Valparaiso

Back in Chile. Our journey cross the border was very interesting and slowest of all crossings. It was also very absurd to experience snowy mountains, snowstorm and shorts weather plus sunshine on a beach in 24 hours.

Los Liberadores border stands in 3800m and we were stuck there for few hours because there was no electricity. It was snowing and foggy, couldn't see even 5m. Few hours wasn't long as we heard that sometimes the snow keeps the border closed for days, even weeks!

I fell in love for Valparaiso immediately. I think it was mix of San Francisco and Berlin :) Street art everywhere, people chilling at the parks and performing on the streets. Even saw a 'topless day' gathering in one of the parks :) hippies! Surrounded by the hills (cerros) all the streets were steep and winding, only accessed by exhausting climb or taking a funicular (we took the oldest lift up, Concepsion from 1883).

Bus and metro system was brilliant! We took a bus to Viña del Mar to spend the day on a beach. Water was freezing so not even consideribg swimming. We didn't do much as our hostel Costa Azul b&b was so nice and cozy, so it was so nice just to spend time in there. Beautiful view towards the bay and city. Rob was thrilled about marine vessels and submarines. Which we actually saw leaving the harbor.

Today is our 200th day of our trip! 133 days still to go, but recent days we both have felt anxiety about this trip being almost over now that the date is settled. There has been quite a lot of arguments what will we do as we don't have time to do all the things both of us wants to do. And we can't go down to Patagonia just yet because everything is still closed because of the winter. We don't want to go back to Argentina because it was so expensive and I want to be back in Santiago middle of September. I don't know what are we going to do next.

Uspallata-Penitentes

We left Mendoza, though it was really nice city, but it started to be too expensive. Why is it that always in the cities you end up spending more money? I think Mendoza was one of the nicest big cities we have been :) Next destination SKIING!!

Season ends this Sunday so we just made it. Few hours out of Mendoza, close to Chile is a ski resort called Penitentes. For us it was too expensive to stay in the resort so we stayed town called Uspallata an hour away. If you have seen movie Seven years in Tibet, you have seen the surroundings.

First day we took bus to Puente de Inca, ancient natural bridge above the river. Used to have some thernal baths also before landslide destroyed it 1965. Hiked up Aconcagua mirador to see the highest mountain of Southern hemisphere (second highest after himalayas). It was so great to be in the snow! I know it is winter here but for me it is summer, and playing in the snow and skiing in the summer, crazy!! :) I made a snowman top of the hill! Snow was still really deep, more than a meter, but really wet in the afternoon sun.

Second day my dream came true! I have been skiing/snowboarding since I remember (happy 25th anniversary this year), but always in Scandinavia. We had family tradition to take week 16 off, and go skiing to Lapland, northern Finland (or Sweden). So when I realized I will be close to slopes that are 7km long, surrounded by mountains I really wanted to go. And the day was perfect!! Probably one of the best days on this trip :) there was hardly any people, I got the slopes all to myself, sun was shining, +10°C and no wind. Just perfect. Reminded me of all our skiing holiday. Thank you mum and dad taking us to ski every year <3 plus their card machine wasn't working and I only had peso worth of 15$ so I got the ticket very cheap!!

Mendoza wines

Since I started working in Alko 2008, tasting and knowing some better wines, Argentina became pretty quickly my favorite in reds, especially Malbec (New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc being the best white one). At that point I never thought I could be visiting some of the wineries some day what I was selling for our customers. But now I am here!! Visiting and tasting the best wines what I have liked for years :)

We took a bus to Maipu and rented bikes. First stop was Trapiche, after that we stopped in olive farm Santa Augusta. Continued to Tempus Alba to have superb lunch and tastings. Oh, that Malbec! Malbec is the reason I love Argentinian wines. At Viña El Cerno I had my first sparkling wine for ages! I can't even tell how good it felt to feel the bubbles, perfect combination of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Mevi we just had so stop for the view, magnificent panoramic view to the Andes, snow peaks above the vines, sun was shining and we had our tastings of Chardonnay, Torrentes and Malbec Rose. Perfect, just perfect!

Our last stop was LAUR, olive farm. Tons of different olive oils, I have admit that I didn't know that there arecso many different varieties. Tasting was great, dipping bread in different oils, two different tapenadas plus fresh olives! I think I could stay here :)

Ruta 40..

Argentina (and Chile) are known for hitchiking, one of the easiest and safest countries to do so (in South-America). We wanted to follow the Ruta 40 down south but there wasn't any buses going that way, so.. This is how we travelled 1200km from Cafayate to Mendoza. That is same length as whole Finland! :D

1st day
We backed our stuff, thanked wonderful Cafayate Backpacker Hostel letting us camp there for four days, put our sign "Ruta 40 sur" up and waited someone to pick us up.

