Author: Helena Feldstein

This morning, after breakfast at the hotel, we were picked up and were taken to the salt flats nearby. To understand what this is, you have to imagine an area of 12,000 square kilometers (a little over 4,600 square miles). It is an unforgettable experience. Anyone driving through this immense area of salt would be foolish to go without a guide. The drivers have a photographic memory how to maneuver driving on the flats. The roughness of the salt is hard on the tires, requiring them to be changed about every six months.

Many years ago, the Dakar road race was held there. It wasn’t very successful and has not returned since the last time. Between damage to the cars on the salt and getting lost, it is not surprising. Many buildings in and around the salt flats (Uyuni area, especially) cut the ice into blocks and use it for constructing a variety of buildings. Our hotel, Palacio del Sal, is a perfect example of how the salt is used. Also, salt is used to mine lithium, used in batteries and other industrial uses. the mines are owned by China and other countries, with no one from Bolivia allowed to see what goes on. This mineral is very important and the salt flats are an excellent source.

Our first stop today is Incahuasi Island. It isn’t exactly an island because instead of being surrounded by water, it is surrounded by salt. The “island” is covered in large cactus, many of which were in bloom because it is spring. The inside of the cactus is actually wood and used to make furniture and other uses. Also, the island has crystals left over when the salt flats were covered with water. Of course, this occurred tens of millions years ago.

When we left the island, we stopped in the middle of nowhere to have a lovely lunch prepared by our driver and his wife. Abrahem took out a large folding table, an umbrella, dishes, beverages, and food cooked earlier that morning. It was as though we were on the moon! Did you know that all quinoa consumed is from Bolivia? They use this remarkable grain in many ways, all delicious.

After this repast, we started on our way to Tupiza. Another driver picked us up and began the horrible drive to this somewhat interesting town. To get there, we had to drive on a narrow washboard dirt road, maneuver around rock slides, trying to avoid the edge of the road overlooking deep canyons. We also had to avoid (as best as we could) rivers of water and oncoming vehicles, including huge trucks. Finding a wide part of the road was challenging. I just closed my eyes, wrapped my neck pillow around my head, and took a couple of quick naps. Four hours later (yes, four), we arrived in Tupiza.

The road finally becomes a paved highway, still with hairpin turns and winding its way above the tree line. Bolivia is an interesting country but the Andes are daunting. We have been at 5,000 meters, 4,000 meters and now going to about 3,500 meters in altitude. This is still very high. about 11,500′. As we approached a tunnel through the mountain, the clouds descended and fogged the entrance, most of the road inside and at the exit of the tunnel. It continued for a short while and you could see nothing upon exiting. This was very scary! Suddenly, we were out of the fog and working our way down the mountain to Tupiza.

The town isn’t large and seems to be at the mercy of tuk tuk taxis everywhere. It is the perfect vehicle for this town and should be considered for use in Ajijic. There is an interesting building down the street from our hotel but otherwise, not much to see.

Tomorrow, we make our way to Tarija, Bolivia, which is supposed to be very interesting. I just hope that we aren’t stuck on more horrible roads but there is no way to know.

We are glad to be in a warm bed to relax!

After a restful sleep, we drove to an incredible volcanic area with formations that have been carved by wind, rain, and snow. With some imagination, you could visualize animals and other shapes. We walked about a half an hour on flat land to see the rocks, the black lagoon, and especially many llamas. They are interesting beings, almost ready to be sheared, followed by many baby llamas. They are adorable. We saw one that was probably born yesterday and was walking unsteadily, then running after mama.

But, we also saw other animals that are usually illusive here, like a coot, a black swimming bird with a yellow beak that we have at our lake in Mexico. We saw a viscacha, which is a rabbit-like animal with shorter ears and a long tail. I tried to take a picture but it may not be easy to see. The ibis (a bird with a very long beak to dig into the ground for insects), egret, and avoceta (a longer legged bird with a beak that curves upward) were also interesting birds to see. We also saw a flock of suri, an ostrich-like large bird.

