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The South American Odyssey
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The South American Odyssey

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  • The Craze for TravellingThe South American OdysseyThe Craze for Travelling
    Mud potFumeroleClay terraces

    Mud pots & fumeroles

    4 Disember 2017, Chile ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We spent another half an hour walking among the boiling mud pots and smoking fumeroles. This place reminded me of Yellowstone National Park in the US.
    There were some amazing formations due to the hot water and the clay and other minerals accumulating around the pools.
    After walking around in the geyser fields, we returned back to the parking where our van was parked. The driver and the guide had prepared a breakfast table for us. All the tour vans were parked here and we met some more of our tour mates from the day before.    Baca lagi

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    Roasting llama meatThe villageVillage church

    Machuca village

    4 Disember 2017, Chile ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C

    We reached Machuca at around 9 am. This is a small mountain village where traders and travelers going across the altiplano used to meet up for trading items from their area with things from other places.
    With the modern era of countries separating people from one another, the movement of the people got restricted and the village declined into almost abandonment.
    Now a says, very few people live here. The mainstay of the village now is selling empenadas stuffed with goat cheese and skewed llama meat to the tourists.

    Our guide told us the stop would be be for an hour. Not wanting to spend all that time in this tiny village, Hristo, Kimberly a girl from Austria and I went for a short trek behind the village.    Baca lagi

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    Trek behind Machuca village

    4 Disember 2017, Chile ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C

    It was quite sunny but very windy and cold. While most of the group went back to the van or to the vendors of the food stuff, the 3 of us went for a short trek behind the village.
    There were some ruins of older buildings near the gorge and some of them even had a combination of red and black lava stones in their walls.
    When we came back, we realized everyone had been waiting for us for 15-20 min and Hristo had gone even higher and wouldn't be back for another 10-15 min. We realized that the stupid guide who had been sleeping since the morning had told in Spanish that the stop was for 30 min and in English he had said 1 hour.
    Eventually, Hristo too came back by 10 am and we leftover back to San Pedro de Atacama.    Baca lagi

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    2Outside our roomOur roomHostel courtyardHostel sitout

    Hostal Hara

    4 Disember 2017, Chile ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C

    We reached back by about 11:15 am and went back to the our hostel (Hostal Hara). The next tour was at 3 pm, so we decided to take a nap and recover from our early morning schedule.

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    Protection against the dust
    Protection against the dustThe 1st Baltinache laguna

    Lagunas Escondidas de Baltinache

    4 Disember 2017, Chile ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C

    At 3 pm, we went to the tour agency where we were supposed to be picked up for the tour of the Escondidas lakes. The bus was a big one with about 35 seats. It was in a totally beat up condition. The road to the lakes was an unasphalted desert track and the whole bus rocked and rattled with dust filling up the inside of the bus like a cloud. The lakes are abou 40 kms from the town. It took us about an hour to reach the destination and everyone was happy to come out of the torture chamber.

    Escondidas or Baltinache are seven deep blue emerald water holes in salt. There are 7 lakes, 2 of which you can swim in. The last lake is a 10 minute walk from the first and requires good footwear as the salt is very sharp. The density of the salt is so high that it is not possible to swim in the lake, one just floats on top.
    We decided to first walk to the 7th lake and see if that was a better place to go in and of not then return to the 1st laguna and enter there.    Baca lagi

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    The 7th Baltinache lake

    4 Disember 2017, Chile ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    The last of the Baltinache lakes was much bigger than the other ones before. We decided to go in here. The water density is very high due to the salt in the lake. It was not possible to swim. Most of the body remained out and above the water. We were able to float around from one place to another by using our arms.
    After we came out, the whole body was covered with salt. We even tried dusting it off when the body dried up but it just wouldn't go. My vlack swimming shorts were completely white and cripy as if starched. Luckily, there were showers near the 1st lake. We showered up and then sat in the bus to go to a sunset viewpoint over Moon Valley.    Baca lagi

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    Sunset overlooking the Moon Valley

