Ping and Noel's South American Oddity

Salta to the Atacama desert.

We had such an enjoyable time in Salta with Sheila as well as being able to take a much needed rest, we finally left the huge municipal campsite with its dry swimming pool and the awful roads in the city. Actually, I had been quite critical that such an important city can have roads that are broken and desperately uneven, on the whole pretty difficult and uncomfortable to drive around the city. Then I was informed that Salta has something like 20 seismic events every week. Most of them are not felt but nevertheless it does rather account the state of some of the infrastructure.

The road out of Salta. These roads were hardly wide enough for one car it is impossible to understand why they had these markings - a complete waste of paint.

We filled up with fuel and water and set off to drive over some high mountains along a quite flat kind of semi desert and then over some even higher mountains. It all took a couple of full days driving to cross them.

This mountain resembles the great wall of china

climbing to over 4500 metres

full concentration!

The drive was consistently both beautiful and exciting. The reason I describe it as a semi desert was that it had all the appearance and barrenness of a desert but there was a lot of standing water as well as a few rivers running through. A bit of a contradiction.

Local live stock on the road

The physical state of the roads was very good and the weather was perfect. There were quite a few live stocks on the road, I did find some of the winding mountainside roads a bit difficult, especially when the sheer drop went over a thousand metres but as there were no other problems, it was all manageable.

Bad altitude:

As we rose over 4500 metres high, we started to feel the ill effects. The air was thin so the slightest exertion caused breathlessness, both of us started to develop headaches and stomach discomfort. In fact, we were quite out of sorts with real difficulty sleeping.

At over 4500 metres, and performing well

The van has managed surprisingly well, a bit difficult to start cold and a good deal of white smoke but otherwise we have got on fine. Most diesel engines perform less well as you go higher between 3000 and 5000 metres they start to smoke, lose power and can be difficult to start. After about 5000m they tend not to work at all. So far, no complaints.

An inflated bag of pasta

However, the funny side of this was that prepacked food that we had bought down below blew up like balloons. One other odd effect was that we have a couple of suction pads on the windscreen that hold satnav phone etc. At about 3000metres they both just dropped off as the pressure in them equalised. He he! we put them back at 4000m so when we drive at sensible altitude they should really stick. It is worth noting that years ago, I had ‘Mountain sickness’ which was horrible and took days to recover even after getting down to a sensible height. So, what we have is not nearly the same thing.

Along this lovely drive, we still had to climb up and then down again back down to about 3000m.

This whole environment is unspeakably beautiful. I do feel a bit apologetic to keep on about the scenery but it is just a bit hard to ignore.

silliness on the salt

We arrived at Salar Grande, one of the large salt lakes in this part of Argentina, it is not nearly so big as the ones we saw in Botswana but it is very beautiful and even more so with the clear high altitude air. The road we were on goes right across the middle of the salt, it’s amazing. We were unable to drive on the salt as it was still very wet from recent heavy rains but we stopped overnight at a sort of island a where souvenir sellers have their stalls in the middle on the road crossing.

After about 6 pm we had the place to ourselves, aside
from the Canadian family that won’t leave us alone!!!

We spent a tranquil night there, right up to 3am that is. Two blokes turned up and started banging on the side of the van bleating in Spanish that they need a lift just 10km along the road. It may have surprised them that given the time, location and the fact that I had no idea who they were or what they really wanted, I was not about to wake up, get dress and come out and meet with them. In the end, they wandered off into the night. I have no idea where they came from or where they were going given that we were many miles from anywhere in any direction.

Made of salt

This whole community appears to be in the water but actually it is wet salt crust

The next day there was different light on everything and it was like looking at it all over again.

Off we went to the second half of this drive. In this part, we had to climb again to 4000m where there is a border can you believe it?

We had to go through the same rigmarole as with all the previous crossings to cross back again into Chile. As ever, all the staff were friendly and very professional. Immigration and customs out of Argentina and the same to get into Chile and of course in addition we had to be examined by the fruit and veg lady who decides which of the precious contents of our fridge will go into the bin.

Actually, as it turned out she was as stated, above professional, friendly and rather beautiful. She pounced on a couple of dead spiders with a level of glee that was faintly disturbing. She did comment, 'We don’t have many dangerous spiders in Chile’!
Oh very reassuring!

