The Road to Santiago

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July 10th 2009

Published: July 15th 2009

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Mr Leeds United

Salta

Main Plaza

What a start! We jumped across the Argentinean border and headed into Salta. We got there after sunset and headed straight for a steak restaurant and the steak lived up to it's billing. I was brought a 700g monster that was delicious as well! The following day we got to see a bit of Salta by sunlight before we headed off again and straight away it became one of my favourite cities on the trip. It was very open, sunny and had beautiful backdrops and buildings everywhere, especially around the main plaza. So after one day, Argentina is already jostling with Costa Rica as my favourite country. I am glad I have an extra 2 and a half weeks travelling through here after the tour finishes.

So after Salta, it was more celebration as 2 guys who no one liked, decided to get off the truck and make there own way from here. The mood improved straight away! So we set off happy and headed back across the border, this time into Chile. We are starting to wind down our trip and are on the road down to Santiago.

Our first stop though was San Pedro de Atacama, which

Church in Salta

is a town based in the Atacama Desert, the driest place in the world! We were in time for sunset and we headed out to the Valley of the Moon which was pretty spectacular.

Our next day was a free day, but we lost the morning due to doing a truck clean, and in the afternoon, we all lapped in the sunshine as it had been bloody freezing the night before! It was a bit if bad timing as usually it is the perfect place for star gazing, but it was the full moon and there was too much light pollution!

The following day we were back on the road, with just 2 nights camping left before we get into Santiago. The first night was our last bush camp and a great send off. As we pulled into stop, we had the sun setting on one side and the moon rising on the other. The following night, we camped in a town called La Serena, but the night was spent around the campfire.

The next day was the last of the trip and we arrived into Santiago late in the afternoon. It doesn't seem like it has

Lunch stop

Where the lake had frozen over! We were up near 4,000m though in no mans land between Argentina and Chile

been 53 days since Quito, despite looking back and thinking how much we have done in that time! No one was leaving until the following morning so after sorting myself out, we had a few farewell drinks. The morning after, we said goodbye to Ruairidh and I headed into town to organise bus tickets and generally have a relaxing day with time to myself. In the evening, we had a few more drinks for Robin leaving then some dinner.

The following day was my last in Santiago and I spent it looking around the city, which I liked straight away. I headed up the main street to Cerro Santa Lucia, where I got great views over the city and also over the residential area over towards the Andes. I then checked out the Museum of Pre Colombian Art which was pretty amazing. After a bit of internet catch up, I finished up with a BBQ with the last remaining people of the group, then said my farewells. Next stop, back across the border to Argentina to Mendoza.

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