October 2009: Salta, Argentina Trip

We had wanted to do a road trip to Salta, Argentina, since we arrived in Chile having heard that it was a beautiful but long drive -- 8 hours across the Andes reaching an altitude above 15,000 ft. It was advised that we arrive at the customs office before the tour buses and transport trucks. We arrived at 7:30 a.m. only to learn that the office didn't open until 8 a.m. We were in line with truck drivers for the most part and watched as more and more people arrived "early" so they too could avoid the problems associated with following tour bus and transport trucks in this climb into the Andes from over 8,000 to 15,000.  Here I captured Larry early in our arrival and wait.

Gosh, and the process!  No such thing as having forms available before you arrived at "the" window.  And then, when the window opened there was quite the jostling for position when it was discovered that a tour bus driver was in line with us and when it was his turn at the windown, suddently there appeared at least 40 people.  The truck drivers didn't like that at all and the fellow at the window wasn't pleased.  We couldn't help wonder, "Hasn't this happened before?!"  The reason for waiting in the first line was to prove that we were in Chile legally and what took time was needing to fill out the form proving that you were in Chile legally in addition to showing your passport.  Then, those driving a private vehicle (that would be us), needed to go stand in another line at another window to prove we were allowed to take the vehicle across the border and then an "inspector" followed us to our vehicle to make sure the vechicle we said we had permission to take across the border was in fact that vehicle. 

We also couldn't help wonder how it was possible that we were probably 7th in line to begin with and by the time we left, there was hardly anyone there -- hmmmm.  We had arrived at 7:30 a.m. and were on the road by -- 9 a.m. Whew!

So off we were for our driving across the Andes adventure.  We left San Pedro de Atacama at an elevation of around 8,000 ft. and within 20 minutes, we were at 15,000 ft. 

This is the back side of the volanco outside of San Pedro de Atacama called Licancabur (which I've featured in a previous blog) where we've just reached 15,000 ft.

We almost immediately came upon herds of llamas -- I love how he posed for me!

I never tire of showing you the nothingness of the Atacama Desert.

We then came upon water! and Guanaco and I've included a link for any of you interested in knowing a tad more about these cool creatures.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanaco

Here I've provided you another picture of the barren landscape we experienced for a large part of our trip across the Andes with the beginnings of a salt flat appearing on the left.

Finally, after approximately two hours of driving, we arrived at the Argentina border and luckily, the border crossing went smooth; however, we essentially went through the same process we had gone through to leave Chile -- just not as many people.

One of the several salt flats we came upon on our trip.

Finally we arrived in Salta -- but it took us a little longer than 8 hours.  We ended up on a road we shouldn't have been on (think curvy and scenic) on the back end of a long drive.  It ended up being an 11 hour drive with that last part being hard on the driver (that would be Larry).  We checked into our hotel and then hit the streets with a recommendation from a hotel employee of a restaurant that served Argentinian beef along with a Argentinian Malbec -- just what we'd been waiting for all day. 

The following day we headed out bright and early to see the sites.  We felt safe walking anywhere we wanted to go day or night while in Salta (but did stay on main roadways) but did find that vehicles definately have the right-of-way! 

We enjoyed the Plaza with its many outdoor eating areas.

Now that's what I call a beer!

And our food of choice?  Tamales and empanadas and Argentinian wine of course!  Muy rico!

We were strolling down a street when we heard familiar music -- music from our Bolivia days!  We encountered this group of people who surely have Bolivian roots as these are the costumes and dance we saw during Carnival in Bolivia.

I suggested Larry go stand by the girls to have his picture taken -- I do believe he was shy?!  I wasn't!

This was a "Chia" where they poor alcohol on the vehicle and confetti to give the vehicle good luck.

Our four day weekend was over in no time and it was time to head back to Chile.  Jim, this is where Larry got your rock -- we're at around 12,000 feet here -- the climb begins!

And what a climb it was -- I was quite happy that we didn't have any buses or trucks behind us or coming towards us either coming or going.  We did come upon bike riders though at around 13,000 ft. -- hardy folk here in South America!

More critters we encountered who were more than willing to pose.

Here we hit our all time high while crossing the Andes.  Yes I was out of breath when I'd jump out to take a photo.

Here we are about an hour from Calama at dusk and it was the prettiest I'd ever seen this area -- that is the volcano Licancabur in the background.

The beauty of dusk in the Atacama was a gift and a wonderful way to end our adventure to Salta.

Springtime in Santiago -- in September!

September and springtime in Santiago. Larry had business in Santiago the first week in September allowing me the opportunity to visit a neighborhood called Bellavista where I found flowering plum trees and brightly colored homes.

One of the many outdoor restaurant located in Patio Bellavista. There are also a lot of "tiendas" in Patio Bellavista, as well as the neighborhood, where you can buy jewelry and other tourist-type ... stuff.

Miguel and Eliana are our Chilean friends that we were lucky enough to spend time with when we all lived in Peru. They took us to a restaurant area in Santiago called Bordo Rio where we were able to choose from Chilean, Italian, Argentinian, pizza, sushi, etc. We went with Italian!

Santiago in the El Bosque neighborhood where there are several hotels, restaurants as well as Juan Valdez coffee shops and Starbucks! Juan coffee rules! (That is Larry on the left in this photo.)