What is really appreciated was that only once she had finished her examination and the business was closed she then said that she and her (English) boyfriend are planning to get a van together and make an overland journey themselves. I gave her our details and have already had a nice contact discussing their plans. We will keep in touch.

While all this was going on we got chatting to the American couple karen Catchpole and Eric Mohl who were getting a similar search next to us. They are professional travel writers who have been on the road for a staggering 5 years making their living from writing about hotels and other places of interest and then flogging their articles and reviews to the highest bidder. Very interesting folk. They took the trouble to send an email to us after they had taken pictures of our van on the road. They realised how difficult it is to get moving shots and sent them to us, many thanks, how thoughtful.

This picture of us on the move taken by Karen +Eric

So, on we go, at the end of this journey we had the strangest last 35 to 40 km. It was a straight road and downhill all the way, going down about 1000m in height. It was quite hard work trying to maintain a controllable speed using the gears and brakes but being ever conscious that with every application the brakes would get hotter.

just a glimpse of a simple but really beautiful,not to mention ,historic church

All the woodwork in this lovely church is made from cactus trunks

When we finally arrived in the town of San Pedro de Atacama I was absolutely ‘rinsed’, headache, breathless, and just plain tired.

The town itself is really a little strange, a bit rough and ready with unpaved roads and not very attractive. It is absolutely crammed with tourists.At the time of writing I have yet to know what they are here for.

We found a campsite. The place we found was not chocca bloc with young back packers, is very neat and tidy with really excellent facilities and nice people working there.

We enjoyed that they had a large kitchen and a sitting room with wifi and everything.

Brief encounters.

We have met a number of people while we were there. Let me tell you a bit about them, but first we said farewell to our Canadian friends, the Law family who have gone off touring. We have plans to meet them soon, somewhere.

As we arrived at the camp we could not help noticing a huge Winnebago. It was about 12 to 15m long which is 2 to 3 times the length of our van. It had slide out expanding sides which double its width. I have to say that I have seen blocks of flats that are smaller than this ‘camper’ We got chatting to the very nice Swiss couple who had bought the van in Sacramento California. And have driven down from there taking their time travelling for a couple of years. I had formed the belief that this is a most unsuitable Overlander. They told me, however, that they have experienced no real problems despite the size of their vehicle. I mean they not only had two tellies, one of them was about the same size as the side of our van!

Joking aside they were really nice and took time to tell us that what they have chosen to do is to travel, long term and to regard their Winnebago as their true home. When they showed us around we saw it was impressively well appointed. It even had a spare bedroom! Being based on an American Ford they told me that it was really comfortable to drive. With all mod cons, air con, cruise control comfy seats all fired up by a modest V10 petrol engine! I really was impressed and Ping was sick with the dreaded,‘Van envy’!

Gerrard

James

We also met a couple of French guys James and Gerrard who were travelling in a tiny Suzuki jeep with a roof tent on top.

I got chatting with James initially, his English was excellent and he had such an acute sense of irony and humour, over the 3 days we stayed there we frequently passed one another and enjoyed some delicious friendly banter based principally on tradition Anglo French antipathy.

There are quite a number of places to visit in this part of the Atacama desert. Such as salt lakes populated by Flamingoes, areas described as being like ‘Lunar landscapes’ and for us we particularly wanted to visit an area that has an unusually large array of geysers and hot pools and the like.

Now, as with all good things there are drawbacks. One is that it high on the list of tour bus operators. Another is that you really have to see it early in the morning. Also It is almost 5000m above sea level!

We had been informed that it was best to get there when the park opens at 6am!!!!!!!!!

Spectacularly beautiful drive to the geysers

We thought it best to take the spectacular 80km drive up there the night before. The drive was lovely and we passed one lake with pink and white flamingos; four of them!

One of four flamingoes

The road was a long steep climb up and up until we reached the park which was of course closed. We asked if we could sleep in the car park. They were clearly glad to be asked and gave us permission to stay. I have to say that the altitude really got to both of us but most specially to me. we could hardly move without panting for breath. And the headache and the way it seems to affect you whole being is horrid.

We went to bed early in preparation for a very early start. We watched the film, ‘Kingsman’in bed which was very good but then when it came time to settle down I found I couldn’t sleep. I had the sensation of being aware of every breath which is such an unpleasant feeling and I did not sleep at all that night.

