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Published: March 13th 2012
So here we are in Vina del Mar which was supposed to be the starting point of our adventure, but due to the container arriving a week late, we picked up a rental van and headed North from Santiago up to Tongoy.
We then took a day after our stay at Distante in the Pisco Valley and drove up to the Chile/Argentina boarder, as the rental company would not let us cross into Argentina, so we came back and spent the night in an old hotel in Vicuña.
The next day we returned to the picturesque fishing village of Tongoy, via Andacolla.
On Sunday we did the long drag back down to Vina de Mar. While returning the Van to Santiago, I was involved in a nose to tail smash on the motorway where everyone is doing 120kms plus. I was really lucky as I was able to pull hard to the centre shoulder, so that lessened the impact on the Van. Unfortunately the people that hit me from behind, suffered some chest pains etc and so were sent off in an ambulance. Now the Police were involved, and so the other car that was also hit, and
I were escorted back to the Police station for a breath test etc.
The case was pretty much cut and dried, but because there was an injury, I was summoned to the court on the 20th March, well Hello, we will be Salta, Argentina then.
So today Raewyn came with me to the Police station and we pleaded our case and told them that tomorrow we will be in Machu Picchu so we got a special court setting, just like a Judge Judy scene off TV.
We returned the rental van, paid the excess, jumped on the metro, then a bus and here we are waiting to clear the cars, hopefully tomorrow.
Cheers for now, Rosco
Raewyn's version -
It is great to be back in Chile! Last time for me was 2009 and the Patagonia adventure, so I am looking forward to the Shadow of the Andes expedition greatly.
We flew in on Sunday, after experiencing business class upgrade - thanks LAN Chile/Qantas! Pisco sour never tasted so good.......and those beds!
Reunited with Gerardo, we stayed in Santiago overnight, and on Monday welcomed Paul and Melean, along with Allan and Tony
to South America.
Tuesday was spent on the Santiago city hop on/hop off bus, while Gerardo and Rosco wrestled with the logistics of a week of touring without leaving Chile. We all met up at the end of the day, with a healthy regard for this metropolis of six million. Riding the funicular to the top of one of the peaks surrounding the city, with 360 deg. Views were just mind blowing......
Wednesday morning we bade farewell to Gerardo and escaped the big smoke,heading north to Tongoy. A picturesque fishing village where we were looked after by Marcela at the Hotel Panoramico and sampled the fresh seafood caught 24/7.
Thursday we headed inland (not far in Chile!) via Coquimbo and Vicuña, to Ecolodge Distante. A welcome dip in the pool and an evening parrilla, followed by a visit to our hosts' observatory! The silvery full moon looked so close - we were dazzled by it's brilliance.
Friday was our first experience of altitude when we climbed Paso Aqua Negra to the Argentinan border - not so much ice as previous years, but bitter enough that we didn't linger longer than to take the obligatory photos at
the 4752 metre sign!
We returned to Vicuña that evening, to a charming hotel in the town centre, with another cooling pool.
Too many hairpin bends to count were negotiated from Vicuña to Andacolla where we revisited Rosco's double and returned to Tongoy for the night. Hot tubs for all were enjoyed prior to another delicious seafood dinner.
Sunday saw us retracing our steps down the coast to Vina del Mar, where we met with our customs agent, who confirmed that the Glasgow Express had indeed arrived and expected that we could take delivery of our 2cv'on sometime Tuesday.
While we celebrated our first week on the road, Rosco was having his own adventure on the auto pista when he was rear ended on the way back to Santiago to return the van. Bugger!
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Sally
non-member comment
Go Hard!!
No not THAT kind of hard, Rosco! Just trying to say, have a great time and have all the adventures you can. Looking forward to reading about them. Pity about the crash but on every trip there are always some fairly impressive happenings, and this was definitely a surprising start! Love, Sally