The Final Loop - Wine, Salt and Sand

---

---

SANTIAGO LOOP - Wine, Salt and Sand

This is our fifth & final blog and tracks our travels from Santiago in Chile, on to Mendoza, Cordoba and Salta in Argentina, then back to Chile in San Pedro de Atacama .

Our second bus crossing of the Andes was even more spectacular than our first, despite it taking four hours to just cross the border! Having booked early we had the front seats on the top floor of the bus, so we had fantastic panoramic views the whole way. The journey from Santiago to Mendoza is only 250km, but it reaches an altitude of 3200m and passes within 20km of Cerro Aconagua (6962m), the highest peak outside the Himalayas. The rugged ascending climb (in Chile) culminates in a zig-zag road of 24 bends (see photo to right). The descending drop (in Argentina) is more gentle but just as spectacular with huge yellow/grey mountains looming all around.

We spent two full days in Mendoza, the capital of the biggest wine producing region in the country. The city itself was nothing special, although it did host a free music and wine concert on the roof of city hall while we were there which was very atmospheric (see photo at end). However, maybe one reason we can’t remember a huge amount is that most of the time was spent drinking the local produce. The first afternoon we took two ‘flights’, better known as wine tastings. Each flight consisted of five different glasses of wine. The first was a mixture of regional wines and the second just Malbecs (the signature red wine of Argentina) - ten glasses were enough on an empty stomach!

The second day we ventured out of the city, where most of the bodegas (or wineries) are located, for two wine tours. The second tour at Norton (Tesco sells their wines) was by far the best especially as we had a fabulous lunch (including a bottle of the local produce) in its glitzy restaurant first. Whilst drinking a delicious sparkling Norton champagne we walked through the vine-fields and as we continued through the main processes of wine making tried several more wines direct from the barrels (see photo to left).

A ten hour bus ride took us to our next city, Cordoba. This had a young, vibrant and cultural feel, primarily due to its’ eight universities. But unfortunately we arrived at the weekend when many Argentinean museums are closed, so we found ourselves with time on our hands. However, we were able to visit the bustling weekend night market, which sold everything from kittens & puppies to high quality jewellery & dried flowers and ate dinner from an overlooking rooftop restaurant.

While in Cordoba we also visited Alta Gracia, a picturesque town, an hours’ bus ride away, which has two claims to fame. First it houses one of five stunning 17th century UNESCO Jesuit missions in the region (see photo to right). Second it happens to be where Che Guevara spent most of his childhood. For this reason there was an interesting and informative Che museum in the house where the family lived. It detailed his early life and the exhibits included an ‘electric’ bicycle and the Norton (not the winery) motorcycle that he used for his travels documented in the ‘motorcycle diaries’ (see photo at end).

After Cordoba we took a night bus to Salta arriving on a dark drizzly morning. Salta itself didn’t have much to offer, especially in the rainy season (January-March). However one museum, which showcases artefacts from a major archaeological find in the area, was macabre. The dig, as recent as 1998, found the bodies and accompanying ‘treasures’ of three children from Inca times who had been sacrificed to the Gods in the Andes mountains. One of the children was ‘on show’ and while being rather gruesome, it was fascinating to see how well preserved the body was due to the low temperatures and moisture levels of her ‘grave’.

Salta is such a popular destination due to it’s proximity to the Andes and the ‘puna’ (high plains), so we hired a car for five days to explore these rugged landscapes. The roads, including the northern section of the infamous Route 40 (which featured a couple of blogs ago), varied from being newly tarmaced to winding curvy dirt tracks, sometimes with parts totally washed away by the rain (see photo at end). However, the climbs into the mountains and down onto the high plains the other side were spectacular – going from cold drizzly clouds to bright hot sunshine and cacti, literally in seconds (see photo to left).

Moreover the colours of the landscape ranged from ochre red through magenta to greys, greens, yellows and whites, sometimes all in one rock face (see photo at end). As if this wasn’t enough, dotted amongst the mountains, plains and rivers, were thousands of ‘candelabra’ cacti with a smattering of llamas, donkeys and the odd wild pig, all of this framed by snow capped mountains.

The villages, sometimes miles apart, were mostly collections of adobe houses but sometimes they were adorned with wonderful arches and pillars (see photo at end). At times the region felt remote and desolate especially when we stayed at 3800 metres above sea level in dusty San Antonio (see photo to right) eating llama, goat meat and quinoa. San Antonio and the nearby viaduct are the destination of the ‘train to the clouds’ (which unfortunately wasn’t running during our visit) but we were still able to climb on to the tracks and appreciate the 64m high and 224m long viaduct (see photo at end). The people of the ‘puna’ were extremely friendly. We picked up a few hitchhikers along the way which was a chance to find out first hand about the ‘high’ lives they led.

