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Published: January 17th 2009
Steve
With the ´bible´ in SantiagoSan Pedro de Atacama, Chile: so it would appear that this town has a very clever person working for them here in the marketing department of their tourism sector. I draw this conclusion from the fact that it is easy to arrive in the town and next to impossible to leave again. You may recall from our last update that this town was our base for Christmas. We arrived there on Christmas eve from one of the many Salar de Uyuni tours that finish with a transfer across the Chilean border. We had been instructed by others traveling in the opposite direction to organize bus tickets to leave again as soon as arriving because to travel from San Pedro to Salta in Argentina, there is only one bus company that operates the journey and they only leave three times per week. We went to the office only to find it closed with a sign on the door advising us when the buses left. We already knew this information thanks to the trusty bible (Lonely Planet).. No information about the opening hours or anything that might be useful to us?! Thinking that perhaps we might have stopped by during siesta time, we
Chess in the park
These guys were good!! decided to stop back again later. Same outcome - still closed. We tried to ask around at the shops nearby if they knew when the office might open, but no luck there. A visit to the information centre informed us that the next bus leaving (boxing day and the one we wanted) was full so they probably wouldn't bother opening. The next bus after that one was not for another three days and considering the office wasn't going to open, we didn't know if there would be space on that one either. It was clear a new plan of attack needed to be formulated. Off to Santiago we go instead... Tanya, perhaps you should approach Banff Lake Louise Tourism with an idea like this - numerous arrivals every day with no way to depart again, might improve visitor numbers for the low prediction this winter?!
Santiago, Chile: a really nice city to visit and we wished that we had more time to spend there. The journey to get there was another story in itself. At this point we'd like to introduce you to the newest and most reliable method of birth control - 23 hours on a bus with
The Funicular
Santiago, Chile a painfully loud, whinging boy of about 6 years and two parents that were blissfully unaware of the death stares thrown in their direction and said nothing the whole way. Needless to say, our arrival in to Santiago was a welcome relief! The city provides us with the most infrastructure that we have seen so far in South America, but we instantly notice how much more expensive everything is. The metro system makes it fantastically easy to make our way around and in the 24 hours that we have here we try to explore as much as possible - wander up Paseo Estado (a pedestrian mall with lots of shops) towards the beautiful Plaza de Armas where we watch a fast-paced chess tournament take place, a visit to Cerro San Cristobel where we catch the funicular to the top and the teleferico 2Km across the Parque Metropolitano and taking in the views from the Bellavista Terrace while tasting a typical Chilean beverage 'Mote con Huesillo' (dried peaches boiled in sweetened water with cooked wheat served cold) and a climb up the steps for a closer look at Santuario de la Inmaculada Concepcion which is a white stone statue and chapel
Steve
Santiago, Chile situated at the highest point overlooking the city, and finally a wander up and down Pio Nono which is similar to Fremantle or perhaps St Kilda with it's arty atmosphere and outdoor cafe culture.
Mendoza, Argentina: our next stop was the city of Mendoza with it's tree-lined streets. The city is much smaller than somewhere like Santiago but still larger than what we had expected prior to arriving. To reach Mendoza from Santiago we had to cross the Andes (and the border) once more. It was an incredibly scenic drive and at one point we were able to catch a glimpse of Aconcagua, South America's highest mountain at 6962m. We arrived in the evening and notice that there is considerably more daylight hours now that we have moved further south and it is not getting dark until around 10pm. The nearby Plaza Independencia is buzzing with action - market stalls line the outside edges, performers, carnival food and the central water feature is all lit up.
We spent a day exploring the city itself. A visit to Acuario Municipal Mendoza, a small and strange display of underwater animals. The condition of the tanks left a lot to be desired
Steve & Lottie
Santiago, Chile - lots of algae and some funky odours. A few odd looking creatures, some very large fish, an albino frog, crocodile and turtle exhibit were among the highlights. We were a bit disturbed by 'Jorge's' tank and situation. He is a giant turtle and didn't appear very happy. Unfortunately there is no information in English so we´re going to pressume (read: 'hope') that it is a good thing him being there. Gemma - you might want to give this a miss if you ever make it to Mendoza as you will be sure to find it disturbing and have a few things to say about it. Across the road is Centro Anaconda Serpentario, a small reptile display with some very large and one or two particularly active snakes. Across the other side of town is Museo Popular Callejero, an innovative sidewalk museum which illustrates changes to one of the cities major avenues.
A visit to Mendoza is not complete without a tour of the wineries and one of the best ways to do this is by bike. We head to the nearby town of Maipu, only about 25 minutes from Mendoza and get set up with a rental bike, map
Steve
Santiago, Chile and suggested route. We spend the next 6 hours or so riding around between wineries, olive farms, chocolate and liquer producers. Most vineyards offer a tour as well as a selection of wines to taste. It's difficult not to buy everything we get our hands on. Touring the vineyards by bike is definitely the best way to see the area.
Mendoza was where we chose to see in the New Year and the hostel we were staying at put on an ´Asado´ - traditional Argentinian bbq. Plenty of meat from a variety of different animals together with an endless supply of vino tinto. It was a winning combination. Typical for this part of the world, things don´t get going until very late in the evening. We are lucky to finish the meal before the first of the fireworks start up. Everyone wanders up to Plaza Independencia at the end of the street to watch the display which we can just make out above the tops of the trees. Certainly no competition for Sydney here! It was a fun place to welcome in 2009.
We had high expectations for Mendoza before arriving, most likely because of it's location to premium vineyards,
Lottie
Santiago, Chile and are pleased to say that we were not disappointed. Mendoza is among the favourites.
San Martin de los Andes, Argentina: this little resort town just east of the Argentinian border with Chile is the perfect place to break the journey between Mendoza, Argentina and Pucon, Chile. We are only able to spend about 48 hours here which is both good and bad, good in the way that it is expensive and difficult to behave like a backpacker and bad in the way that the area has a great atmosphere and we would like to spend more time here. We find ourselves to be a little confused when we arrive in town on the bus - are we still in South America or at some point did we get on a plane and fly across to Austria or Switzerland? The town sits on the edge of Lago Lacar and is nestled at the base of forested hills. There is a gentle river running through town and the tree-lined streets boast some of the most quaint chalet style buildings, every second one of which is either a chocolate or ice cream shop.
Our only frustration with San Martin is that
Steve
Trying the local nectar - A dried peach in sweetened water with wheat... Was actually pretty refreshing despite its appearance for some reason we struggle to withdraw money from the ATMs. We try every machine that we can find in town and end up walking around in circles for what seems like hours. Even the kind man that owns the hostel that we stayed at came in to town with us to try and help out. It turns out that Argentina has a law about not taking out more than 300 Pesos (equivelant to USD100) at any one time. A touch annoying when we are getting charged for each transaction. A big thanks to Sarah for letting us in on this bit of information. It was a relief to discover that we are not entirely crazy or stupid!
A visit to San Martin is not complete without a boat trip on the lake. In the afternoon, after enjoying some local cervesas in the sun at the waterfront establishment ´Deli´, we board the boat Mari Mari and head across the lake for about half an hour to the dock at Quila Quina. From here there are some walks to enjoy and beaches to visit until the boat back again in the early evening. The beaches are amusingly packed with Argentinian holiday-makers.
Lottie
Mendoza, Argentina It looks similar to Blackpool on any day in summer when the temperature is above 18 degrees! We manage to find a small patch of ground and cool off with a dip in the lake.
More news soon coming from Pucon...
Steve and Lottie x
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Tony Elliott
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MR or R
Can't help myself! Charlotte - since when did you eat steak.? Looks really good though.