The Laguna Hedionda (Black Lagoon) was not huge but very interesting due to the volcanic rocks all around. We then drove to another area nearby with even more interesting volcanic rocks. These were thrown from an active volcano over 40,000 years ago and have changed over the years due to water, snow, and wind.

Now it was time to drive to our next destination, Uyuni, a town that is filled with travel agencies that cater to backpacker, hikers, and campers. We had to drive through the Dali Desert, with its amazing rock formations. However, this was a very long drive, at least four hours, on washboard sandy roads that was exhausting for us. We could sleep off and on but by the time we got to our hotel, which was very nice. we decided to go to the swimming pool and spa.

The plan was to get picked up by our guide and driver, Jhenny and Abrahem, to see a magnificent sunset in the nearby salt flats. Instead, we opted to see the sunset from the pool, which was a good decision. While there, we met a young, fun couple from Sao Paulo, Brazil. We learned a lot about their lives and country. The pool was warm and very relaxing, especially since we were still reeling from the bone rattling drive. Feeling better, we went to the bar and shared some tapas for a nice end to this long day.

Tomorrow, we go to the salt flats, the largest in the world and on to Tarija.

We got up early for our (6:30) ride to Hito Cajón, the Chilean side of the border to present our papers to cross the border. The office does not open until 8:00 but the early departure meant that we would be among the first vans there. Behind us, there were about a dozen other vans, many filled with passengers, while we were the only ones on ours.

This checkpoint is at 4,900 meters of altitude, over 14,000 feet. It is above the tree line, if there were any trees. However, we saw a lost seagull who must live off of the remains of food left by visitors. We got through the Chile side of the border quickly and had to drive to the Bolivia side, about a kilometer. There is a paved road that is in such disrepair, the vans make “alternate” roads on the sand. And, not one, but many “roads.”

We got to the Bolivia immigration building with all of our paperwork and multiple copies of each. It wasn’t too bad, so far. However, the official asked us if we have verification of a yellow fever vaccine. This is only required if we were going to the northern part of Bolivia, into the jungle. When we said no, he said we could get by with a payment of $10. It was the typical shakedown. Oh, and the visa application was $160 US per person!

Now, off to another office to get the actual visa. Jhenny and our driver, Abrahen, were great. You can only get it by scanning a QR code with their WiFi. We got the internet connection but the code would not work, having tried numerous times. Fortunately, our guide was able to get it done for us.

Our first stop was to see the Bolivian side of the big volcano, Licancabur. Now, we were off to see the many lagoons fed from underground springs but maintain their unusual color due to the minerals in the water. The first lagoon was white from the prevalence of borax. It didn’t keep the many flamingos from enjoying the water. They are smaller than the ones we have seen before in the US or in zoos, coral with black wings. It is amazing that they survive at this altitude. The volcano is at 5,930 km or almost 19,5,000 ft above sea level. At the base, we were at almost 16,000 ft.

The next lagoon has green water from the concentration of lead, calcium, and sulfu carbonates. The surrounding mountains are spectacular and warranted taking many pictures. We stopped at the crater of a volcano that had many geysers emitting steam. Most of the volcanos here haven’t been active for 40,000 years, but this could have been the day!We next drove to more photo ops on the dirt roads. The final lagoon was red and filled with more flamingos. We learned that in the spring, flamingos mate, build a cone about 18″ high and the egg is set at the top. Then, the parents leave, never to return to the egg. Once the egg hatches, the “nannies” take over and teach the baby how to find food, water, and fly. Isn’t this child abuse?? And the circle of life goes on.

Finally, after what seemed like hours on dusty, washboard roads, we were taken to what we thought would be our hotel. As it turned out, it was a hostel in the middle of nowhere, a tiny room with no hot water and one plug in the room. It was unacceptable and we told the tour manager (who is from Bolivia but lives in Germany and works with local agents) immediately. There seemed to be some miscommunication about the accommodations but fortunately, we were moved to a hotel not far away that was supposed very nice. And, it was.

