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Published: February 11th 2014
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Christmas and New Year... South American style
Christmas Eve began with an early start and a spectacular drive across the Altiplano - a vast expanse of bleak wilderness, framed by majestic volcanic mountains and virtually devoid of wildlife and human settlement. Due to some of the dirt tracks of part of the journey and therefore the low speeds we were driving, we were able to sit on the roof for periods of the journey - breath taking. We arrived at our refuge in time to cook our 'Christmas dinner' only to realise that all the meat had been left in the fridge in Uyuni. Vegetable curry it was then!! At least secret Santa wasn't put off the food as he arrived to hand out the presents...but only if we all sat on his knee first and we all gave him a drink!! Drinking games then started before rolling into bed in the early hours of Christmas morning.
On Christmas morning, we left the refuge early and continued across the Altiplano, stopping to visit some sites along the way. We broke up the journey by visiting some rock formations, which the guide told us looked like a frog to the
left and a lion to the right, if you used your imagination, squinted and turned your head 45 degrees! Nevertheless it was a useful and scenic stop off point before reaching the natural hot thermal springs at Laguna Azol and the flamingos at Lake Colorado. In the late afternoon we crossed the border into Chile and arrived in San Pedro, an upmarket but small hippy town that caters for tourists but with a chilled vibe. Unfortunately, there was only one full day here so there was a guided tour, including a walk through some shallow caves and climbing and watching the sunset at Moon Valley. The views were sensational but the sky was slightly hazy so the colours of the setting sun were marginally disappointing.
After a brief visit to Chile, we crossed the border into Argentina the following day to head to the popular and picturesque colonial town of Salta. After a morning absorbing the atmosphere in the sunshine, in the central plaza and people watching over a (metaphorical, in my case) coffee, a few of us headed to the cable car station to take the easy option in the 35 degree hear, for the best views of
the city and a relaxing lunch. The next day, the destination was camping in the small town of Cafayate, for the first of our wine tasting expeditions - without trying to be too negative it was probably the worst wine I tasted in South America!! A storm was en route, with some incredible thunder and lightening but just missed our campsite as the following morning we left and saw the evidence, less than 10 miles away.
News Years Eve was planned as a bush camp in the itinerary but we managed to find a campsite, where we were the only guests, with a bar and a swimming pool. Result! A quiz had been planned, as some of the entertainment and the bar and loud speakers provided the rest! With sore heads, we packed up to head to the Estancia, one of the top highlights of the entire trip. It was meant to be two full days of an Argentinian guaucho experience of riding, BBQ, wine tasting and learning how to lasso. The disappointing reality was a reduced stay of just one day, a rain storm that reduced the horse riding to 30 minutes and cancelled lassoing...but the wine tasting
and traditional Argentinian BBQ were first class!
Mendoza was all about the exceptional wine tasting...and the bonus of exceptional ice cream too! This bustling, leafy and cosmopolitan city was a great place to relax, after a long driving day, particularly as the weather was over 35 degrees and the hostel had a pool. However, after one day, there was to much to do and see to be lying around for long. The following day we were met by our guide and driven for about an hour out of the city, before we got on our bikes. We visited two luxury and high end vineyards, which included armour of the cellar, some wine tasting with some knowledgeable background information and a five course lunch at the second vineyard. Fortunately there was the cycling ended before the lunch as it could have been a windy journey back to the mini bus!
This section of the tour ended in Santiago, shortly after the longest border crossing of the trip back into Chile (just over three hours). We also passed the entrance to Aconcagua mountain en route and somewhere I'd like to return to climb one day. Our only day in Santiago
coincided with the only day of the trip that I felt unwell, so the sightseeing was non existent.
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