Of Stars and Skies

After a taste of small-town Argentina, we felt we needed to check out some more of that relaxed pace. Enter Barreal, where the elevation (1650m) exceeds the population. Nestled in the scenic Valle de Calingasta, smack between the rumpled, multi-hued geological oddities known as the precordillera (think of them as the weirdo cousins to the foothills of the Rockies) and a stretch of the Andes known as the Cordillera de Ansilta including Cerro Mercedario, second only to Aconcagua at 6770m.



The setting was divine with weeping willows pouring over the empty dirt roads. Finding a home at Don Lisandro Hospedaje, we were treated to amazing homecooked vegetarian food (and no pasta either!) and a tranquil yard to relax and take in the views.

Barreal is known for having some of the best sky in the world for star-gazing, and at Observatorio El Leoncito we could see why. Cloudless, perfect skies in all directions. We were able to sample some of that night sky for ourselves when we walked into the precordillera one night with a blanket and thermos of wine (the best we've had, actually - Callia Alta Syrah Bonardo). The southern skies put on a show, with La Cruce de Sur, Las Tres Marias (aka Orion's belt) and a few shooting stars lighting up the clear skies. (There is a pretty good chance we saw a puma as well, when some car lights shown across the road below a very large cat passed into the light, not 50m away. Thinking there were no pumas in this desert-like area we said, "wow! that´s a big cat!" Not until the rangers at El Leoncito handed us warning flyers and stickers the next day did we realize the area is packed with them.)

Just outside of town was La Pampa El Leoncito, a completely dry former lake bed that stretches for 12km. Perfect for land-sailing - carrovelismo - but we just took it on in a 4wd for some pics. Stay out here too long and you'll end up as bleached white bones in the dust.
Our final night in the Andes was spent watching the sunset over Mercedario from the red rocky hills where the wilderness takes over from the town of Barreal. From here on, we head east to complete our loop via Córdoba and the Atlantic Coast.

Further musings along the way...

No Pee Free
It´s strange, in a country where people take such pride in having clean stores, restaurants and sidewalks, that the washrooms in almost every place are downright scary. No TP, no toilet seats, no towels, soap or often running water. You may dine in a classy joint, finish off your meal with champagne and tiramisu in the finest of environments, then excuse yourself only to be transported into a dungeon-like afterthought of a restroom. What´s interesting is that the finest cans are in gas stations, opposite to what we are used to in Canada. And, to top things off, in every public location, there is an attendant who does not keep things in order, but sits and collects pesos for the privilege of relief and expects more if you are in need of a square or two. In Chile, you cannot even enter the room without paying a turnstile guard 100 pesos to get in. The one rule: Always BYOTP.

Throwing Out Plastic
It´s hard, but when you don´t trust the taps you are destined to consume bottled water. Unfortunately, this means having to toss them out when you´re done. In the trash. No recycling exists that we´ve seen other than in private school yards. And what they do with that plastic is unknown. Paper, metal tins, glass bottles (except beer and wine), plastics of all kinds and organics all get tossed. Having grown up with the Three R´s it´s a difficult thing to get used to.

Helados
Some of the finest ice cream in the world is made in Argentina. So they say. But we´ve done a fair share of sampling and it could very well be true. Frutillas for Sandra and delicious Argentine Dulce de Leche for Dave. At the local "helados artesanal" a double portion in a waffle cone runs you about two pesos and the desert is sculpted into a tower of creamy delight. But don´t lick it with your tongue or you´ll get looked at funny - there´s a reason that tiny spoon is poking out of the top. This isn´t DQ, but small-batch, homemade goodness for those hot days and nights.

Lemon Aid
Never order fresh lemonade. Unless you like 13 lemons squeezed into a glass and served semi-warm. One huge gulp through a straw when parched is enough to kill your tastebuds for the rest of the day.

Saddle up

Valle Fertil in the rocky hills made a great base for exploring the crazy desert surrounding it. The hills here are covered in those classic cacti you see in Road Runner cartoons - "stick ´em up!" - and there are succulents growing in every crevice. It´s a sleepy little town that really goes gung-ho for helping out travellers, most of whom are here en route to Ischigualasto and Talampaya. We stayed in a nifty little hotel on a side street not too far from El Cardon, a small, family-run place offering cabalgatas - excursions by horseback.
It was finally time for me, Dave, to fulfill a life-long dream of mounting a steed for the wilderness. Yes, it´s true. Though 32-years old, the only horse I have ever been on was called "horsey" and I think it was either a) a stuffed head on a stick, or b) a pony at the Calgary Stampede. Either way, it was high time I got to check out this new fangled form of transportation.