Tomorrow, we venture to Uyuni (pronounced uni), a town that is filled with hostels and hundreds of travel agencies to provide tours for the backpackers and adventure travelers. They will be taking the route back toward Chile where we were for the past few days. We are happy that we are beyond that part of the trip. Jim has been feeling effects from the altitude. A little dizziness, weakness, difficulty sleeping, and a malaise. I am okay but probably if I analyze how I am doing, I am probably having similar issues. It will be good to get closer to sea level soon.

We drove for a long time, both on paved roads and on dirt roads. However, even the paved roads left something to be desired.

K

Today, we travel from Santiago to get a flight to Calama. This airport is in the Atacama Desert, a huge area in the north of Chile. People (mostly Brazilians) come here to hike, bike, swim in hot springs, camp, and see the volcanos.

The flight on Latam Airlines makes Volaris Airlines look almost first class! Jim had a window seat in row 9 while I had a seat on the aisle in row 38, the last row. Since the flight was just under two hours, no worries, right? Well, there were two bathrooms for about 200 passengers and it seemed like half the plane needed to go and bump me coming and going. I understand that the view of the desert was pretty spectacular but the last two rows of the plane had no windows. Okay, enough of the pity party!

We were picked up by a university professor who taught European History in San Pedro de Atacama, our destination for today. As we drove the 1.5 hours to San Pedro, we saw hundreds of wind turbines and thousands of solar panels in the desert. What a good idea. We passed the the Licancabur Volcano, which was amazing. It is dormant but we will be seeing it from the Bolivian side tomorrow.

We continued through the Andes Mountains to the dusty streets of San Pedro de Atacama, where almost all of the town is built of red adobe. The whole town is monochromatic. We needed to get our passports and other visa paperwork to enter Bolivia tomorrow but had difficulty finding a shop to do this. Ultimately, we got it done and found a restaurant with WiFi to eat and catch up on mail. The food was surprisingly good and twice the amount we could consume. Another Pisco Sour and an Austral Calafate beer for Jim and we were set for the rest of the day. We took the other half of our meal back to the hotel. Good thing, because we were getting picked up at 6:00 AM to head to the border and would be missing breakfast.

By 9:00, we were asleep after the long day… Tomorrow, we cross the border to Bolivia.

About an hour and a half west from Santiago are the coastal towns of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar (pronounced Vinya). There were 18 people from other tours in the van from many countries. A man from Indonesia, a woman from the Netherlands, a shoe buyer from Bogota, Colombia, a Mexican woman living in San Antonio, TX, and many more. It was the UN of tours!

Half way there, we stopped at a touristy rest stop in Casablanca, where dozens of vans off-loaded passengers. The valley is known for its wines because most days it is socked in with fog that provides the moisture the vines need. Supposedly, it burns off in the afternoon but the low clouds were a bit depressing.

The rest stop was the size of a football field, with different foods, wines, jewelry (mainly lapus lazuli pieces, which is famous in this area), and a resale shop where people who didn’t realize that going to Patagonia could be very cold! It seems that people buy a heavy jacket, then return it to the shop on their way back. Several of the folks in our van were going to Patagonia afterward. They offered a tasting of the wines prevalent in this area. One is very odd in that it is made with white wine and blueberries, giving it the color of Gatorade. You don’t taste the fruit, only the wine but it is a little disconcerting to see this blue liquid.

Our guide, Loreto, was very knowledgeable and chatty. We really enjoyed her. She said that Chile is actually a part of three different areas. It is a part of Oceana, America, and Antarctica. Who knew?? Also, Chile has jurisdiction over Easter Island (Isla de Pasqua), known for its carved stone heads that have been there for centuries. No one knows exactly how they got there but there is one head in the museum here, and several in other countries. The island is over 2,000 miles away from the continent and was evacuated during the pandemic. They have to receive food, gas, almost everything, which cannot be easy.

In Chile, they say that there are only five continents, not seven as we do in the US. They are America (not North and South), Europe, Africa, Oceana, and Asia. It was quite interesting.

Once in Valparaiso, we walked all around the hilly streets to mainly view the painted murals that are everywhere. Sadly, the buildings are mainly dilapidated and most are sheathed in corregated painted metal to avoid having to repair the exterior stucco that needed constant attention.

