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Published: November 24th 2009
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San pedro bar
this place was excellent...sort of indoors but outdoors Dont Cry For Me Argentina........
Here I am sitting on the porch of Casa Hernandez in Salta, Argentina....home of the very welcoming Alex and Reijkje.......the sun is shining and all is well with the world.......
Back to yesterday.......left San Pedro in the morning at 9.15am and cleared Chilean exit customs ( which is located just outside San Pedro ) and headed towards the border.....which was still another 200kms!!!!.The Girls ( Magdalena and Mellissa ) and I were in this massive 4x4 Pick up truck, with Cristian as our driver, who took us through this awesome desert scenery with total nothingness except salt flats and mountain ranges on either side ....this was the Atacama at its best!!!!We then went through the Tropic of Capricorn ( see images ).
We passed sundry wrecked cars which had rolled, and death monuments to people who had not been so lucky. We finally made the border at 2.15pm .......the heat was staggering!!After some questioning and all our bags searched for illegal drugs, but mainly fruit......we were told the last person was fined $200 for importing 1 apple.....hope he enjoyed the apple afterwards......then got our entry stamp into Argentina.
We bade Cristian farewell
and transferred all our gear to the Argentinian car which was waiting for us on the other side of the border....our faces dropped.....it was a battered Renault Megane......he told us that the air con worked....yeah, warm and hot.......jeez this was going to be tough as we had to do the next 320kms on dusty rutted roads. We thought the road was bad enough getting to the border.....it was five times worse in Argentina!!
He then dropped the bomshell that he had had a puncture on the way to get us and that there was no garage to repair it for 210kms!!!!!!..........We saw our first vehicle after 130kms.....there was nothing and no-one on this road....and every 20/30 kms he got out to check the tires.....in the meantime I didnt know whether it was hotter inside the car with the windows closed and hot air coming out of the aircon or with the windows open and hot air and dust coming in the car. In the end we opted for the windows closed and just sat and sweated. He then told us that most people use this road at night because it is easier in the engine and on the person....so what
the hell were we doing in the middle of the afternoon........at least the scenery was spectacular, and now on reflection after a good shower and nights sleep, I wouldnt do it any other way!
After 200 kms and was hours being tossed about on this road we reached our first argentinian town and stopped for something to eat and drink,by now our bottle of mineral water from San Pedro was hot not just warm!!!....The first thing I asked for was an ice cold beer.....which was what I got only it was frozen!!!!!....after 5 minutes of defrosting under cold water.......the best beer I have ever tasted!!!!!!........( the fridge was bust so he put everthing in the freezer) San Antonio was a real dump so we decided to pass on the food opting to have something to eat in Salta.
We finally reached Salta at 9pm with what can only be described as the most amazing lightening storm I have seen......the streets were flowing with water as we dropped the Girls of in the City Centre which looks very nice after so many dusty villages.
When I arrived at Casa Hernandez there was no electricity due to the storm so
they had all candles and was promptly given a cold beer and was introduced to other guests who were staying. Two hours of brill conversation followed then went to bed in this fabulous house.....tired but very pleased.
Going into town later then meeting the Girls tonight for dinner, then off making images and exploring for the next two days...........
thats it....adios amigos,
Mario
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