We hooked up with Carlos who took us on a three-hour excursion into the mountains beyond. I rode Pintado, the best-behaved horse of the bunch, while Sandra took Flacca, who was more interested in eating every bit of plant he saw along the way. Carlos led us along "main street" towards the edge of town and into a deep valley that was constantly alive with condors hunting above. At one point we saw a dozen condors all gracefully swooping amongst the rocky hills. They rarely bother to flap, instead curling their massive wings under and unfolding them to keep the glide going.
We rode our horses though streams, past petroglyphs and into some very dense foliage. Halfway through the trip we actually got up to speed a bit - from slow canter to brisk gallop - which caused us to burst into uncontrolled laughter while bouncing hard on the back of the poor horses. They must have been wondering what our deal was, with our English commands, strange directional controls with the reins, and somewhat agonized whineying when going too fast. Yup, we were a bit sore after a few hours. And the next day even more so. Being on horseback is a view we could certainly get used to...so long as it is followed by a good massage

Scenic surrealism

From Mendoza to San Jaun, San Juan to San Augustin del Valle Fertil. We arrived in this quiet little town of 3000 specifically to check out some of the natural parks in the area. First off: Parque Provincial Ischigualasto and Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). Some of you may have been to Drumheller or Dinosaur Park in Alberta. Picture that kind of landscape, but add to that dashes of colour from the most surreal of palettes, cracked creekbeds of red that haven´t seen water in ages and geological formations that really do look like another planet.



From the upper edges, the wind blew sand across the open canyons, the light filtered through a veil of gray, while rays from the harsh sun sent shafts of colour onto dunes in the distance. It was a pretty wild place to be. Our caravan of vehicles were led further into the valley, passing such famous monuments as La Catedral, El Submarino and El Hongo leading us to the unique and bizarre phenomena called Cancha de Bochas.



Perfectly round rocks, some the size of soccer balls, on the desert floor. No real pattern to speak of, yet, they almost look like they could have been placed by humans. This area has gone through such geological turmoil that to have caused this scape is a real testament to the power of nature. And in the process, the valley walls have revealed not only the largest dinosaur skeleton ever excavated, but also the oldest at 230 million years. There are fossils here that are considered to be the origins of dinosaurs. Like we said, a pretty wild place indeed.

Next stop, was Parque Nacional Talampaya, a UNESCO world heritage site an hour from Ischigualasto. This place blew our minds! Blasting with park rangers across a desert flecked with guanacos (wild llama-like animals) towards towering walls of deep red jutting impressively from the sand surrounding us. Ancient "petroglifos" from 600 years ago carved on stones that seemed to have just fallen off the canyon wall yesterday. When we entered Cañon de Talampaya, we passed into a realm of awe.



The cliffs went straight up 150 meters and the canyon is 4km long. Carved by water centuries ago are rounded impressions that go the height of the walls, almost like perfect cylinders of rock were removed, leaving half cylinder outlines that create vertical waves along the canyon. One of our favourite parts was the Chimenea del Eco where you can shout while standing in one of these rock tubes and the resulting echo from the other side returns louder that the original and echoes a half dozen times before disappearing. Condors nest on the cliffs and parrots swoop from tree to tree in the ancient bosques below. It is almost inconceivable how a canyon like this can rise from such a flat, sandy environment. Or rather, how the land falls apart around it and becomes the desert. I imagine Uluru has much the same impression, but Talampaya has the added bonus of being able to travel through the twisting confines of this above-ground canyon. It is a difficult place to get to - out in the middle of nowhere far from any villages - but well worth the hot, dusty journey.

Can´t get enough

We mentioned the moon-lit scenery going over the Andes, but to do the trip during the day was breathtaking. The sky was bright and the Andes were red, very red, with cactus-studded rocks in Chile and whisps of green shrubbery on the Argentinian side. The colours were surreal and the 2-hour border stop was tolerable only because of the mountain pass we found ourselves in. Aconcagua was to our left and we got a great view of this beast - snow-capped and majestic.



Shortly after was the natural land-bridge of Puente del Inca and a long journey out of the hills and back into wine country. The landscape in Mendoza province is like the prairies - fairly flat and covered in agriculture. But here, instead of endless fields of wheat, there´s literally mile after mile of vineyards - it´s all you can see in every direction and surrounded by sandy desert! The very old and complex aquaduct system did wonders to make the area such a mecca for the grape.