It is difficult to extract the highlights from the five day car tour, as it felt like being in one continuous movie but two experiences stand out. First the high salt flats which appeared across the horizon after driving along a 150 km dirt road. They looked like a flat white sea and then a field of snow. In total their area is 525sq km and walking on to them was great fun (see photos to left and at end). The second highlight was turning up in Cachi for their annual festival to ‘San Juan’. We managed to catch live music, dancing, bingo and even a rodeo (see video above). Neither of us had ever seen a rodeo live before and it was quite exciting. We spent our last night of the trip in Cafayate, the second biggest wine producing region of Argentina and predictably indulged in another wine tasting ‘flight’.

The next day we left Salta taking another 10 hour bus journey back over the Andes to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. This journey was as spectacular, if not more so than our earlier Andes crossing from Santiago to Mendoza. Rather than the continual rugged mountain terrain, we experienced a drier, more barren mountain terrain, with little vegetation except for cacti and small bushes (see photo at end).

Following the inevitable two hour border crossing we arrived in a very hot, dry and dusty San Pedro which only has a population of around 2500, but is always boosted by numerous travellers. The popularity of this oasis stems from its position in the heart of northern Chile’s most spectacular scenery – the Atacama desert. The town of single storey adobe buildings is centred on a small quaint 17th century square. As well as backpackers, the main street is full of travel agencies, restaurants, hostels, souvenir shops and of course the inevitable dogs, each guarding their own adobe abode.

Our highlights from San Pedro are many – being in a high altitude desert environment was a first for both of us. The clear blue skies, baking hot days, freezing nights, lunar landscape, sudden lush vegetation (when there was a water source) and continual dust made a lasting impression.

One morning we rose at 3.30 to see the El Tatio Geysers at dawn (see photo above right). We arrived about 30 minutes before sunrise to temperatures of minus 12 degrees. At first all you can make out are clusters of steam clouds spurting out across the barren landscape with sounds of hissing, gurgling and gushing. Then as dawn creeps in, you glimpse the bubbling water - some outlets continual, others intermittent, gradually boiling up and then suddenly reaching a height of over 1 metre (see video above and photos at end). The heat of the geysers was welcome, as also was the dip into the thermal pool.

While we were in San Pedro we again hired a car for 3 days, driving up to heights of over 4500m above sea level to experience the altiplano lagoons and a chain of Andean villages. The lagoons are unforgettable. Set against a background of snow capped volcanoes, their clear blue water, home to a variety of birds, is encircled by a residue of white salt, then beyond by the yellows and greens of the desert sand and grasses where vicuna (wild llama) graze (see video above and photos at end).

We also visited a number of Andean villages, most nestled in small oases in canyons, which suddenly appear as you drive towards them (see photo to left). One, Ayquina, was beautiful, located above a verdant green terraced gorge. However, when we were there at 3.00 in the afternoon, it was deserted – we literally didn’t see a single person – in a village of over 100 houses. Whether they were all having siestas (behind padlocked doors), at a local community event or just avoiding us we shall never know.

While in San Pedro we also floated in the ‘dead’ Cejar Lagoon (see photo to right), visited the largest copper mine in the world, watched the sunset from a dune in the Valley of the moon and went on a fascinating 3 hour night-time stargazing session, which started at 11.00pm (see photos at end).

Tomorrow we leave the Atacama for Santiago and our return flight to the UK.

Since this is our last blog we thought we would list a few items from our last 5 months of travelling:

Number of days out of the UK: 144

Number of different rooms stayed in: 42

Most useful item in the backpack: Steve’s quick-dry underpants (see photo below left)

The coldest temperature experienced: minus 12 degrees (Atacama Desert)
The hottest temperature experienced: 36 degrees (Buenos Aires)

Most interesting museum: Fray Bentos factory, Uruguay
Least interesting museum: the tile museum in Colonia, Uruguay

Number of steaks eaten in the 5 months we have been away: about 50 each
Number of steaks eaten in the UK in 5 months normally: about 8 each

The best sound: hearing cash come out of an ATM
The worst sound: not hearing cash come out of an ATM (a common occurence)

Number of travel scrabble games played: 27

Number of dogs roaming the streets: thousands

Number of times Steve was a GOM (grumpy old man): 144 :-)

Number of Marianne’s things that Steve carried at the beginning of the trip: nil
Number of Marianne’s things that Steve carried by the end: Her whole rucksack!

Well that’s our journey over. As you can imagine, our blog entries have only been able to provide a brief overview of our travels, so hopefully they’ve been able to give you a flavour of what we’ve done. The last thing we have wanted to do was bore anyone with our stories. However, if you want to know more or intend to visit Argentina or Chile in the future, we’d love to share more of our experiences and thoughts with you.

Thanks for reading, Marianne & Steve

---

Comments

[Clare Smith]

Enjoyable
Sad to see the blogs end. I have thoroughly enjoyed them and vicarious travel