Potosi to Santiago

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Week 7

Leaving Potosi and heading south to Uyumi along a dirt road, we were treated to awe-inspiring scenery in canyon-like country with fascinating rock formations, deep valleys, adobe (mud walls) villages and what appeared as dry lakes and river beds with various coloured minerals and salt deposits. At one point, we drove through Pulacayo, a town at the site of a 19th century silver mine where we saw the first locomotive ever in Bolivia and various pieces of twisted metal serving as fences, sheds etc. - these apparently the remains of the train robbed by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The following day we drove through Tupiza which is the centre for this famous story when Butch held up an Aramayo company payroll and was finally caught and shot along with his accomplice.

We arrived in Uyumi, our base for visiting the salt flats, volcanoes and lakes of SW Bolivia. Uyuni was for much of the 20th century a major railway junction and the main road was dotted with various statues and metal figures related to the rail industry including a statue of an armed railway worker erected after the 1952 revolution. Internet was slow in the town and so the evening was spent enjoying a great pizza at Minuteman, part of the Tonita Hotel where we were staying. The next day, we drove out by jeep to see the salt flats - our first stop being the Railway Cemetery outside the town with engines from 1907-1950 now left as rusting hulks. Then onto Salar de Uyuni, the largest and highest salt flat in the world. What an amazing experience - 12000 sq km of white desert. The trip included a stop to see traditional salt making techniques, the Ojus del Aqua where salt water bubbles to the surface of the salt flat and a visit to Isla del Pescado (Fish Island - so called because of its shape). This is a coral island raised from the ocean bed and covered in tall cactii some of which were flowering yellow and white. Walking to the summit of the island afforded a full 360 degree panorama of the flats with distant views of volcanoes. We enjoyed taking photographs from various perspectives including the use of coffee mugs, tomato ketchup bottles and other items! The on to watch the sunset at Salt Hotel with all of its furnishings made of salt blocks.

Another long drive the next day towards the Argentinian border with scenery of rivers and ravines, dissected valleys and overhanging canyons. We took a short cut that day along a dry river bed that in certain seasons is impassable. If I remember correctly, that day we experienced various micro climates from hot sunshine to hail storms and back again. Our free camp that night was 200 km south of Uyumi in a beautiful setting beside a river within a canyon of colourful red sandstone. We amused ourselves learning how to hurdle over camp chairs, playing boules with rocks etc.

The next day we crossed the border from Bolivia into Argentina - thanks to the efficiency of our guide we negotiated this in several hours despite having full bag searches etc. Another country, another currency and another stage on our epic journey. Initial impressions of Argentina include asphalt roads, wealthy haciendas and a European influence more pronounced/visible than in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. We ended our journey that day in Salta (500k population), a city surrounded by peaks and steep forested mountains. Our camping spot was a municipal site with a large swimming lake that was clearly popular with the locals. After some debate as to where to erect our tents, we set off by taxi to the city centre - Plaza 9 de Julio planted with tall palms and surrounded by colonial buildings. As we were sitting with our drinks in the plaza, a wedding procession came by with the couple in a horse drawn open carriage. Life in Argentina starts and ends late and it was 11.00pm before we were sat in a restaurant ordering food which consisted of large steaks (bife de chorizo and bife de lomo).

The next morning we woke to thunder and rain and decided to pack up early and have breakfast at a large out of town hypermarket where we were intending to replenish supplies as most of the borders in S. America will not allow the transport of fruit and vegetables. The hypermarket could have been anywhere in Europe and prices were somewhat of a shock after Bolivia. Then onto our campsite south of Salta - an opportunity to chill out, meet others travelling in overland trucks (Exodus, Kumuka and Budget) and potentially book up for activities - primarily rafting and canopying (swinging on zip wires across the valleys). One evening we prepared a ´hungi´ - a New Zealand speciality that involved digging a large hole, placing hot charcoal at the bottom and then a steel grid on which was placed various seasoned and foil-wrapped meat and vegetables. It was one of the most delicious meals on the trip so far.

The next day we moved onto Cafayate with its picturesque setting against the backdrop of the Andes and its reputation for excellent wines. Later that afternoon we hired bikes and visited various traditional and modern bodegas enjoying tastings of Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Torrentes etc. our rucksacks gradually weighing us down as we made various purchases - some of which were consumed later that evening during a truck BBQ.

Argentina is a huge country and it was two long truck days later before we arrived at the Valley of the Moon (Valle de la Luna) in Park Ischigualasto (named after a river). The scenery is comparable to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park in North America both of which I have had the privilege of visiting. The Park is set in 63000 hectares of desert valley between two sedimentary mountain ranges and over time, various forces of nature have carved distinctive shapes in the malleable red sandstone, monochrome, clay and volcanic ash complemented by desert flora of algorroba trees, shrubs and cactii. We were taken on a 40km circuit of the park to admire these various geoforms some of which have been given names such as ´the mushroom´, ´the worm´etc. A Natural Sciences Museum is based at the Park which boasts many unique fossils (samples of) including the Eoraptor Lunensis - the oldest predator known to the present (230 million years old). I was on cook group that night and we managed a tasty risotto.

The following day was my birthday and I woke to find the truck decked out with birthday banners and balloons and well wishes from everyone. Our destination that day was Mendoza, a dynamic and attractive city surrounded by vineyards and bodegas. Most of the original city was destroyed by fire and earthquake in 1861 so it is now a modern city with low buildings and wide tree lined avenues. That evening I was surprised by a birthday cake, a very large wine glass and bottle opener and a card signed by all. We spent the evening enjoying steaks washed down by Malbec wine - until one of my travelling companions requested a ´flaming´drink and the night took a turn for the worse!

Whilst in Mendoza, most of us had booked on a wine tour of various traditional bodegas that offer tastings and we were taken through each stage of the process from the grape crushing through to the casking and bottling of the wines. We learned that the grape skins provide the colour of the wine, the pips give the wine its structure/body, that sweet wines cost more due to their higher sugar content etc. Then the inevitable tastings and purchases before being whisked off to a sumptuous meal of tapas including various cheeses, meats, vegetables, empanadas (snacks of pastry shells stuffed with meat, vegs etc.) followed by spaghetti bolognese and dessert of baked apple and ice cream - all washed down by 15 bottles of wine between the group.

I would have liked to have spent more time in this elegant city with its views of the Andews rising in a blue/black perpendicular wall with crevices of snow sparkling in the sunshine. Its various museums, art galleries and places of interest will have to wait for another time. Another late night dinner (Argentinian time 11.30pm) and an early start (European time - 7.00am) and we were en route to Santiago passing through the Argentinian-Chile border where unfortunately James (the same guy with the broken collar bone), declared that he was carrying seeds and rocks and ended up having all his fossils (found and purchased) confiscated by the authorities. It took three hours of form filling, bag scanning and dog sniffing before the truck and its contents could cross over into Chile. The drive was yet again spectacular as we switch-backed through the Andes catching glimpses of alpine-type hamlets nestled on the flat plains in the valleys finally rolling into Santiago city.

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Photos

Dirt road in Bolivia
...work in progress!

Refracted light
an unexpected phenonema whilst eating lunch!

Pulacayo
...with the remains of the Butch Cassidy train