    4 Disember 2017, Chile ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    We reached the moon valley viewpoint by about 7:15 pm. This was a different one than the one we had been to previous time. The viewpoint had a nice panoramic view of the Moon Valley. We spent another 45 min walking around and chatting with our tour mates. The sunset was very beautiful, but it got windy and cold very quickly after it set.
    We left back to San Pedro and were back in town by 8:30 pm.    Baca lagi

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    Pickup at Wickedcampers

    5 Disember 2017, Chile ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    As had been agreed, we reached the pickup location of Wickedcampers by 10 am after having our breakfast and checking out.
    We got a lovely colorful can (the tiger). It took us almost 2 hours to complete all the paperwork and getting the explanations regarding the engine, storage amd other facilities in the van. This was going to be our home for the next 7 days trip into the Northern part of Argentina. We wanted to try it out for a short period, to see if this would be a viable option during our longer trip in the Patagonia area of Chile and Argentina.
    The van was for 2 people and had 3 mattresses inside to form a bed. This bed could be converted to a table during the day. The back side had place for a stove, 2 foldable chairs, a table, an ice box and a sink. It was like a mobile house.
    We left San Pedro de Atacama by 1:45 pm after picking our bags at the hostel.    Baca lagi

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    Welcome to ArgentinaThe border checkpoint is actually inside Argentina2Tourist Information center in the middle of nowhere

    Into Argentina

    5 Disember 2017, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Our passage into Argentina was via the Paso de Jama, a high altitude pass between Chile and Argentina. The crossing took us about 45 min at the checkpoint. At the entrance of the check post, we received a paper where the guard noted down our vehicle number. Both the Chilean and Argentinian officers were sitting in the same building with counters next to each other. We got out Chile exit stamp, Argentina entry stamps on our passports here. Besides these, there was vehicle verification stamp, vehicle insurance check stamp and 2 more stamps on the paper we had received. By the time, we came out, we had 6 multi colored stamps on the small paper we had received. This paper we handed over to the guard at the other side of the border and we were let through.
    Amazing bureaucracy. Reminded me of India 😉

    By now, it was about 6 pm. A few kms from the border we saw a board for Tourist Information in the middle of nowhere. It also said food available. We had not had our lunch so we decided to stop and get some food.
    Hristo went inside the compound to check it out. Everything was locked and closed. There was a tent in the middle of the compound from which a guy came out and told that he was camping there and that he had not seen anyone there in the past more than 3 hours. We decided to go on and see if we could find some food further down the road.    Baca lagi

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    Straight road to nowhere

    5 Disember 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    The landscape on this side of the border was flat desert like with no distinguishing features. The road went straight with hardly any turns. There was no vegetation or animals. The road bisected the red colored Salar de Cauchari on the right and the white colored Salar de Olaroz on the left. In the almost 100 kms we drove from the border, we saw only one small hill that had some distinguishing color or feature. Ot was a bleak high altitude drive with most of the journey above 4200 mts.Baca lagi

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    Pastos Chicos restaurant and pumpRock formation opposite the restaurant

    Pastos Chicos

    5 Disember 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    About a 100 kms from the border at about 6:30 pm and about 3 kms from the village of Susques, in the middle of nowhere was the restaurant cum petrol station of Pastos Chicos. There was a large parking there. We checked at the fuel pump amd were told that they accept only Argentinian Pesos and cash only. The same with the restaurant. Since we had just crossed the border for the 1st time, we didn't have any local currency. The fuel pump personnel told that there was an atm at Susques. We decided to go to the village and see if we could get some cash, food and a place to park for the night. If not, then we decided to come back amd sleep in the fuel pump's parking and ise their toilets in the morning. There was no charge for the parking or the use of toilets.Baca lagi

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    Susques church2Main street SusquesInside the churchPaintings on the walls of the church

    Susques village

    5 Disember 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We drove on to Susques. It was a small village with one main street. Everything was centered around this road. But, they had an atm and some restaurant boards. The atm was having quite a high usage charge over and above the conversion and/or withdrawal fee our banks would charge, so tried finding some other atms but there were none. So, in the end, we had to withdraw from this atm only since all transactions and services were in cash here.
    There was a nice 450 years old church in the village. We went in to see the inside. There were paintings on the walls and the alter looked very different than in typical churches. There were ladies and children inside singing prayers. It was a nice melodious singsong chanting.    Baca lagi

