From Tupiza in Bolivia to Argentina and Chile
Trip Start
Aug 07, 2008
1
7
22
Trip End
??? ??, 2009
Santiago,
Chile
Friday, November 28, 2008
We left the scary Tupiza in Bolivia and headed for the border crossing with Argentina, looking forward to somewhere a little more cosmopolitan. Like most journeys on the beige truck, it wasn't going to be smooth sailing, with a delay not long after leaving Tupiza, due to some works being done on the road, no traffic lights they just closed the road for as long as they wanted! (about half an hour as it turned out)
At the border, we got off the truck and found that the truck had a diesel leak from the spare tank, but it was decided that no repairs could be done and that it would just have to be left to leak out. The locals cottoned on to the leaking diesel and a few started to fill up bottles/buckets, anything they had. Whilst this was going on, we fought with the crowds to get the stamp out of Bolivia, then we stood in the queue to get into Argentina
A - Our guide shows us how its done
. Our driver moved the truck closer to the Argentinean side, leaving a trail of diesel behind him and the locals ran along side risking getting run over to catch more of the diesel. Whilst we waited in line to get our visas, more locals arrived with their bottles, squabbling between themselves and this attracted more attention, including from the Police who finally told our driver to take the truck back into Bolivia and get it sorted. After getting our stamps into Argentina, we waited for our fixed truck to return to get on our way again, I don't think the tank was actually fixed, I think our driver had just sucked the diesel out. After this we hit another delay where a road had been closed for a strike and we had to wait for an hour so we had lunch at the road side, after which we were on our way again, only to be delayed again due to a jack knifed lorry with its load on it's side in the middle of the road.So, after a very long drive with all the delays, we arrived in the dark at our campsite in Salta for the night, which looked pretty unappealing and not in the best part of town. The bathrooms could easily be used for scenes in any horror movie, but the site had several huge guard dogs that even patrolled the bathrooms, not really they just came in to refresh themselves from the toilet bowls, yuk! One plus for the campsite was it had the biggest outdoor swimming pool in something like the southern hemisphere, but it was empty! We were told when we wanted to get back to the campsite to tell the driver that we were staying where they had the 'grande pisciner', big pool. We headed straight out into Salta, via taxi's and got to experience Argentinean driving, which involves flooring it through junctions, as the rule is whoever gets there first has the right of way, scary stuff! We did make it to the restaurant, where we eat about 11pm, even though it was late the restaurant was busy and its usual for the Argentineans to eat and play very late, with people arriving well after 12pm to eat
B-This is safe isn't it?
. So, after dinner we hailed taxi's and I attempted to explain we were staying where they had the 'grande pisciner, which the driver did not understand but our guide stepped in to explain where we were going. In my defence none of the small amount of Spanish any of us knew went far here due to the Argentineans speaking a different dialect we had not been using, so it was back to pointing again.The next day after not much sleep after some wild behaviour by some of the group, we got picked up for zip lining and drove into the country, which was a very different sight, similar to country lanes in the UK at times, completely different from the landscape we'd seen in Peru and Bolivia, with lots of greenery. We headed towards a stunning lake, where we meet our German instructor, with a sense of humour he liked to point out, which he did have, but we suspected he used the same jokes on tourists every day, like 'you've been the best group today', we were his only group that day.
We did about 10 zip lines across the river and valleys, which was brilliant, some of them where so long and high (longest was 500 metres long and 150 metres high!!) that you wondered right in the middle flying across this little wire of your fate if the wire snapped. You were also conscious of getting enough speed up so you didn't get stuck in the middle and have to be rescued by one of the instructors. It was a brilliant buzz, particularly when you had time to look around you
C-Is Suzanna insured?
. After , our successful zip lining we had a fantastic BBQ and then returned to camp that night for another BBQ around a fire, making the campsite a bit more appealing.Later that night we hit the town with Tom and Karly. Starting our night in a bar then on to the first club, which even though it was late was pretty empty. So we finished our fire water drinks, they are very generous with their spirit measures out here, but to the point you have to tell them to stop pouring to get some mixer added! Then we had to prove to the doormen that we had left our glasses behind, we'd forgotten to collect tickets to prove this from the bar, and we were then allowed to leave, strange!
We then found another bar with a live band playing traditional South American music, salsa mainly and danced for ages in there, it had a great atmosphere with all the locals and there were few people that weren't dancing, it was the South American I had envisaged but not seen so much of disappointingly. I think we left the club about 4 in the morning, even though there was no sign that closing time was near.
The next day after a long lie in, we headed to the central plaza and wandered around the shops and tried out a few of the cafes, where we got to have our first empanadas, yummy little pastries. Later we escorted a very drunk Steve and Morgan back to the camp with Karly after we bumped into them in town, the boys were the evenings entertainment.
