The last week has gone by so quickly I feel that I need to catch up. We waited in Santiago to try and pick up a parcel that Alexander has posted to us but it has not arrived. We spent a couple of days on the coast near Valparaiso an area of huge sandy beaches and very big surf. As usual there is very little evidence of mass tourism and the result is a totally unspoilt coastline. We returned to santiago , still no parcel . Peter went to a Landrover dealer to request new brakes and we were sent to their sister garage on the other side of Santiago. En route we broke down and spent the next 7 hours awaiting a tow truck to take us back to the dealers. We had to leave Freddy at the garage and go back to the hostel again. Thursday saw us returning very early to find out that we had a snapped off valve . Incredibly they said that they would make a new one and fit it the same day. We spent the day in a shopping mall and were so relieved that all was finished by 7 pm and we could leave. Unbelievably the garage allowed us to sleep on the forecourt just in front of the window with the new vehicles. There was even a security guard all night it must be the oddest place that we have stopped!
we are now back in Argentina having crossed a pass that climbed to 5000 metres yesterday . The mountain passes were absolutely stunning, lots of bare rocks but in a huge variety of colours and shapes. Slept in a dried up river bed last night and we are heading to the Talampya national
Park which is supposed to be lots of canyons and gorges.