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    Lunch/Dinner at El Kaktus

    5 Disember 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We came out of the church and tried to find a restaurant. Most were closed right now and would open by 8 pm only. Finally, we found one (El Kaktus) on one of the only sode street in the village.
    Everything inside the restaurant was made from dried cactus wood.
    This was our first interaction with the locals on the Argentina side of the border and we realized tgat despite it being just 100 kms from Chile, the language usage, the Spanish, the menu and wjat you got in the meni was very different than from Chile. The Spanish used was a bit different, some of the words used for the same thing though synonyms were different. We couldn't understand a single dish in the menu. Eventually, we managed to figure out that they didn't have the concept of a day meal with soup, main dish and a dessert as in Chile. Here, everything had to be ordered separately and the main items on the menu were Empenadas, pastas and sandwiches. This, we found later was common across the whole of North Argentina. I ordered some vegetarian pasta that turned out to be ravioli like with tomato salsa and cheese.    Baca lagi

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    We parked next to the toilet to break the wind
    We parked next to the toilet to break the windAll set to sleepA beautiful sunset2The amazing starry night

    Camping at Pastos Chicos

    5 Disember 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    After dinner, we drove back 3 kms to Pastos Chicos since we couldn't find any convenient place to camp near Susques. We prepared the van for sleeping and were off to bed by 11:30 pm but not before taking some pictures of the amazing star filled sky. We were really in the middle of nowhere and the only light was from the restaurant and the fuel pump. The sky was like a blanket of glittering dots everywhere. We could even spot some galaxies and star clusters. It was truly magical. The altitude and the clear sky made it extremely beautiful and us sleeping in the van with a direct view of the skies was like sleeping under the stars. It reminded me of my childhood when we used to sleep outside under the stars except that here it was many many more of them.
    It was a bit windy and abouts 10C when we slept but it got quite cold in the late night/early morning. My guess would be around 0 C inside the van. We had to turn on the engine heating twice to keep us warm.
    Overall, it was very comfortable in the van. The mattresses were nice and soft but firm enough to give good support. The mattresses under the head was raised slightly and was perfect for sleeping. The curtains kept the lights out from in front and behind.    Baca lagi

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    2Our van next to the toliets
    2Our van next to the tolietsThe fuel pump

    Morning at Pastos Chicos

    6 Disember 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We woke up a bit late at around 9 am and then freshened up, had our breakfast at the restaurant, fueled up fully and then were ready to go on.
    Another interesting thing we noticed was the use of stickers everywhere. They had them on the restaurant door, windows and even the fuel pumps. This was some we didn't see in any other country till now but here, it was everywhere.
    We left at about 10:30 am.    Baca lagi

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    Cactii on the hillsSalt plains of Salineras Grande2

    Cactii after Susques

    6 Disember 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    A few kms after Susques, we saw the first signs of any type of vegetation. There were cactii all over the hills that the road passed through. Then the hills disappeared very quickly and we saw the flat salt plain of the Salinas Grande.Baca lagi

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    Mirror surface of Salinas Grande

    6 Disember 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    This salar was quite different than the other ones we had seen till now. There was about 2-3 cms of water on top of the salt and the white of the salt made it reflect like a mirror. We walked around for a while. It almost looked like walking on water. It was quite a unique experience.Baca lagi

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    Entrance to the salt plains
    Entrance to the salt plainsHexagonal salt crustsSaline poolsSalt crystallizing at the top of the pools

    Salt pools Salinas Grande

    6 Disember 2017, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    In the middle of the road cutting across the Salinas Grande, there is an entrance. Here, one can enter with a guide. The entrance fee is 200 ARS. The guide takes you deep into the salt plains. Doing this without a guide could be quite dangerous since the crust is very thin at some places and there is water in a lot of places below.
    Our first stop was the salt pools. These have been dug to extract salt after it evaporates. The salt concentration is so high that we could see crystals forming at the top of the pools.    Baca lagi

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