Dec

It was a clear night on the beach in Arica last night, and an almost full moon above us.  No noise from the wedding celebrations going on up in the main building, but Arica must have some fish processing plants up the road a little way, because occasionally the wind blew from that direction and we got the full delights of the distinctive aroma from the plants !!  Had worse though, so it did not disturb my sleep !

0164 Petroglifos de Miculla, Tacna, Peru to Arica Chile

4^th Dec

Woke up at 6 am with the sun streaming in through my roof top awning window, and the heat from the sun quickly warming the canvas.  I love waking up in strange places, and peering out of the window to see where you are !!  In this case, about 20 kms NE of Tacna, in the middle of some Petroglifos (drawings on rocks).

 

0163 Arequipa to Petroglifos de Miculla, Tacna

3^rd Dec

Desert, sand. More desert and more sand. An occasional steep climb and stunning gorge. Then more desert and more sand !!   And not a tree all day.   It made the Nullarbor look like a forest !   That was today.  And if you think it sounds boring, well you would be wrong.  The scenery provides some of the most amazing sights you will ever see – Multi coloured sands forming an amazing sight;  steep inclines through tunnels and gorges that are engineering feats, especially after 50 kms of dead straight flat road !  And jet fighters and rockets out in the desert – A perfect place for the Peruvian air force to practice their skills.  On the way we made friends with truck drivers on the road with wide loads and their escorts, and at the end of the day arrived at the most deserted and stunning little place you can imagine.   Ho hum, Another hum drum day in South America !!

0162 Mirador Cruz del Condor to Arequipa

1^st Dec

We got up at 6 am in the cold to see if the Condors had come out early to soar over us.

They hadn’t.  So we took a photo of us freezing !

They didn’t come at 7 am either.   Although at 8 or so we did see one way below us.

 

0161 Chivay Hot Baths to Mirador Cruz del Condor, Colca Canyon

30^th Nov

The Chivay Hot Baths are natural springs with lots of sulphur in there – So quite smelly !  But a good secure night’s sleep, with a couple from Colorado also there along with their lovely dog, so we packed up at a leisurely rate knowing we didn’t have far to go today.  We intended to go into the little town of Chivay, have a look around, try to get some money from an ATM (we were down to 40 soles, or about $15 !!) so we could then buy some supplies and have a cup of coffee and get our email from an internet café.   But first we needed money !  We also needed some fuel, and for that we also needed money !

0160 Sillustani Monumento to Chivay Hot Baths

29^th Nov

Woke up to a clear blue sky and bitterly cold morning – And the first tourist coach full of French people swinging into the car park 10 feet from our van at 7 am !!  But not to worry – So we breakfasted and cleaned teeth etc, and then headed out at about 8 am.  Going back out the way we had come, past all the pretty little stone cottages until eventually we got back on the main road and headed back towards our favourite town – Juliaca.  Not.

0159 Lake Titicaca, a Fiesta, and Sillustani Monumento

28^th Nov

Well we awoke in our little hotel (Colon Inn – Colon is like Columbus, as in Christopher !!) and had our included breakfast, and were then picked up by a car to take us to the port for our tour out onto Lago Titicaca and the floating reed islands.  The tour agent last night had told us we didn’t need rain jackets as it wasn’t due to rain.  During the night I had heard a LOT of thunder (Janet had my extra strong earplugs in and also had taken a sleeping pill, so she never heard a thing !), and we awoke in the morning to find it POURING with rain.  Ho hum – Lake Titicaca in the rain – Lets hope the boat has a roof !   We also DID have our rain jackets out of the car (remember the car was in secure parking – Locked away under lock and key about 3 blocks from the hotel) because I never believe people when it is my welfare at risk !!  So after our breakfast we set of in the car, wearing our rain jackets !