The next day the truck didn't start because the battery had been run flat from the speaker being left on over night. So, we all had to push the truck to jump start it! We were on our way again, heading to the wine region of Cafayate, which again had a really nice feel about it, surrounded by vineyards. Luckily we weren't staying in another dodgy campsite here and after checking in visited two of the many wineries within 5 minutes of the hotel
D-NoToby we can't buy a barrell
. They both explained the wine making process and then we got the taste the produce, our favourite bit! On our last evening here, a group of us went for an early dinner, apparently we choose the place to be in town as we later found out. Having arrived early in a restaurant, we had been given the best table in the house and the entertainers were right in front of us, so there was nowhere to hide. They were a mixture of singers, musician, dancers and comedians. However, all was in Spanish, so we sat their not understanding a thing whilst the locals laughed at the punch lines. All acts would acknowledge us separately in English and the restaurant would clap like we were special guests, it was a little embarrassing since none of us were really drinking that night, its quite possible we could have been the butt of some jokes, but we were oblivious. Morgan one of our fellow travellers didn't know what they were saying either but laughed hysterically and he'd caught the eye of the performers. Much to his embarrassment Morgan was called up to take part in a dancing competition, although tried to get out of it by pointing to me and saying 'I won't but my wife will'! One of the dancers did a bit of a river dance with a stick and then asked men to come and have a go. At home generally, I think this would be a tough task to get participants but the men were gagged for a go. A local participant translated everything for Morgan, so he had some understanding of what he had to do, he even went and got Morgan a glass of wine for some extra dutch courage and then they both attempted the dance together
E-Cafayate Plaza
. Morgan was a great sport and it was pretty funny. After that Morgan's new friend sent us over a bottle of wine to welcome us to his country, he was a super nice man. Leaving Cafayate early in the morning, we made sure we woke the neighbours up, as our driver reversed (accidentally) the truck into a shop, oops, but they did play their music pretty much all night long so it was revenge! So, with a new appreciation for the wine making process, we headed off to Mendoza for what was being billed as the best wine tasting tour you could get. We weren't disappointed.
On the way we stopped at Quilmes ruins, which were a group that lived through the Inca times, but did not survive the Spanish occupation. Unfortunately, we only had a Spanish speaking tour guide, so our guide who is not fluent in Spanish had to translate. That night we were expecting to be camping completely 'au natural', no facilities whatsoever, but stumbled across a campsite and it even had a little shop selling beer, wine and chocolate, so we stayed here the night, much better than what we were expecting.
The next day we continue on our journey and along the way we visited Moon Valley and Talampaya National Park. Moon Valley Park was our first stop, however again we had the issue of a Spanish only speaking guide, but this time she was giving the tour to us and car loads of others, so there was no time for our guide to take her time translating, it was a bit of a waste of time really, particularly when we came on this type of trip because we can't speak Spanish
F-Morgan and his mate
! The day did improve though, as the next National Park we had our own English speaking guide and travelled in 4 by 4's through the park, looking at various formations and evidence of previous civilisations including drawings on the rocks. The best bit however was an area where we could shout and get an echo back several times.That night we managed to put our tents up in the heavy wind and camped in the park. (I didn't actually put the tent up Toby did, I'll get in trouble for not pointing that out, but he always insists on pitching the tent because I think he thinks its the manly thing to do!)
TW- The next day it was on to Mendoza which is the main wine producing area of Argentina and like Salta, a busy, fairly modern city and again we liked it. We stayed in a hostel in the centre of town and on the first night we had a meal out and then headed for the "hottest club in town" for an evening of entertainment by transvestites performing cover songs on various hits!! Once in the club, we found a table for the group and waited, with an element of trepidation for the performers. Unfortunately (I think) the transvestites didn't show and the only people to appear on stage were a very drunk Stevo and Morgan, who on arriving later than the rest of us, thought it would be a good idea to announce their arrival!! It was very funny, although I'm not sure the locals knew what was going on.
G-Morgan shows the locals how its done
Suzanna and I left soon after that and left the others to what turned out to be an evening of fun, frolics and firsts. The next morning we were off to experience the Mendoza main event, a 5 course meal at a winery, after two tours. First, we visited Weinert winery, old fashioned in style with huge decorated oak barrels and of course we got to taste the product at the end which were all very nice, look out for it at your local supermarket. The tour guide was very good, much clearer and more informative than the previous tours we had been on. Then it was on to the Bodega Ruca Malen Winery, more modern in style, where again the tour was informative and different to the first. Then we were seated in our own private room with full glass windows to look out on the vineyards and were served 5 courses with a different wine (full glass) with each course, plus additional chardonnay and desert wine. The food was delicious, desert was a mousse of dulce de leche, which is loved here and it was a really nice way to end the tour.
Our final border crossing meant heading up to high altitude, passing Mount Aconagua, 6,959metres above sea level to get to the Chilean border. Our lunch stop before the border was at Puenta del Inca, a colourful natural rock bridge and we had to do a clean out of the truck of all fruits and other foods that we weren't allowed to take into Chile, as at the border the truck was searched and our bags xrayed
H-Quilmes Ruins
.They let us into Chile, even though they found an odd bit of fruit stowed away on our tuck. The city of Santiago, was our final destination and we arrived on a holiday weekend, so it was quite and not much was open. We really didn't do much at all in Santiago, other than have a few farewell meals out with the group and preparation for the next part of our trip to New Zealand.
So, we have finally reached our last blog for South America, better late than never. Overall, its was a fantastic trip, filled with diversity and one off sometimes frightening experiences, but funny to look back on. Travelling with the group was at times challenging, but if you arrived at a crappy hotel/campsite which most of them were, or a dodgy town you were all going through it together so it didn't seem so bad, plus we met several people that we are still in contact with which is great.
I think the blogs will now be much more tame since we move into western countries. Here we come New Zealand!
Hope everyone is well back home and we'll try to get a NZ blog out to you guys soon.