Our next stop was Vina del Mar, just down the road from Valparaiso. This town is totally different in feeling. Filled with condominiums that overlook the sea, this is a very upscale town, where many people in Santiago have second homes, especially in the summer when the temps can reach 52C. Being by the water is heaven comparatively. Some even commute into Santiago during the week for work and then return to the coast every weekend. There are interesting restaurants and activities.

FYI, the IVA (sales tax) is 19% on everything, although it is usually included as a part of the pricing. For this reason, public medical care, museums, musical events, and many other activities are all free to the public. There is private medical care for those who do not want to wait for non-threatening services, similar to what is available in other countries.

We visited the local museum to see the Easter Island head and saw vendors selling alpaca shawls from Bolivia. They were stunning and only $10 US each but we were told that when we go to Bolivia, the same shawls will be about $1.00 each. Too bad that I have dozens of rebozos (shawls) already. I guess you can’t have too many!

We returned to Santiago and were dropped off at the mall to see about getting photos for our Bolivia visa. The shop couldn’t do black and white photos, so we will wait until we get to Calama, our next stop tomorrow. The all on a Saturday evening was unbelievable. There were thousands of people, mainly young, to spend the time visiting their friends and congregating. Obviously, it must be the place to be.

We returned to our hotel to have a “small” bite and a drink. The restaurant in our hotel is always busy, indicating that it must be well-liked by the locals. We ordered an appetizer fish and chips platter to share, thinking that it will be a little nibble. Well… When it arrived, it could have fed six people. We hardly made a dent and offered it to the staff to eat. Taking it up to our room would have been a waste, since there was no way to heat it up and no fridge. We offered it to the staff and they seemed pleased.

Tomorrow, we fly from Santiago to Calama. More adventure…

We got up late, which is unusual for us, but since we had the morning open, we went to breakfast around 9:00 and then walked about ten minutes away to a huge mall in the lower levels of El Costanera, the tallest building in South America. The mall is five floors of a mix of department stores, a huge grocery store, and a variety of stores familiar in the US and around the world. While Jim sat in a comfy chair, I wandered around to see if there was anything worth buying. H&M and Zara were busy as usual, but otherwise, the stores weren’t too busy. Pesos saved! We did buy some apples and bananas to eat on the van for our afternoon tour.

We were picked up at 1:45 PM to go to the Concho & Toro winery. The van picked us up, along with others going to the same winery, and after one hour of picking up others and the drive, we finally got to the winery about two hours later. There was lots of traffic but Cesar, our driver, was a maniac on the roads and flew around the traffic.

We arrived to the Maipo Valley to get to the winery, a familiar name to us in Mexico, and were divided up into groups depending on which language our guide at the winery would be using. We had to wait for another 45 minutes for our English-speaking guide, so we had a quite bite in the restaurant. Our guide, Walter, has been leading tours for eight years and was very charming. Our group included a couple from the Dominican Republic who have lived in Santiago for the past 15 years, a couple from Leeds, UK, a group of five from Seoul, Korea, a couple from Tokyo, Japan, and a young man from San Francisco. This eclectic group melded well and we enjoyed our visit with them.

Our first stop was the original home of the family that started the winery with 42 hectares of land. You couldn’t find a more beautiful place, with trees from all over the world, a small lake covered in water lilies. It was a most idyllic setting. There are many grape vines close to the lake but they are really for the visitors to touch and see up close. The real vineyards are not far away, out of reach for the average tourist. They grow twelve different varieties, six white and six red grapes. The grounds are not to be believed. Many of the trees were planted in the 1800’s and provide examples of species you normally would not see together

We went to one of the covered areas to have our first wine tasting. We started with a very nice Sauvignon Blanc, moved to Cabernet Sauvignon, and finally to a Carmenere. They gave us lovely wine glasses to keep and use for the tasting. Walter took great delight in serving us. We especially liked both red wines. They were smooth and full-bodied. After the tasting, we moved to the grape plants themselves. They are not the ones that are harvested but an excellent example of how they are grown.