On Saturday, we arranged for a taxi to drive us to the community of Los Andes about 45 miles northeast of Santiago to see the countryside and...to locate the CALA factory (Ceramica Artistica Los Andes). We had heard of (and seen) the dishes that are made here. This picture is of Larry paying for our purchase and now we wait 60 days for delivery of these handpainted dishes.

We very much enjoyed the countryside on our drive to Los Andes. It rained most of the day -- was wonderful but can imagine how pretty the countryside must be on a clear day without the smog and tall buildings of Santiago hiding our view of the Andes. We're looking east towards Argentina.







Below are photos from the home, located in Bellavista, of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. He had three homes in Chile which have all been turned into museums. I loved the patio area. The photo with the young people is directly outside of the entrance.

Toconao and Miner's Day

June and July were surely quiet months for us here in Calamaland but the action has picked up. Odessa suggested we go on an outing and sounded great to me, so with Odessa's friend Betsy accompanying us, we skipped our normal morning routine of going to the gym and headed out on our excursion to Toconao (sounds like: Toe-co-no) located southeast of Calama and San Pedro de Atacama. Betsy is from Toconao and celebrates her 27th birthday tomorrow 08/12. Larry and I had driven by the "structure" seen below on our several trips to San Pedro de Atacama and surrounding area locations but had never investigated. Odessa obliged and what we discovered was a sculpture constructed in 2004 and called "Ancient Language." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Rogers_(sculptor) I googled the artists name and was directed to this link -- interesting. The picture of the plaque below is what the sculpture would look like from above -- interesting.

Again, Larry and I have driven through this area, in the midst of the Valle de la Luna, many times but we've never taken the time to stop and take a picture. The area is so visually interesting and changes as the day continues due to shadows.

Odessa took us on a little hike to see this big hole which she said she has been told people believe was created from a meteor --we're not sure but weren't able to come up with an explanation for it either -- anyone have any ideas?

We arrived in Toconao and Betsy directed us to the Quebrada de Jere. Translation of "quebrada" is gorge and the "river" that flows through it has the same name. Betsy explained that people from the town of Toconao have owned and utilized this land for a long, long time and the land is passed down to family members. It is known for its fruit trees. Quite the canal system has been devised to irrigate these small orchards which were all fenced individually with padlocked gates (some quite simple and made of sticks to sturdy ones made of iron.) This view has us looking west.

This view has us looking east. Amazing to find this little oasis in the midst of the dry Atacama Desert.

Toconao (around 8,000 ft.) is a colonial town which is said to be completely built with "liparitas" stone of volcanic origin which is mined from a quarry by Quebrada de Jere. The word "Toconao" is said to come from the pre-Inca language of cunzo and Betsy explained that "toco" means "stone".

I located a Web site that explained that the main source of work of its inhabitants is based in the agricultural and artisan activities that are made in the volcanic stone quarry.

The Torre Campanario (Bell Tower) and the town's church is said to their origins as far back as 1750.

Another great Atacama Desert excursion.

Miner's Day was celebrated here in the Condominiums on Saturday, August 8. It seemed to me to be the coldest day we've experienced so far this winter. The fellows hung out by the "parilla" keeping warm by drinking beer and the women and children stayed inside the pergola. Larry is third from the left. FYI: the tall fellow in the middle is from the U.S.

Larry came and collected the camera as he wanted a photo of Claudio warming up the wine on the grill....

There weren't a lot of us but we sure enjoyed the food, company and of course, Chilean wine.

Next post: hopefully a trip to Salta, Argentina, at the end of the month.

Tocopilla.Antofagasta Coastal Trip

Following our return from the May trip to the U.S., we didn't do any traveling until a couple of weekends ago. We traveled 2 hours west to the coastal community of Tocopilla and then south down the coast to Antofagasta. We didn't see much in the form of vegetation nor people. We stayed at a Radisson on the coast in Antofagasta for an amazing $82. Had another great ocean view from our room. After making a quick stop at the grocery store (Jumbo) in Antofagasta the following morning, we headed southeast on a quest to locate a sculpture of a hand that we had heard about. Its purpose is to great the travelers coming to and leaving Antofagasta -- pretty interesting!

My translation of the sign at the site was that it is either called the Hand of the Desert or Desert Hand? Anyway, it was constructed by a Chilean scupture (Mario Irarrazabal) from iron and cement to greet travelers coming to and from Antofagasta.

FYI: Double click on the collage to see the pictures better. Next post: We had a visitor in Calama!

Chiu Chiu Fieldtrip

The expat students attend Chilean school half day and the "international" school the other half. The four students have three instructors. These instructors recently planned a field trip to the small, historical village near Calama (Chiu-Chiu) and invited the moms and me. We had lunch at a local restaurant before visiting the sites. Larry and I had previously visited Chiu-Chiu when we took Flat Stanley on a tour but we didn't walk around the back side of the San Francisco Church which is where we found a small cemetery. Upon leaving Chiu-Chiu we drove to the Laguna Inca Coya. Legend has it that a local girl fell in love with a Inca noble and had a son. The Inca noble traveled north with the promise that he would return. When the young woman learned he had married a princess, she threw herself and child into the lagoon. The name, Inca Coya evidently means "Inca Bride." That is San Pedro and San Pablo in the background. I spotted this little fellow and loved mom's means of helping him learn to walk. The valley where Chiu-Chiu lies is perfect for growing carrots. Here the carrots are being washed before going to the "feria."