If
you want to find something busy in the morning (as in before 8am) in Argentina,
the only place is a bus terminal!
So
after the cab and deposit refund I am now left with 45 pesos and nothing is
open so can't buy anything. Let’s see where I can spend them…
For
a change the bus left late (20mins) but I put it down to the fact that the guy
loading it was just interested in las propinas (tips) so everyone took so long
to get their bags on board! This is going to be an interesting bus ride as
there is water coming from the ceiling above me and it seems to be a low rider
as we slow to a crawl for every bump in the road.
We
drove the same route as we did for the Humahuaca trip turning off to drive
through Purmamarca and past Cerro de los 7 colores and kept going to make our
way over the Andes to Chile. I did manage to have a few naps so far but want to
try stay awake for the rest of the route as it's expected to be amazing.
This
area looks so different without all people here for the carnival. After a
little while we started climbing the mountains slowly but surely zigzagging our
way up into the clouds through sections where the tarred Road had even been
washed away. Once in the clouds the windows misted up and the rain came so I
couldn't see much so tried to get some sleep and before I knew it I felt the
sun on my face and we were making our way down the other side but still had
limited views because of the misted windows with rain drops still on the
outside.
What
I could see were some barren mountains with some karoo like shrubbery on them.
After falling asleep in the sun I awoke to see a massive salt flat in the
distance. There was still some water on it from the rain which provides a
perfect reflection of the clouds and mountains in the distance. There were even
a few goal posts erected on the flats to form a soccer pitch!
After
the salt flats we drove through a yellowy green grassy patch before heading
back into some mountains with llamas scattered around like sheep in the karoo.
Guess they must be farming them here.
After
a few more naps and changes in scenery we came across some snow covered peaks
and made our way towards them through some very barren land with very sparse
vegetation. For lunch we were given some potatoes with rolled pork and a cheese
sauce. I was amazed to see no alfajor!
Looking
at the barren landscape I couldn’t help being amazed that a few hours ago I was
in a wet and raining Salta where the roads where flooding and everything was so
green. At the border the Chileans were much more strict as usual and we were
stopped there for about an hour before making our way again. I'm not sure what
altitude it was at but I definitely felt a shortness of breath as soon as I
picked up my bag or did anything simple.
It
was a bit of a sad moment leaving Argentina and not knowing when I would be
back. I definitely have loved my time in Argentina and feel that there are so
many more things I want to do and see so I will be back one day...
As
we entered Chile that barren landscape continued into the horizon with tufts of
yellow grass all over. As barren and remote as these areas have been it's
amazing to see how many little villages and farm houses are actually here. The
road wasn't very busy with only seeing a car about every 5 min or so and our
bus driver using both lanes to get around corners. It's also unreal to see how
the landscape and vegetation both change every few minutes.
So
I went to sleep again and when I woke up I had a snow capped volcano next to me
and we were driving down into a large flat plain. While coming down from the
mountains there was this "crack" next to the road which looks like
the earth opened up in an earthquake like u see in the movies (but you probably
find its just from a river or something).
We
eventually pulled into San Pedro de Atacama and went to the bus stop where I
grabbed my bag and headed to the hostel. While walking through the streets I
noticed that most of the houses and buildings were made of mud and there was so
much sand around and very little greenery (we are in the desert after all).
At
the hostel I started chatting to some people he gave me advice on some tours
and also other things to do around town. I then made my way into town to book
my next few days and find out more about the Bolivian border crossing.
I
grabbed a pizza (actually rather nice with thin Base) and some beers and headed
back to the hostel for a table tennis competition. As I expected I was out in
the first round but it was a fun night with meeting new people and having a few
drinks.