We did the smart thing, and again rented bikes to check out three bodegas in Maipu - a short ride outside Mendoza. Bodega La Rural had an amazing wine museum showing some of the methods used 100 years ago like using animal skins for filters. Carminae was the furthest out and was a fairly new winery, but had the best Malbec we´ve tasted yet. Our backpack was getting heavier as the day went on! Lastly, we rode to La Familia de Tomasso - a great tour guide, a cuddly gatito and some delicious sherry to finish the day. Argentina has some great wine, that´s for sure. It´s a pity most of it never leaves the country, but we´ll certainly make use of our 4-bottle export limit when coming home.

Chau Chile!

Chile has been treating us very well. In fact, had we not pre-purchased our return ticket we likely would have imposed and stayed a bit longer. That said, we managed to pack the time we had here with good fun, great company and lots of sightseeing. On our final day, we stayed in Villa Alemana to check out the scene here. It´s a small place with a real local feeling and we lazily spent the day having a traditional Chilean "tea" with Margarita - mostly beans of all sorts and the obligatory peeled tomato slices. On that note, the tomatoes and especially paltas (avocados) are insanely tasty here, unlike any we´ve had before.

Later, we hit the streets with two goals: to visit with our new-found friend Carlos and sample some of those famous homemade empanadas. Carlos is a shopkeeper whom we met within two minutes of arriving in Villa Alemana. We immediately made a connection with him as he used to live on Main & 49th in Vancouver - right in our neighbourhood! We spoke at length about Vancouver, his working travels in 13 countries and what he´s up to here in Chile. After showing us a bag full of photos from his time in Canada over gaseosas (soft drinks) we asked where to find The Best Empanadas in town. Before we knew it, he was locking his office and personally guiding us to the place. He paid for 6 of the largest empanadas we´ve seen (and we´ve seen quite a few) and they were indeed delicious. Chau Carlos! Muchas gracias por su compania y las empanadas - mucho gusto!

After a short siesta, we were in for a great surprise. Javier and Marie took us to Valparaiso that night for what we thought was a tour of the cerros and some picture-taking. Instead, we arrived on Cerro Monjar at the home of Javier´s brother Mauricio (Coco) and his wife Paola and their daughter Tamara. Their house is perched on the side of the cerro, overlooking the city and sea, sparkling in the distance.



We sat on the patio admiring the view and imbibing in bebidas including Sandra´s new favourite Pisco Sour Mango (a spirit made with the skin of white wine grapes in northern Chile and infused with fresh fruit - it is delicious). We chatted, again in that funny misunderstood understanding kind-of way, until early in the morning.

Such warm, friendly people and we were encouraged to come back again and stay in Valpa with them. It was sad to say goodbye to the Ruiz families - they made our trip to Chile - and we know that when we are in the area again, we´ll have some friends to visit.

Getting vertical in Valparaiso

Viña del Mar sits on the northern crescent of a large bay on the Pacific Coast about 2 hours from Santiago de Chile. Right next to it on the southern side is the historic port city of Valparaiso. Now this was an interesting place! The city is built up on "cerros" (mountains) that form a massive bowl around the waterfront. There are dozens of these cerros, each a somewhat distinct neighbourhood serviced by ancient lifts called "ascensors". The first ascensor was built in 1883 - Ascensor Concepion - and we rode this one up to Cerro Alegre to explore the hillside.



The ascensor took up about 30 seconds to ascend the vertical slope. Picture a box that can hold about 10 people on a train track that is on an 80-degree angle. A wire cable pulls you straight up this track while another ascensor heads down. They have not changed at all since they were built making it a somewhat frightening experience the first time. Once we ascended we were in the middle of a colourful neighbourhood on winding, steep streets, impecable views of the coast and the other cerros - which looked like they were right there, but seperated by huge gullies filled with homes impossibly perched on cliffsides. It was very cool.



Sandra thought it looked somewhat like San Francisco meets the favelas of Rio de Janeiro - not a shanty-town like the favelas, but definitely far from an American city as well. I should mention, we started the day by traipsing through the market-area of Valpa where the oldest buildings are right next to the port. We met a resident named Christopher who took us up into an old, decrepid building for some panoramic views of the city and issued us a stern warning to watch ourselves on the street. It was a rough part of town, as most port areas are. Luckily, nothing weird happened and heading up onto the cerros changed our intitial impression of the city.



Up on Cerro Alegre, there were artists, street musicians, a full-blown string-band, studios and cafés everywhere. The architecture was very unique and we couldn´t see how some of these buildings were still standing on the sides of the cerros after 120 years. So much colour and creative expression everywhere - a very bohemian feel to this place and when we descended via Ascensor Reina-Victoria it was down into another world again. Bustling trolleys and buses, business-folk on cell phones and an old-time street feel once more. Valparaiso is a place you can explore for days, weeks even and never see enough - so many cerros, all holding their own character. And enough charm to make you forget about the gorgeous beach-front of Viña a mere train stop away.