South America: Argentina & Santiago

After completing the three day Bolivian Salt Flats tour (which was probably my top highlight of the whole trip), we were left at a small town inside the Chilean border by the name of San Pedro de Atacama.  Our aim for the next 24 hours was to catch up on some sleep and to figure out a way to get from here down to Santiago, hopefully via some interesting sites!

We had a couple of ideas - the first was to follow the Chilean coastline down via the Pan de Azucar National Park for a few days to see some wildlife before continuing on down to Santiago - this was our preferred option.

The second was to head back inland and return to Argentina, stopping at Salta and Mendoza before returning to Chile and on to Santiago. This was our less preferred option as it involved greater distance as well as border crossings and we were hoping to see more of Chile than the just the capital, Santiago.

We ventured forth to the local bus terminal to discuss our options with a staff member there using a variety of hand gestures, pigeon Spanish and map pointing. Eventually we managed to explain the route we were hoping to take only to be shot down at every step with endless bus changes, back tracking and leaving no time to actually spend with the animals or down in Santiago.

Which left us no option but to take the Argentinean inland route. We booked on the next bus out of there which conveniently left in less than an hours time - we had just enough time to scurry back to the hostel, pack our gear and run back to the bus station to jump on the Argentinean bound bus, destination Salta! The bus trip was a day trip as it had to cross over the international border when the border was open (no 24 hour borders here!). This meant we left in the morning and arrived at nighttime.

Salta was an uneventful stop over point, except that from the bus station I took us on a slight detour on foot via a rough looking neighbourhood, a prison (with inmates trying to talk to us through metal bars), and some other unsavory types before realising we should have gone LEFT instead of RIGHT when leaving the bus terminal. Should have checked the compass on that one! Still, nothing wrong with a bit of a scenic route every now and again.

We had allowed one day for exploring Salta. Most of the activites offered in Salta invoved day trips out to the salt flats - which we had already passed through, so we wandered the streets a little but didn't see or do a great deal except to book the next leg of the journey - a bus ride to Mendoza. This was quite a lengthy 20 hour trip but the time went pretty quickly through snoozing and watching movies.

Mendoza was one place in Argentina we never thought we could get to - but we were glad we did. Renowned for its malbec wines and its European influence, it was nice to be back to the familiarity and the comfort of a modern city. We found an inexpensive hostel near the center of town and planned the two days we had to spend here enjoying as much wine as possible. That evening we took advantage of being back in Argentina by going out to a nice steak restaurant - where I had the house special consisting of a massive t-bone steak, chunky fries topped with egg, a tomato salsa and other goodies all washed down with a tasty bottle of malbec as recommended by the in-house wine guy. Fabulous!

The following day we took a short bus ride out to Maipú where a number of the more popular wineries were situated. We hired bikes (the recommended mode of transport) to take us around the vineyards. It was good day out, but it didn't quite live up to our Martinborough inspired expectations - the wineries were few and far between and biking in the heat took it's toll on us pretty quick. The bike path also ended after a couple of blocks after leaving the hire shop so we had to share what seemed like a main road with massive trucks going back and forth with little more than a dirt path on the side of the road to separate us. Still, we had a tasty meal at "La Chiase de De Tommaso" where we shared a bottle of tasty malbec, we also tasted a few nice drops at the local wine museum and also tried various chocolates, oils and liqueurs at a chocolatier en-route.

That evening we were still thirsty for more wine so we popped in on a fancy looking wine tasting place we had spotted the night before. We took on the "Malbec Sampler" which consisted of 5 different malbecs of differing age and quality. They were all pretty damn tasty. After this, we were still thirsty for more wine! And, to top it off, it was our last night in Argentina so we went in search of yet another steak house. This one topped all previous steak houses. The steak was absolutely incredible. The fries and salad were also superb. The wine we washed it down with was probably the best drop yet (which we managed to find in a supermarket as a present for Robin). Fully content, we returned to the hostel to sleep the full bellies away.

Nearing the end of our South American experience, we had only one night and two days left in which to make our way to as well as spend time in Santiago. The 7 hour bus ride from Mendoza arrived in Santiago around midnight so we opted to spend our last night in South America at a hotel near the bus terminal. It was a wise move as the hotel was very nice and comfortable and the buffet breakfast the next morning was just what we needed.

That day we had to cram in as much as possible as we were flying back to good ol' New Zealand that night, at around 10pm. We walked into the center of town and up and down the pretty pedestrianised streets which felt very much like we were back in a main city in Europe, with all the major brands on sale and numerous cafes and bars to enjoy. Next stop was one of the many museums in town - we decided we had only enough time to visit one (we're not really very museumy people anyway) and so decided on the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art - which was interesting, but unless you are into old archeological type stuff can be completed in about 5-7 minutes at a pinch.

From here we wandered further to the east of town and walked up on top of the Cerro Santa Lucia to see Santiago from above - a nice panoramic view with the mountain backdrop behind a very clean and green looking city. We also tried a "Mote con huesillo" which is a traditional Chilean summer-time drink consisting of peaches in juice, water, cinnamon and some sort of wheat pasta stuff added to the bottom. It was rather odd looking but very tasty.

With a half day of walking completed, next up it was lunch time! Well, it was actually long past lunch time so we were pretty hungry.  We decided to leg it to the other side of town to visit the Mercado Central - massive enclosed market consisting mostly of seafood - including numerous seafood restaurants. We had tasty fish and chips - Chilean style at what turned out to be the biggest and busiest of them all with waiters carrying plates upon plates of all the different types of fish and seafood you can imagine going too and fro.

With late lunch out of the way, the clock was ticking on a little so we popped back into the center of town to the main Plaza de Armas for a coffee and started to notice hordes and hordes of people arriving where we were. What on earth could be happening, we wondered. We quickly came to realise that the masses of the city were converging on the center of the city for their annual Christmas parade! It was time for us to head back to the hotel and jump in a taxi to the airport - but we were going in the opposite direction to the masses and ended up fighting our way through them for several kilometers before the crowds started to ease up a little ... It was pretty crazy!

It was also at this point that we realised we didn't have enough cash for the taxi ride to the airport. Bugger! We tried numerous ATM machines but they wouldn't accept my ANZ credit card (even though it was the card that kept on giving). Finally we came across an ATM that did accept it ... the transaction was accepted ..... the card popped out .... the machine said to take my money ...... but there was no money to take!! What the hell? First time that has ever happened. So we took off in search of another accepting ATM which we finally found as we approached the hotel. Phew.

With half the streets blocked by the hordes of locals, we decided we should probably try and get to the airport quick smart before it was too late, so we booked a taxi and inched our way out of the area and finally arrived at the airport drop off zone.

We boarded the flight, all on time. At this point realisation started to kick in. This was the final leg on a fantastic six week journey of South America. It was the final leg of an incredible six month holiday. It was the final leg before returning to NZ where we hadn't lived for nearly 4 years. It was the end of an era and the start of something new and unknown. It was hard not to feel a little emotional, but at this stage we were feeling ready to hang up the pack and settle down for a bit.

We survived six countries in six weeks in South America - albeit a little exhausted and very bussed out by the end of it but would we do it all again?

Absolfreakenlutely!

T