Paso de Agua Negra was just as spectacular. Sunlight glinted off the lake, clouds swept in from the west. Road tripping in Chile and Argentina gets you into the wild hearts of both countries – with jaw-dropping mountain landscapes, vast glassy lakes, and thrilling off-road terrain 1. Here was the perfect opportunity to turn tourism into real travel. wara.cl, In a village beyond the city of La Serena, past an orchard and an old adobe church, you fall suddenly through a mysterious gateway onto the grounds of a lavish, clubby hotel. We bobbled over loose gravel, frozen streams, slushy mud and oodles of slippery sand. Away to the west stood the great ramparts of the Andes. They looked for the treasure reputedly buried by English pirates, snorkeled for the best scallops in the Pacific, and kayaked to offshore islands. Then, with a lurch, we stopped. Both brothers were in love with another mountain, Quemal, but she loved only Juriques. Interestingly, the local furniture is made from the wood of cacti, cardon, in the treeless Andean foothills. Owned by a wealthy developer, Casa Molle has a fine-art collection, a golf course, and a glowing firepit for aperitivi of Chilean wines and local delicacies. The song ended on an emotional warble, then Nicolas rummaged in a drawer and handed me a small circle of cloth. The pass connects the towns of La Serena (in Chile) and San José de Jachal (in Argentina). I had that fractured surreal sensation of when you arrive in an unknown place in darkness. An electricity line led us to a shack in a grove of poplars. Coordinates: 32°49′38″S 70°05′32″W / 32.82724°S 70.09213°W / -32.82724; -70.09213. When you are the only guests at this glamorous ranch house (as you may well be), you can imagine yourself a scion of one of the region's settler families. A second Andean pass within the space of a single week seemed like surfeit of wonder. They are terrible for drivers who are prone to vertigo. When the Incas gazed up at those dizzy peaks, they saw gods and climbed the summits. The road led us to Zapala, a touristic city in the Patagonian province of Neuquén, Argentina for an overnight stop. Ad Choices, From Buenos Aires to the Chilean Coast: A Road Trip Across South America. Condé Nast Traveler may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The bus lowed, then gave a shudder as an icy blast hit it broadsides. The Andes were the journey. I'd driven out of Salta early the previous morning with Edgar, my guide there. There was Incahuasi, more than a mile higher than Mont Blanc, its flanks disfigured by ancient lava flows, its summit home to an Incan ceremonial platform. I saw the driver, or one of his assistants, struggling through the blizzard. When we ascend to these passes, some balance tips. It helped that the landscapes were becoming fantastical. All of them, I guessed, alive with their own stories, should any traveller care to listen. Level Contributor . Doubles from $290. At night I gazed at stars as thick as grapes before retiring to a tent that would have suited a sultan with excellent taste in Andean fabrics. On the stairs the transition from tourism to adventure travel was drawing differing responses. Alone here, in his dusty robes, he seemed bewildered. When I got up and pulled aside the curtains, I could see the moonlit trees around the house tossing madly in the wind, their branches bent at impossible angles, their leaves stripping away in gusts of yellow. Nestor was going to accompany me as far as the Argentine border post at the height of the Paso de San Francisco. The breakfasts here, of granola, eggs, and superb coffee, are among the best in South America. Their diminutive corpses were discovered in 1999 – preserved by severe cold and depleted oxygen – and removed to Salta. Humans have long known that such moments require the greatest concentration, for in those crossings comes the greatest danger – and the greatest pleasure. And a caracara circled above. You’ll also pass Laguna Miscanti and Miniques, two sparkling brackish lakes, one a blue curacao liqueur colour and the other a beautiful inky midnight blue. After few miles of dramatic New Zealand-esque landscapes we passed through a sub-tropical rainforest, which in turn transformed into Scottish hills and then lush green English farmland. My itinerary was a round-trip. wara.cl, Tucked into the empty shore of Bahía Salado, this tented camp is full of imaginative design touches—seashells and driftwood, pelican feathers and sun-bleached stones, wooden doors and painted tables. We were simply travellers on one of the world's most magnificent bus rides. Just over 30 years ago, an Inca mummy wrapped in Andean textiles was discovered near its summit. The reception room reels in guests with sofas and books, chests and reclaimed tables, mountain glimpses and woven textiles. Half a lifetime later, Susana, now a renowned Chilean designer responsible for the elegant Awasi Atacama in San Pedro de Atacama, has returned to this remote place to create Wara Nomade, an homage to childhood memories of distant summers. We'd been stopped less than 10 minutes. A few passengers were embracing the excitement, but most were grim-faced. The orange, reds and russet leaves of autumn were just appearing and the sight and vegetation soothed our souls. One morning I set off with a guide for one of Atacama's most singular features—a great sand sea just to the north of Copiapó. It is the main transport route out of the Chilean capital city Santiago into Mendoza city in Argentina and so carries quite heavy traffic. The high road: Argentina to Chile by bus. In the end the "colonialists" had been bailed out by the Americans, who had then tricked the victorious Argentines into leaving. Life returned in Villa La Angostura, a village in the south of the Argentine province of Neuquén, on the northwest shore of the Nahuel Huapi Lake. Not yet. One of them is the Túnel Juan Pablo II ("John Paul II Tunnel"), which would be constructed at an altitude of between 2,250 and 2,720 m (7,382 and 8,924 ft), 20 km (12 mi) long, to join the towns of Horcones (Argentina) and Juncal (Chile). Lisa Morris is on an 18 month 'bottom up' motorcycle ride through the Americas – Argentina to Alaska – with her partner Jason Spafford. Startled, a heron flew up and was swallowed by the night. In the morning I woke in a lovely adobe hotel in the oasis town of Barreal, where breakfast was served in the garden—bread and honey, fruit and bowls of café con leche. Get ready for an earthy, rollicking feast of fun. Nowadays are being constructed 2 tunnels, with a total length of 14km, which will allow an inter-oceanic communication through this pass. "It's not a human sacrifice," said Edgar. Five hours later, with the bus stuck in a blizzard at almost 5,000m, I was trying to open the outer door and take photographs. When the sun broke through, it turned the colour of Maldivian sand. Sadly, we attempted the ride in winter when the dirt road dwindled to a pebbly thread of slushy mud and injurious ice, so we had to give up. Definitely silage. Copyright © 2000-2020 Dreamstime. Somewhere up there, in that thin air, I began to cry without really understanding why. On the walls were photographs of his wartime experiences, which he began to explain in great detail. Road tripping in Chile and Argentina gets you into the wild hearts of both countries – with jaw-dropping mountain landscapes, vast glassy lakes, and thrilling off-road terrain. Now they stare at each other across the Atacama.

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