On The Road Again: This Time Chile

It has been three months since our last major trip into the countryside of Argentina so it was time to hit the road again.

Our first objective was to visit Bill and Jane, a Scottish cruising couple we met in Labrador in 2000, who were in Puerto Montt, Chile. Since we plan on spending about six months in Puerto Montt next year, this was also a fact-finding mission. Crossing over into Chile, one can't help but notice the contrast between the dry, harsh land of Argentina and the fertile, green farmlands of Chile. We were lucky to arrive in Puerto Montt on one of the three (average) sunny days of the month and the views were stunning. Bill and Jane were just launching their boat, Vagrant of Clyde, having hauled it out to clean and paint the bottom. We spent two days catching up, sharing information, and enjoying their hospitality. We hope to meet up with them again somewhere in southern Chile as they head east, back to Scotland, and we head west to Port Townsend.

Originally this trip was to focus on NW Argentina. Going to Puerto Montt first meant we had a lot of ground to cover to get back on track. We took the overnight bus to Santiago and connected to a bus over the pass to Mendoza, Argentina. The pass had been closed the week before due to snow and trucks were still backed up as we crossed. We must have passed over 200 trucks parked on the side of the road waiting, we don't know why as the road was clear, to cross into Argentina. One would think that since this is the major commercial road between the two countries, all effects would be made to keep things moving. There was no back up on the other side crossing from Argentina to Chile. We timed it right because a few days after we crossed, another storm came through and slowed commerce down again.

From Mendoza we had the option of proceeding straight to Salta, the main jumping off point for the NW area or, our choice, slowly work our way north. Next stop, the small village of Valle Fertil, where we could arrange transportation into the Parque Provincial Ischigualasto, or Moon Valley. This is not on the regular tourist route and accommodations are limited and very cheap, US$8 per night. The village is meeting the tourist need and it was easy to arrange a tour into the park. The park is known for it's 45 million year old Triassic era formations and where some of the oldest dinosaur remains (228 my) have been found.

Getting out of Valle Fertil and onto to La Rioja posed a dilemma. We could take a four-hour bus at 3 am and move forward, or back track to San Juan on a day bus and connect to La Rioja, 10 hours. Mark's immediate response was "no way am I getting up at 2 am to take a bus," but he eventually agreed to leave at 3 am. That got us into La Rioja at 7 am and we had to wait until 12 noon to catch a bus to Catamarca, our goal for the day.

The next week was spent in Catamarca, Andalgala, Belen and Santa Maria, an area similar to Nevada's Basin and Range. The highlight of the time was meeting Carlos, a young Argentine from Buenos Aires who spoke excellent English. He has a degree in economics and did not have his head in the sand as to where Argentina's economic future lies if things continue the way they are currently. Carlos works for an American firm and was negotiating a food service contract with a Canadian mining company currently opening a mine near Andalgala. He had a car and when he was free in the afternoon we headed into the mountains to explore. We hope to have him over to the boat to return the hospitality.

We enjoy desert environments but the scenery really started getting interesting - dramatic mountains, large river valleys, small villages - on the very funky bus that only goes three days a week from Belen to Santa Maria. In Santa Maria we stayed in a very pleasant residential (somewhere between a motel and a B&B) and toured the major pre-Incan archaeological site of Quilmes. Inhabited since the ninth century A.D., the settlement of Quilmes had a population of over 3,000 at its peak in the seventh century. The arrival of Spanish colonizers began the demise of the tribe as they were mercilessly punished for resisting evangelization and enslavement.

We had encountered very few travelers since leaving Valle Fertil but our next stop was Cafayate and we'd be back on the main tourist route.

Cafayate is a small, pleasant and very inexpensive town catering to young travelers and tourist. While Mendoza and San Juan are areas most associated with Argentine wines, Cafayate wines are slowly gaining recognition, its vineyards some of the highest in the world at 1,700m. Having worked for Andrew Will Wines I felt I had to visit at least one winery and picked Nanni for it's certified organically grown grapes. We also took a mini bus tour into the Quebrada (canyon) de Cafayate, known for it's colorful sandstone and mud stone layers. The colors in the canyons are beautiful but having spent time in Utah and Arizona we very spoiled.

Time was getting short and we needed to make a decision to either visit the remote village of Cachi or journey into the Quebrada de Humahuaca north of Salta. We opted for Cachi. There is not direct bus to Cachi so we had to take a bus to Salta and see if we could continue onto Cachi the same day. It's difficult to get connecting bus information in advance so we try to get an early bus and hope we can get a connection the same day. We were in luck. The day we traveled was one of three days a week there is an afternoon bus to Cachi.

The road to Cachi is one of those unforgettable bus rides. It's 170 km from Salta to Cachi with the 20 km’s of hairpin bends through the Cuesta del Obispo to the pass at 3,347m that’s most dramatic. The bus slowly winds its way up to the pass on a dirt road and as you look over the edge a few feet away and down into the canyon below you can't help but think that all it would take is one slip by the driver and ... Unfortunately being on a bus did not allow for photos which wouldn't have come close to capturing the feel. On the way down to Cachi at 2,280m you pass through the Parque Nacional Los Cardones, an official reserve recently set up to protect the forest of cardon cacti that cover the dusty valley.

We spent three very pleasant days in Cachi enjoying the tranquil village in the mornings and late afternoons. But between noon and 3 pm the mini tour vans start to arrive from Salta and the village is overtaken with tourists. The tours leave Salta at 7 am and arrive in Cachi in time for lunch and usually stay about two hours before returning to Salta. Then the village returns to its lazy self. Nancy decided that Cachi would be a good place to take a horseback ride, though the horses were on the skinny side. But she had a very nice morning ride into the countryside.

We returned for a night in Salta before taking a Premium Suite bus back to Buenos Aires. The original plan was to spend a few days in Salta but one day was plenty for us. Except for the main plaza and the public mercado we did not find it a very interesting place.

So we're back at Club San Fernando and the last push to get ready to leave for Periapolis, Uruguay in a few weeks. Stay tuned.