Clay formations continue
9. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
It was not a small stretch of these white clay formations but we were driving for more than 20 minutes and our road continued passing by and through them. It reminded me of the Chambal valley in IndiaLæs mere
Near Las Flechas
9. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
The light continued to fade but we wete still quiye many kms away from where we had planned to sleep for the night. The road had been way more scenic than what we expected, so we had made quite a fewLæs mere
Las Flechas
9. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Around 8 pm, we reached the area called Las Flechas. It is a beautiful landscape that has formations in the shape of fins. The land here is formed 20-30 million years ago when the land block wasLæs mere
Sunset at Las Flechas
9. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
There was a viewpoint of the Las Flechas on the way. We stopped there and climbed on one of the fins to get a panoramic view of the fin formations and the valley behind. The instructions near theLæs mere
To Angastaco
9. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
From here, to Angastaco village, the distance was about 25 kms. This was the village where there was a petrol pump where we hoped to find the services facilities and to refuel as well. The landscapeLæs mere
Camping at Angastaco
9. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
We reached Angastaco village by around 8:40 pm. It was quite dark by now. The petrol pump was at the start of the village and it turned out to be a small one. We refueled a bit here. There was an openLæs mere
Cowboy countryside
10. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
Further up from Angastaco, it was typical cowboy country with green valleys, horses, cowboys and vineyards. A complete contrast to the scenery from the previous late evening.
To Piedra del Molino
10. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
The greenery continued for some time and the suddenly as we started climbing, it changed to high altitude desert landscape with cactii and clay and sand. 70 kms later, we turned Eastwards for about 50Læs mere
Piedra del Molino
10. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
Piedra del Molino is a high altitude viewpoint into a valley on the other side of the altiplano. It is 3457 mts above sea level. We had climbed about 2500 mts since starting in the morning. There wasLæs mere
Cuesta del Obispo
10. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
The 2nd stop was about 2 kms down from the top. It was the viewpoint of the snaking road coming up to the mountain pass from Salta in the plaims below. Its a 21 km road built between 1928 - 1931. ItLæs mere
Mirador Valle del Encantado
10. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C
The 3rd and the last point we visited was the Mirador Valle del Encantado. The viewpoint of the enchanted valley. It was a km back up towards the top of the mountain. It didn't turn out to be anythingLæs mere
Parque Nacional los Cardones
10. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
The route back on highway 33 was mainly through very flat land with no striking feature. It passes over the small mountain chain that are part of the Parque Nacional los Cardones amd then continues inLæs mere
Steep narrow winding road La Poma
10. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
From La Poma onwards, the road started climbing very steeply. It was a very narrow dirt track, with place for only one vehicle at a time, for most of the route. We had to cross many small streams byLæs mere
Abra de Acay
10. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
We continued with our ascent along the beautiful Ruta 40. The road climbs pretty high over the pass of Abra de Acay at 4895 mts before descending on the other side in a long winded route visible fromLæs mere
San Antonio de Los Cobres
10. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
We descended on the winding road down on the other side of the Abra de Acay pass. There was still some snow at the sides of the road. After a few kms, the road evens out into a flat plain again butLæs mere
Greenery after Payogasta
10. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C
After lunch, we started North again from Payogasta. Here, suddenly it was much more greener in the valleys and the locals had used the abundance of water to grow a lot of crops. The main sources ofLæs mere
Starry night on the Cauchari salar
11. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
It was a beautiful starry night with a few specs of clouds here and there. It was a typical clear altiplano night with tons of stars and galaxies visible all over the sky. It was an unforgettable,Læs mere
Cauchari Salar
11. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
The route took us straight across the Cauchari Salae. This salae was quite different than the other salt plains we had seen in that it was more red than white. We even passed some abandoned houses andLæs mere
Back in Chile
11. december 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
The route 52 quickly took us to the Argentina - Chile border. We stopped just short of the border at some food kiosks to have our breakfast. After the breakfast, we entered the checkpoint and had toLæs mere
Back in Atacama
11. december 2017, Chile ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
We passed the Salar de Tara and reached back in Atacama at about 12 pm. We went straight to Hostel Hara which we had booked before leaving and we got the same Room no. 2 again. After that we went toLæs mere
Goodbye Atacama
12. december 2017, Chile ⋅ ❄️ -4 °C
We left Atacama towards Calama by the 10:15 am bus. Calama is about 90 kms from Atacama and it takes about 1.5 hrs to reach there. Our flight to Santiago was from Calama and was scheduled at 2:30 pmLæs mere
Calama
12. december 2017, Chile ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
We reached Calama at 11:45 am and were dropped on the outskirts of the town. We walked around and found a place where we could have our lunch. After that we took a taxi for 4000 CLP and went to theLæs mere
Highway jaywalking in Santiago
12. december 2017, Chile ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
We landed in Santiago at 4:30 pm. We had an early morning flight at 6:45 am to Easter Island next morning. All the gotel we could find around the airport on booking.com were quite expensive with theLæs mere
City Express Santiago
12. december 2017, Chile ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
We checked on booking.com and found the cheapest one of them fully booked so we decided to go to the City Express hotel nearby. They had rooms available there. It was about 1200 SEK which was quite aLæs mere
Santiago to Easter Island
13. december 2017, Chile ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Our flight to Easter Island was scheduled to depart at 6:45 am. So we had ordered the free airport shuttle at 5 am. We were up and ready for breakfast at 4:30 am. We had a quick meal amd were droppedLæs mere

























































































































































































