From Bariloche we took a bus to Mendonsa, the wine capital of Argentina and home to the Malbec. We decided not to spend any time here even though it is supposed to be quite beautiful Patagonia had taken its toll and we desperately needed to get to cheaper haunts.
We left our backpacks in the bus station and spent the half day we had free exploring the city centre in Mendonza. It seemed like a pretty city, a little laid back but with a certain nice energy. Anyway, very quickly we had to catch our next bus and were soon headed into the Andes to cross over to Chile.
The crossing is one of the most stunning routes I have been driven on. The actual border is at some 4900 m which means we drive up some 2000m in a few hours. The air is thin and breathing difficult. The chilean border security doesn't make it any easier with their checks for fruit , vegetable and to top the list of prohibited items hard bound books! We declared the masala we were carrying and luckily it wasn't on the list of banned items.
Finally we reached Santiago!
Anu had a bad migraine from a macdonalds sandwich we had eaten that morning, compounded by altitude sickness. Yannick and I were a little worried and so really happy that we were staying with friends, albeit friends we were yet to meet. The taxi to their place ran straight into a student protest rally against a planned Damn in chilean patagonia!
Naaz and Mauricio lived in a pretty upscale residential area of Santiago. Their flat was really comfortable and they made a huge effort to make us feel at home. We ate a dinner they had cooked for us with a bottle of really good Chilean wine known as the Carmenere and we were already in love with the city.
Santiago was a great refueling point for us. We hung out at home, ate great food, laughed a lot with Naaz, Mauricio and their friends and generally lazed without an agenda. Strange as it may sound, after a few hectic months on the road we hadn't realised how badly we needed a break! We really liked Santiago as a city. It was calm, beautifully constructed, very modern without being all glass and steel and the food was great. The city has been rebuilt so many times due of its penchant for earthquakes.
We did take a small trip to Valparaiso, a very pretty town a few hours outside of Santiago.
Valparaiso has some of the best street art I've enountered. The day we were there was cold and gloomy but the streets were filled with school marching bands. This port city is precariously build on the hills surrounding the ocean. The houses are made of tin, including the walls, and are brightly coloured, giving the whole city a very festive look. There used to be ascencions or whinch driven trams in many places in the city to take the citizens up the hills but unfortunately most of them have been shut down now. We did ride up in one of the functional ones.
Finally recharged, but a little reluctant, we decided that we had to continue soon or we woul grow roots. We were north bound to San Pedro de Atacama, one of the driest places in the world.
Naaz and Mauricio had made Santiago a really special place for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment