Chile... now that I have a passport... I can finally leave Argentina and cross borders... so I head to San Pedro de Atacama, which I am told is a good base for commencing the Salt Flats tour en route to Bolivia!

This time, its a day bus, leaving early in the morning and arriving in the afternoon.

Three hundred pesos

At the bus ticket office prior to ay of departure, I am told I will have to pay 300pesos to leave Argentina.. as I did not have an entry stamp (as this is my brand new emergency passport, my actual passport, with the Brazilian and Argentine stamps - was stolen... in Buenos Aires!). I was stunned... I asked who did I pay and they said either them or at the border. I did question them about this, but they seemed adamant I had to pay. But I decide, that I would pay the border people if anyone, it would also give me a chance to investigate this fact! I was thinking, I´ve already been robbed once in Argentina... now they are taking the mic, robbing me off the back of a robbery!

Anyhow, on speaking to a fellow travller, whom I knew had left Argentina on an Emergency Passport, she said she had not paid. But I thought, just in case my next destination was the factor to determine payment or not, I took 300pesos with me, just in case.

When I get to the bus station early that morning, I am greeted with the ticket office guys who check my passport and again they tell me I must pay! I tell them I was informed that I did not have to pay! On asking me had I the money, which I said yes, I proceeded onto the bus... with my cash! Cheek I thought... this could be a scam.... and will have to wait until the border to find out whether it was true or not!

I am now planning a bit of a nap on the bus from Salta to Chile...but... I couldn´t keep my eyes closed! The views from one to the other was just amazing. Hills and mountains of multicoloured rock... red, patterened, yellow.. the rockformations were absolutely beautiful. I also recall when I purchaed my ticket that it would take several hours to arrive in Chile, though on the map, it didnt seem so far. But, en route, I realised why... the time accounted for the incline up the windy roads of a few mountains! It was also en route I first get to see some salt flats and stunning views.

We had reached some altitude and were travelling amongst remote landscape... not a building in sight.

Argentine Border Crossing

Approximately mid afternoon, we reach a few buildings, on top of a mountain. The driver gets out, but leaves us on the bus. I thought it was going to be a toilet stop or a chance to stretch our legs... but there was no sign of him letting us off, so a few people were queueing at the bus toilet! But, many minutes later, he returns and lets us all off. Apparently we are at the Argentina border crossing! I was stunned.... nothing looked remotely official or important... as it just seemed as there were a few buildings around and I spotted the toilets.

I make a beline for the conveniences whilst others proceeded to queue. It took a little while to be seen, though we were the only bus there, whilst one or 2 cars did pull up in the meantime, as well as a row of lorries parked up at the side of the buildings.

I am one of the last to be seen and the lady dealing with my passport was taking a little time with it. I guess it was new and different and she had to make appropriate checks etc... Whilst I am stood there hoping she does not request a payment. She consults with her colleague sat next to her, in Spanish, so I am not sure what is going on, but is probably just getting advice on what to do. In the meantime I spot the driver is in the room and as he leaves I tell him I am on the bus, to which he nods and smiles.

I am still stood with the lady official working on my passport. She stamps it... "yes" I think.... but her colleague reacted negatively! I don´t think she was meant to stamp it! So next thing I know I am carted off to another room, where I guess the supervisor resided. She hands him my passport and leaves me with him. He then takes his time over my passport... types into the computer and asks me a couple of questions! At which point I hear an engine... and believe it sounded like the bus engine. For a moment I thought he must be turning around ready to head off, but the noise was dissappearing, so I headed to the front door to see if I could see him. The bus was gone. I couldn´t see it. it wasnt by the lorries and there was enough land to park on... but he wasnt there.

I call to an official and ask where is the bus... he then yells to another... who is able to see beyond the buildings. The bus had gone. Both officials start yelling and waving, whilst I am trying to find my ticket (for a phone number) and walking to their viewpoint at the same time.... when there I spot, the bus about 800metres away en route to Chile... but, it had stopped and the driver and co-driver were stood outside looking back at us!

Another official at the building tells me to go.... but I tell him, I can´t, they are still working on my passport. No other travllers are around and the officials are quite amused by the incident! A few moments later, the supervisor hands me my passport and tells me something in spanish (which I vaguely understood), as he had to write something next to the stamp... and best of all... I didn´t pay a penny... or should that be peso!

By the time I am done, the bus has returned. The driver was a little concerned and was asking was everything ok with my passport. I was faced with grins and some sniggers from the passengers, whilst the lady sat next to me was a bit concerned! She had thought I was in the bus toilet.... until her friend came out of it! So managed to alert the drivers before they had gone too far!

Chile

Safely on the bus we continue to Chile. Its probably another hour before we reach the border crossing. Again, the buildings didnt look official at all. This time the bus had to be vacated and we had to go through security checks. It all seemed a bit random. When we had been seen, the driver said something we could walk to the bus stop as it wasnt far. My Spanish isnt so good and I wasnt 100% sure what he meant... netiher were some others, so about half the passengers were still on the bus. We then realied what he meant. He probably didnt drive more than 100 metres when he pulled up... at a kind of layby! Where´s the bus stop I am thinking... but this was it! We were told the square and main streets were only round the corner, so I walked to the hostel.

San Pedro de Atacama

The little town, or should it be village is therefore on the border and it was a quaint little town, most buildings made of mud and properties looked different to that I had seen in Argentina. I head to the hostel and as I am only intending to stay 3 nights, would like to get to do some trips etc.. as soon as possible. When I get to the hostel, the owner advised me that all tours etiher leave first thing in the morning or at 3pm... as it was about 430pm, I missed the afternoon excursions. However, there was a touir at 11pm.... star gazing!

Star Gazing

It was probably 1130pm when we set off on the tour, to a location not too far from the village. We were heading to a couple´s home, who were astronomy enthusiasts, who hailed from France, but had settled in the area and had 7 telescopes at their property.

We were on a minibus to this location. It was quite dark as we had left the village and I don´t recall any street lighting or ay other buildings, when at one point, the driver switched off the lights... driving in darkness! Thankfully, on realising, we were approaching the lane to the property and he had obviously switched lights off as not to affect the star gazing of the party that were already there.

Well... what a sight!! it was absolutely amazing! There was no moon, which meant the starts were clearer, no clouds either. I felt I was on a table, with a bowl over me, which was black in color but illuminated with thousands of stars! I could see stars all around. There aren´t any high rise buildings in the area, no light pollution and the mountains were at a great distance away. It was a perfect spot for star gazing, and apparently there is a project underway to build the biggest telescope in the world in the area!

I saw the milky way clearly, the southern cross as well as other star compositions. I learnt quite a bit about the formations and their location. Unfortunately, the southern hemisphere stars are different to that in the north, but it was an interesting insight, whilst whether north or south, some formations can be seen in both places. I got to see about 6 zodiac signs... including my own... LIBRA... and it turns out, that was the formation I had spotted that night on route to San Martin de los Andes!

I got to see Saturn through a telescope! It looked as if it hd been painted on the night sky! A perfect circle with a ring around it. We got to see galaxies as well as different coloured stars through the telescopes! During all this, we also saw about a dozen shooting stars in the night sky! It was absolutely amazing!

Lakes Tour

The next day I head on a 3 lakes tour in the area. A salt water lake, a freshwater pool and a salt water area, which was both dry and wet. We got to bathe in the first couple of pools. Floating in the first, due to the bouyancy of the salt, then make a running plunge into the freshwater pool, before stopping at the last lake (salt flat) to watch sunset, take some arty pics and enjoy a Pisco Sour with some nibbles! Sunset was beautiful as it had been everynight in Chile.. in particular in the way it painted the colours on the mountains and clouds.. usually pastel pinks and blues! Stunning.

Geyser Tour

At 4am the next day I set off on my first of 2 tours that day. Leaving early to head up to a mountain to watch sunrise over the geysers. More importantly than the sunrise, it is at dawn breaking that the geysers are active! A bitterly cold morning, reaching high altitude, so we were told to wrap up warm.. given the temperature was about -10degrees celsius!

The geysers were extremely beautiful and would sometimes reach 4 to 10 metres in height! The ground would be bubbling in places or there would be shoots of hot steam here and there. After the tour of the geysers, we had a lovely breakfast. The tour company had placed eggs, a carton of milk and a carton of hot chocolate in one of th hot pools... so the eggs were boiled and milk/hot chocolate was warm and tasty. A delightful breakfast, along with a cheese roll and.... chocolate!

After breakfast we headed to another area of geysers and also got to take a dip in a thermal pool. Whilst the weather was freezing, the pool was not! I dont think Ive seen so many people get dressed so fast!

Moon Valley and Death Valley

Later that afternoon I headed off on another tour, to see both Death Valley and Moon Valley. We were heading to an area of extraordinary landscape. The rocks/mountains were of varying texture and colour, mostly red, but some with beautiful coloured lines with yellow, pink, blue, whilst there was also areas of sand dunes. I guess Moon Valley has been named as such I guess its meant to depict the lunar landscape! As for the name Death valley... it was originaly called Mars I think, but cant remember where the word death came from.

We stopped at Moon Valley to watch sunset... stunning... the colour on the mountains were immense... pinks and pastels again!

I had some wonderful tours in San Pedro, my 2.5 day stop in Chile. I also met some lovely people, including Ruth, who had been town bound for 3 weeks, doctor´s orders as they thought she had some embolism of the lungs... having suffered pneumonia earlier. Whilst the coughing had come to a stop, she was in severe pain for 3 weeks, had been on antibiotics for 3 weeks. Had seen a few doctors and had an xray or two. Ruth was heading to Santiago to see a specialist on my last day and was hoping to return to the UK soon afterwards... if she could... given the possible condition! I am glad to report, days later on contacting Ruth.. she did not have a life threatning illness as they had suggested... but broken ribs!!!