One of the many geysers boiling water gushing from the ground

At 5 am we got up and after a bit of breakfast. We were ready for the opening of the park. It was pitch dark and we had been advised to get going early to beat the tour buses. We really need not have worried. In the event we were the first ones off the blocks. We paid our entrance and set off. We were instructed to drive 2 km and then park. It was completely dark and we had to drive down a narrow mud road all I could see was water either side and the road was slippery as it had rained in the night and had frozen.

3 am start for some poor unsuspecting tourists.

By the way it was ‘brass monkey’ weather! Any way we negotiated this road without incident. But it was still completely dark as other cars and buses arrived disgorging tourists into the blackness. They were not going to wait for light! We both felt we didn’t want to miss out so we went along with them trying to view the steaming pools and jets in the dark dutifully taking photos and so on. It was well over an hour before the light started to show itself.

Sunrise over the Geysers

What we learnt was that these jets and spouts and bubbling pools were most dramatic in the morning when it was still cold as the amount of steam they generate is terrific But I have to tell you that we could easily have left it for a couple of hours, time much better spent in bed I may say.

Now do not get me wrong this was an important experience we saw something that many people never get to see. There are so many different manifestations of geysers boiling water spouting dramatically from rocks. Pure steam emanating simply out of the ground and steam everywhere. Oh yes , and tourists everywhere! As the light came it as really special. Once the sun was properly up and it started to get warm the steam disappeared and it became seriously undramatic.

Steam rises everywhere

We took a raft of pictures mostly in the pitch dark and then after a period we followed everyone else to the hot pool where you can bathe in hot ,presumably health giving , water. Ping was very keen to bathe in it. So up we went to the pool .

Already it was full of people splashing around quite happily.

I was pretty happy to sit it out as Ping went to join them. It meant I was able to enjoy the view of the pretty young things in their bikinis. However ping went to the waters edge , saw that it was a bit cloudy , deemed it unsuitable for bathing and that was the end of that.

So we drove back up this time in the light to see that I was probably right to be alarmed about the water either side of the mud road. I know the water was shallow but just the same I felt it expedient to keep fairly dry. As we drove off the steam had all gone, and there really was nothing to see.

The drive back to town was nice but I was really tired and with the sun high we made the descent to the town. I eventually stopped for a sleep but to be honest I should have stopped much earlier as I was really losing my grip.

Volcanoes all around the geysers

Llama looking perplexed at the large numbers of tourist buses coming to see him.

Engo, the campsite's dog was there to welcome us but when Ping bent down to say hello, he got frightened and ran off.

Anyhow we made it back safe and sound. Once back at the camp I felt really bad It was unspeakably hot and I was unable to hold myself upright any longer and I slept and slept.

I was woken up by the familiar sound. I recognised immediately the engine note of a van like mine being backed in next door. There it was, another Iveco like ours! This is surprising as there really are not many of them around.

Rosemary , Verner and a matched pair of Iveco vans

This was a retired Swiss couple who have done a serious amount of travelling in this van. Ping has been feeling a bit hemmed in by the size of our van and if truth be told so am I. She was already planning her journey to Sacramento where she would surely find the Van of her dreams. So we were very keen to make the acquaintance of the people in the Iveco and compare notes with them. As it turned out we would learn a lot from them. Verner and Rosemary, German speakers from Switzerland gave us a lot of wisdom on how to make the best of our van as well as to remind us just how good these Ivecos are for overland travel and how pleased they are to own one of these rare vans.

Ping of course was still wracked with ‘van envy’(you may know from Top Gear that on all their expeditions there is always a back up car lurking in the backround , usually a VW beetle. Well for ping there is always a little green campervan that sits on her shoulder) from her conducted tour of the Winnebago.

dinner with Verner and Rosemary

We had dinner with our new friends the next night. It was a lovely evening and we learned so much about overlanding and perhaps most important we sort of re learnt a bit about why we do it. We were both getting to feel that we had lost some of our purpose. It is self reliance, problem solving following the path less travelled and most important the people you meet along the way. This meeting being a case in point.

The next day we had to leave and cut short some of our plans as Ping had been notified that if we could get there in the next 48hours we could have a conducted tour of the famous European Southern Observatory. She was very excited. It has meant that we had to leave the next morning to travel some 350km across the desert to get there in time.

Just the two of us

This might not sound so complicated, but the next morning we simply had to take photos of the two vans together. We bid farewell to our new friends and off we went.