First ride we got, was only to the next village, not far, but we were happy that our hitchiking career had started :) Then after half an hour wait, couple from Tucuman stopped. They were heading off from our route and we really should have gone all the way to Tucuman with them or stay on the Route 40!! But no. We got flat tier just before Tafi de Valle. First one for all of us, but we managed to change it succesfully. Couple stayed there for a rest and we continued our journey.

It was almost 3pm and I was starving. I said if I start making me a sandwich, I am sure there will come a car. Couldn't even get a bite before car stopped. And wau!! That road through the valley was so beautiful!! We were left on a highway where we got our next ride from a police. Only for the next town where we were harrashed with three different groups of gypsies. Luckily nice teacher guy picked us, showed us around next town and so we decided to stay a night in Concepcion, 200km from our original destination.

2nd day
How well we slept in proper bed after camping! (It didn't seem safe to put tent up so we went to a hostel) Got a ride to Alpachiri already when we were walking out of town, but then the hard part started. Road changed for smaller dirt road and no cars were passing. First hour we walked pass huge lemon farms, smell was lovely :) After almost three hours of walking Carlos stopped! Finally, my back had had enough for 20kg in the back and 6kg in the front. We got a ride to Buena Vista where we continued walking. After an hour, there came a bus and we were happy to hop on. The windiest street ever!! Arrived to Andalgala just before dark to put our tent up. We only reached 120km, but scenery was amazing once again and this Andalgala seemed very pleasent village.

3rd day
We were very lazy in the morning, only got to our positions after 11am. There was seriously no cars for an hour. And just when we were ready to give up, this fancy, black and shiny, brand new Mercedes Bentz showed up :) The fastest and most comfortable ride ever! Hopped off in Belen and after I had gathered myself because stumbling my own feet and falling down (i bet that 26kg didn't have anything to do with it) we carried on to Londres. Got a short ride from a farmer but rest was walking again. 8km in afternoon heat, no shade and I was so hungry! Total grumpy bum I would say. Luckily guy with motorcycle stopped tobsell us mini munkkis :) and I was happy again.

In the evening we went to buy walnuts, we had seen sign outside one of the houses. Before selling us the nuts, Jorge invited us to his house, told us which nationalities had stayed at his house, let me ride one of his horses, offered us tea and cheese, measured Robs blood pressure (he was a doctor and cyclist) and introduced us to his relatives. What a night! These are those moments what you will never forget :D

4th day

Lows of a hitchiking. Day was very cloudy and cold. And it looked like it will rain soon, like it did (5th time on our trip). We walked outside of the town, found a good tree to wait so wouldn't get wet. We waited. And waited. After three hours I was in deep freeze when a car stopped. Roberto was so nice, he got off from his own path to take us to good spot to continue our journey. Didn't have to wait long till young dad stopped and we couldn't believe our luck. But he only took us 10km and turned for a small road. There we were, no houses to be seen, just a straight road infront of us. 20min and not single car passed till Walter, German guy stopped and picked us. Road was amazing, kilometer long straight road Andes on the other side, fresh from a snow that had fallen today. Arrived to Chilecito in good time and I took a long steaming hot shower! My face was burning the whole evening cos I wasn't cold anymore :)

5th day
End of hitchiking. Rob has had enough.

Morning was beautiful, we walked up to the Christ statue to see the mountain view. And it was stunning! Walter gave us a lift to Nonogasta, where we walked end of town and waited. 3h and not single car had stopped, all were full or just going few kilometers more. Then one car stopped to tell us that the road to Villa Union is closed. We'd have to take another route. We change and waited other end of town. Less than 10 cars passed us in the next two hours. At this point we started to be pretty frustrated. Walked back and decided to head back to Chilecito to catch a bus. Young lad in huge truck picked us and we could have gone with him to Cordoba. Tempting but no, we hopped off in Chilecito and took night bus to Mendoza.

Later when I wrote my journal, on the top of the page had a sentence - Every adventure is worthwhile (Amelia Earhart).

Five days on the road has been fun and not so fun, hot and cold, sunny and rainy, long walks and long waits. But we met really nice people all over Argentina, saw amazing views and learnt to be patient. It tought us not to hitchhike on Sundays. Worst day because cars will be full of families on their weekend holidays and no cars passing next villages. Always carry enough money for a hotel night, small towns don't have ATMs and they don't accept cards. You can't put tent up anywhere, dodgy towns it's not safe plus you need water for cooking. I won't be a hitchiker, I am happy to pay my busfare and know that I will get to my destination on the same day. But this was experience what we both wanted to do. 

