Around Atacama

San Pedro de Atacama with a population of less than 2,000 people, as the welcome sign states (2002 census).  Well at least 1,800 of those are involved in selling tours or running guesthouses.

Today´s itenery a bit of an epic one to fit in as many highlights as possible before heading out of town tomorrow. 
4am start to see the geysers, an afternoon trip to the moon valley & finally some late night stargazing looking at Saturn, stars and the milky way in one of the astronomy hit spots of the world.
Yesterday involved some more bike hiring to see some Incan ruins followed by a trip to a lake allegedly more salty than the dead sea.

The  3 Marys

Inca ruins

Dune in the moon valley

geysers

geysers

death valley

salt lake

geysers

geysers

lama (edible)

The road to San Pedro

I had no intention of writing about today - after plenty of landscape pictures from the last 2 days how different could it be? Cloudy & even a spot of rain as we departed Salta, it didn't look like there would be much more to do than finish The Motorcycle Diaries and pick a new book. But a couple of hours in, back past the 7 coloured mountain, and we got into the land of hairpin bends.

typical coach meal

For posterity ì´ve also added in a picture of lunch, pretty typical from the last few journeys - this really is the adults, not the child´s version, despite the cartoon nature of the biscuits provided.  It´s definitely fair to say the Argentinians have a sweet tooth, I think I forgot to mention the tea on the train yesterday was served with sugar already added.

The following selection of pictures come with the caveat they were taken on a moving coach, through a mucky window, on a compact camera, mostly into the sun. Anyway, excuses made, you'll hopefully get the picture. 

For a fuller experience I suggest turning the heating up to 25+, shining a 100watt bulb into the right hand side of your face and playing the slideshow with Newton Faulkner as the soundtrack.

salt mining

salt flats

the new colour select button i´ve found on my camera in action

sunset San Pedro de Atacama

sunset San Pedro de Atacama

Train to the clouds

Trains are a rarity in Argentina & 16 hours to travel 434km makes even British rail look good.

tren a las nubes

Actually this train is solely for the tourists complete with 3 vehicle support: security & an ambulance. It's also the second highest train in the world that runs on normal tracks.

Viaduct La Polvorilla

The route runs from Salta to Viaducto La Polvorilla gaining 3000m of height to a peak of 4,220m - officially the highest point I've ever been on land.

bag of coca leaves

Again the coca leaves do their job, although the effects of altitude may be somewhat reduced by walking for no more than 15mins in the whole day.

1 of several viaducts

Fact fans may like to know each way takes in 29 bridges, 21 tunnels, 13 viaducts, 2 zig zags and 2 spirals.

The drugs do work

From Mendoza north to Salta as the base to explore the Jujuy province of Argentina.  Today´s day trip was a chance to witness the incredible landscape.  

7 coloured mountain - Purmamarca

Pucará de Tilcara

Travelling at altitude the guidebooks all talk of the locals chew coca leaves to combat the effects of altitude, today was the chance to put this to the test.  Admittedly we didn´t go much above 3,000m but we all dutifully followed our guides instructions to hold the leaves in our mouths for an hour & I can report no side affects from the altitude (or the coca)

Humahuaca Monument

 We also passed through the tropic of Capricorn - the imaginary line between the 2 stone monuments pictured

View from the tropic of Capricorn

Tropic of Capricorn

Final stop of the day at Maimara

Maimara

Happy Valley

What do you get in place where the sun shines for 300 days a year? Ideal conditions for growing Malbec grapes & some merry tourists imbibing the processed output.
Yes, we're in one of Argentina's famous wine regions, Mendoza. With a nod to the start of the journey, taking a cycling tour of some vineyards.

Carmeo Perri & the gang

First stop, the home of Carmeo Perri, an Argentine of Italian descent he set up his own label in 1989 producing 7,000 bottles and now produces 50,000 and personally inspects every bottle before it goes out the door to ensure the quality.  Kindly he opened a couple for us to try for free.

Lagarde - wine vats

Next up Lagarde, one of the oldest vineyards in Mendoza, producing (only) 1million litres of wine each year.  It´s a bit more of a professional operation with tours in the summer running all day from 9am and a few hundred people through the gates.
Final stop for a long lunch (bbq meat - what else in Argentina) at a Pulmary family vineyard and an expert tour from the only non family member, a guy from norwegian/french heritage who had worked in vineyards around the world.

Pulmary - tasting wine from the barrel

Lagarde - bottles stored for 2 years before distribution

 Final stop another family shop to finish with various liquors & absinthe a stop dedicated to Rich & Jayne

Finally a couple of pics from crossing the Chilean alps on the coach between Santiago & Mendoza

Chilean Alps

´Super Moon´ from the Chile/Argentina border in the Alps

Valparaiso & Santiago

Valparaiso is a town on the coast with a bit of a buzz, plenty of people I've met so far have recommended it & with bus travel so cheap (£7 for a 90min journey) I went to check it out.

Funicular railway - Valparaiso

Trolleybus - Vaparaiso

Would you believe first stop at the information place and she directed me to the trolleybus (33) and then onto one of the 14 funicular railways (34) in town. This one was one of the longest at 185m & has been since 1886, although I think it's had a paint job since.

Chile miners rescue capsule

At the top of the hill was the naval museum & thinking of James I couldn't pass this by. It was pretty good, not sure how authentic the pirate ship was but the capsule used to rescue the Chilean miners was also on display - I fitted in ok, just a bit tight on the headroom 

Pirate room - Navel museum Valparaiso

The town is a world heritage site and there's plenty of good street art on display. The other highlight was a visit to Pablo Neruda's house - a poet, the first South American to win the novel prize for literature

street art - Valparaiso

house - Valparaiso

view from the hostel of plaza del armas

A quick mention for Santiago too. I stayed in the plaza del armas - the central square where arms were kept. A Chilean equivalent to Cuba's revolution squares, i.e. every town has one.
From the top of the San Cristobel hill it´s possible to get views of the whole city and really see the impact of the smog

 Not really worth a visit in itself but a good spot to spend some time while planning trips in the area.

statue of the virgin Mary overlooking Santiago