First , however we had to refuel. Research showed us that here is only one filling station in this town. The town is quite difficult to get around as the roads are poor an unpaved, many of them are part of a one way grid. Unfortunately our Satnav shows us a route but does not show which roads point in our direction. We have spent the last 4 months trying to annoy the natives here, but they won’t be riled. Until, that is, you go the wrong way in a one way street! It is really strange but helpful easy going Chileans get right out of their pram if you go the wrong way in a one way street! People come out of shops shaking their fists, sometimes a face of an enraged pedestrian will appear in the window pointing out the error of our ways in incomprehensible Spanish. Their ire does not seem to be related to any kind of inconvenience caused, often there are no other cars to worry about.

So we were now traumatised, hot and rather lost looking for the filling station. Our satnav told us ‘You have arrived’ but no sign. We were turning around in the grounds of a hotel when we finally came to realise that hidden deep inside the grounds of the hotel was our filling station.

finally we arrive at the hidden filling station

It did make us a bit late. We set off to cross the Atacama desert. At first it was very lovely. On a scale 1-10 of incredibleness it scored around 11 but as we progressed into the Mining areas the scenery started to change dramatically.

We saw huge hills that were methodically stripped bare by open cast mining. An increasingly industrial scene developed, and on a massive scale. I do not want to sound like I am complaining that its not beautiful anymore as I really find it interesting. I also know that Chile gets its security from natural resources such as copper and perhaps more surprisingly from salt production. Massive trucks have replaced tourist buses on the road. Many of them, rather alarmingly carrying Sulphuric acid in large quantities.

Hard to know what to make of this

or this

Abandoned living quarters from disused mines.

Another change is that the ubiquitous shrines to dead motorists that are at the side of the roads in South America. These have changed to celebrate deceased miners and construction workers. Normally I do not care to photograph these memorials but one in particular struck me as poignant as it was decorated with two construction workers hard hats and childrens toys. We saw another that had about 20-30 hard hats laid out in a kind of parade. It all seems rather Mawkish to me, but it really is not for me to say.

The industrial scene of Antafagasta

I do not know what this is but it is huge and it rotates

Another feature are the huge and endless processing plants and the mines themselves I was specially taken with the top security yards housing large piles of bright green copper ore.

Having arrived on the Eastern Pacific side of the Atacama desert. We had just had quite a long drive to get here in time for our appointed tour of the European Southern Observatory.

Rail trucks dwarfed by the plant they serve

On this long straight road it hard to guess how this van seems to have overturned more than once on this

On this section we had to stop at the town of Calama. Mainly because we had to get a fair bit of shopping. There is a very large supermarket there. However we had read many warnings about how foreign cars are targeted by thieves in the car park. Often under the watchful gaze of the security guards.

We pulled into the car park and I had to sit in the van while the boss went shopping. It was likely to be a long sitting, but ok.

I was extra vigilant as I stood guard on all our worldly goods. Checking out all the likely ‘ne,er do wells’. My loins were girded, whatever that means. I was on high alert. Ready for all comers, a trained killer ready to pounce! As it turned out it was the day of rest for ne,er do wells, there was no one but mums with prams and Toyotas with M+F+2.3 in tow. I have to admit to being rather disappointed, but not to worry suddenly there was a commotion out on the main road. Horns blaring, much shouting and a lot of excitement.

circus truck + glamour girl

As the circus went past! Lots of music and heavily decorated trucks each with a glamour girl draped over the bonnet. And then they were gone! That was about the some total of my excitement for the day. Then back she came with the shopping, back to reality dashing my day dream of running away to be a lion tamer or a trapeze artist.

Then shopping done it was back to the desert and onto the town with the really special name Antafogasta!

We decided that we should move on a bit further before night. The observatory is about 90 km form the city so we moved on and spent the night at a petrol station, though not a particularly nice one. I should say that from the point around Calama the desert scene changes quite dramatically as we enter the mining region. And the whole vista takes on a picture of real heavy industry. Around here copper is king along with salt and other minerals.

Night falls as we sleep at the rather grim petrol station

As I write we are settling down for the night in a slightly grim and dusty filling station. As I look out down the hill I see a massive dusty industrial vista that seems to go on for ever.

Huge trucks constantly barrelling through the night and rather strangely a stray dog is in residence here He evidently sees his role is to constantly chase every car out of the forecourt. He seems to be truly tireless. Not to say rather pointless.