Cafayate

Yes, Cafayate is definately place for me :) Nice and warm, mornings were quite chilly but after the sun had gone up it was very pleasant, actually almost too hot (but I am not complaining). Wineries all over us, only needed to pick the wines to taste. It was nice to notice that spring is coming, it's beten months that we have seen something green. We were lucky to admire tiny leaves and flowers just above our tent. Cafayate, fresh market produce and cheese!! I have been dreaming of cheese last three wweks and now I got it :) We have been camping and it has been so chilled, we have eaten a lot and took snoozes on hammocks.

We visited Cabras de Cafayate, goat farm. Got really teeny tiny (ruikuista ruikuimmat!) tastings of three different cheese. I was so disapointed, but cheese was good so bought two big chunks. It has been forever since I have eaten proper cheese. We visited following wineries - El transito, Nanni (organic), Vasija Secreta (oldest) and Finca Nubes. We also tasted Domingo Hermanos and Quara wines which were from the same area. Passed tens of other wineries also but most of then were private and only by appointments.

We rented bikes and cycled to Seven Waterfalls. I loved it! Scenary was amazing with the biggest cactuses I have ever seen, it was quite challenging to climb on the rocks and crossing the river. Loved it even more! We met three Frenchies there and ended up spending the whole afternoon with together. Had dinner, some excellent cheese empenadas and played cards late till night with some wine of course ;)

I hope Argentina will be full of places like Cafayate!

Crossing to Argentina

We are now already in Cafayate, arrived to Salta two days ago and weren't very impressed how Argentina greeted us.

Most might think that we are on holiday, living the best times of our lives, doesn't have to worry about anything. Well, that is not the case. Most of the time it is, but oh my, that border crossing, hours we have spent on a bus.. 8h workday would be easy compared to these last days.

Friday we woke up 6am to catch our bus. Picked probably the worst seats, couldn't see anything 'cause window was blocked with some stupid advert. There went amazing scenery. We arrived to Jama border just before noon, hadn't had any food 'cause ticket lady had said we can't take any food onboard (to cross the border which was suppose to be 3h away), that they would provide breakfast.. We lined up to get our exit stamps. Then we lined again to get our entry stamps. After that we discovered that our bags had been thrown out from the bus and we had to pick them and go through the customs. So we lined again. After everybody had come out the busdriver yelled for missing bag owner. Nobody admited anything. After a while one guy said that the bags belongs to that women. Then Rob remembered that she had been hiding bags under the seats and already in Calama, she had been told not to take so many bags onboard. Next hour she and the busdrivers were in the customs declairing things, obviously she claimed not to have any money with her so the busdrivers had to pay 200$ penalty fee. Unbelievable.

We had made reservation for Backpackers hostel. But when we arrived no reservation was shown. On the phone the lady had told it is 110AR$ per person. Now without reservation it had gone up to 150AR$. Unbelievable. Luckily there was still room for us. We had to make our own beds, pick sheets and we didn't even get a key for the door. I slept so unwell. Big group came in 3am and desided to have beer outside our room (door which we couldn't close). They stopped drinking 5.05am and I was so happy to fall asleep. Waking up exactly 7am when French girl desided to call home just outside our room! I could have killed someone at that point!!

We had enough of Salta when we were trying to find ATM which wouldn't charge us 7$ plus my Nordea 2e+3% fee (Robs card wasn't working). Later we found out that all ATMs charge 7$ if pulling out money with foreign card. Next shock was busticket prices. 150 mile journey cost us almost 20$!! And that journey took 6 hours 'cause the bus broke down after a while. Then we waited another bus. And after half an hour the road was blocked so we had to turn back. 

Travelling can be hard sometimes! :) Now we stay few days in Cafayate tasting good wines.

Calama

Calama is not city to be visited its attractions. But it was on our way to Argentina and Rob wanted to visit another mine, copper mine to be more precise. And another ghost town also, Chuquicamata. Mine is one of the world largest open-cast copper mines, about 8000 people working there, trucks operating 24h (using 4500L of diesel every day. One truck!). The size of it was really impressive, 1km deep, 3km wide and more than 4km long. Otherwise I wasn't that interested. Would have love to hear more about the town. Chuquicamata was abandoned 2007 because of the new laws. It was too close to the mine, everybody had to leave. It was way more modern than Humberstone (Iquique), it had hotels, banks and even theather!

There wasn't any buses to Salta, Argentina today so we basicly stayed indoors the whole day. But not bad place to stay indoors at all. We couchsurfed first time on this trip. Josephs apartment was huge and fancy, top floor. We got our own bedroom and could use the kitchen also. I got so mad about Iberia again. Seriously, eventhough how cheap flights they would have, DO NOT use iberia!! They messed everything with my return flight, I spent hours trying to get it sorted and it is still pending. Maybe it is meant to be that I don't have return flight? ;)

Yep, crossing the border to Argentina tomorrow. Cafayate and wines, I am coming!