Blogs from San Pedro de Atacama, Antofagasta Region, Chile, South America - page 15

Crossing the Andes Having loved Patagonian Chile so much, I decided to return to the country to explore the central and northern regions. In retrospect this logic was flawed as the south is so different to the rest of the country. Where the south had wonderful landscapes and great beers, the north has uninspiring towns and cities and Crystal/Escudo drinking hordes. Nevertheless the trip started well with the lake and road trip across the Andes. This is how Che and Alberto crossed into Chile in The Motorcycle Diaries although the beautiful isolation of that scene was tempered by the hordes of tourists on my trip. We drove from Bariloche to Puerto Pañuelo, bordering the Nahuel Huapi Lake where we boarded the Victoria Andina catamaran to sail along the lake to Puerto Blest. The sun shone through ... read more

Oh overpriced sweltering hell of a town. How we hate thee. Too bad we are stuck here for two days. And all the visa atms are broken. At least our bus tickets out of here are already paid for. Ramen for dinner anyone?... read more

So I find myself leaving Argentina with some mixed emotions - i've had some fantastic times here, with some fantastic people, and now the voyage into the unknown begins. The stories of bolivia and peru don't fill me with confidence, either! Since i'm not relying on Argentine hospitality any more, I thought i'd write a little about the falklands; it seems to be a national obsession; there are airports named after them, monuments everywhere, stickers in cars and signs. In point of fact, within an hour of waking up on my first day i'd seen a roadside sign saying "the falklands are argentine". All well and good, but this was 3000 km to the north! It certainly didn't make me comfortable being a brit. I also saw maps and tourist guides that include them as Argentinian; ... read more

Our salt flat tour dropped us off in San Pedro de Atacama, and small town in the Northern Chile. As soon as we got off the bus, we met Simply Red, or, the owner (?) of Hostel Flordia. Yes, his name is Simply Red, he told us to call him that. Checked into the hostel and wound up spending three nights in this great little town. On the first night, Esther, Lyndsey, Carol, Rhod (who we met on the salt flat tour), went out for dinner at La Casona (which Rhod and I discovered earlier in the afternoon when looking for a place to get some afternoon drinks at). Great little restauarant with a nice patio out back and a fire pit. After La Casona we headed out to another bar, called "Milagro" for some late ... read more

Atacama ja hiekkaerämaan ihmeet Mikä ihme voi ihmistä kiinnostaa ja ihastuttaa hiekassa, kivessä ja suolassa sekä kaikissa niissä kummallisissa olomuodoissa, joita nämä muodostavat kun niitä kertyy yhteen paikkaan runsain mitoin? Siitä piti päästä ottamaan selvää kuivimpaan paikkaan mitä keksiä saattaa, eli Atacaman autiomaahan eli A3 Tourin viimeiseen viralliseeb etappiin. Saavuimme San Pedro de Atacamaan myöhään illalla ilman minkäänlaista mahdollisuutta edes vilkuilla ympärillemme kun pimeys oli ihan täydellinen. Vain kummallisen mallinen kuunsirppi valaisi ympäristöä ja muuten kaikki oli lähinnä arvailujen varassa. Olimme päässeet hotelliin bussin päätepysäkille sattuneen maasturikuskin kyydillä kun kylillä ei varsinaisesti takseja ole olemassakaan. Kuljetus on siis hoidettava aina jonkun kanssa sopimalla tai sitten kävellen. Kassien kanssa pimeässä hortoilu ei vaikuttan... read more