Our next stop was the underground area where the wines are aged. They are first put into new French oak casks, then transferred to casks that are one year old, and finally into casks that are three years old. Each cask imparts a special identity to the wine from the age of the wood. It was fascinating. Below, at four meters underground, there are casks for special wines. They are treated to a highly-chilled environment in casks that give them the aging they need.

Our last stop was in another area for a different wine tasting. We were able to sample different wines with and without cheeses and the results are significant. The first wine was a Chardonnay/Pinot Noir that paired very well with goat cheese. The second was a Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah to have with a buttery cheese. Next, we had a Carmenere with a Camembert. Finally, we had a Malbec/Merlot blend to enjoy with a delicious Parmesean. The white wine is perfect with seafood or even a salad. The others were excellent with pasta or lighter foods, and finally the heartier reds should be paired with fatty meats, like beef or lamb. It was an education.

We didn’t buy any wines in the shop, although it was very tempting. We have our lovely engraved wine glass to bring home as a souvenir and a nice memory of nice folks to share this in this experience.

Tomorrow, we are off to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar on the coast, where we will be exploring a different area.

After a long day of travel from Guadalajara on a 6:00 AM flight to Mexico City, and ultimately to Santiago arriving around 10:00 PM local time (three hours ahead of Mexico). The flights were easy and we arrived in good shape. Tomas picked us up at the Santiago airport and off we went to our hotel in a beautiful part of town.

The Park Plaza Santiago is a very nice hotel, near shops, restaurants, and lots to do. However, we were tired and ready to take a nice sleep. Breakfast in the dining room was okay, although nothing to shout about. Still, it was nice to have decents food (especially after the mediocre food on Aeromexico!).

Our guide for today, Yamina, and her driver, Mauricio, picked us up at 8:30 to begin our tour. Both of them showed their expansive knowledge of the city and made the tour very interesting. We drove around the many neighborhoods, including high end and bohemian areas. The architecture of many of the government buildings (some were formerly private properties) has a definitive French influence in the central part of the city. As we drove around, it felt as though you could be in any European capitol. With a beautiful blue sky and perfect temperatures, walking around was heaven.

The Andes are on the east side of the city, with minimal snow visible, especially considering that November is the end of spring. The mountains loom over the city, creating a border north and south, with Argentina on the other side. Santiago boasts about 8 million people, a far cry from 2 million prior to the COVID years. Compared to the rampant inflation in Argentina, Chile is calm, well run, and experiencing minimal inflation. We were told that people from Buenos Aires even come to Chile just to shop for groceries!

We enjoyed viewing the green areas, lots of flowers, and walking in the Plaza de Armas and other plazas around the government buildings. The main church on the Plaza is a monument to Catholicism, and very impressive. Surprisingly, the stained glass was rather plain while the interior was filled with gold and silver decoration. When we left, we passed an important mural featuring Gabriela Mistral, an educator and poet, earning her the honor of receiving Chile’s first Nobel prize for literature in 1945.

From there, we stopped at the Neptune Terrazza, with its beautiful fountain that gave the many pidgeons a welcome respite. There were not many tourists but almost everywhere, there were hundreds of students visiting the many sites in the city. After a drive up Cerro (Hill) Santa Lucia for a beautiful view of the city, we took the cable car up Cerro San Cristobal, two of the better known hills to see the Virgin Mary statue that is visited by hundreds (or thousands) of tourists all year around. At the top, there was an amazing view of Santiago.

The tour was over around 1:00 PM, so time for lunch. Mauricio suggested a restaurant around the corner from our hotel. Giratorio Restaurant sits at the top of a building that houses several restaurant and rotates to view every part of the city. The menu was varied and catered to an upscale clientele. We normally share an entree and found the perfect dish to order. The shrimp with gnocchi in a pesto sauce, burrata cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes was definitely a winner. It came with homemade focaccia for dipping into the pesto sauce. We also ordered a local beer, Astral, which is from Patagonia, and a Pisco Sour, a special drink that you find all over Chile. Both were a wonderful compliment to the food.

There was a pianist to serenade us as we rotated very slowly. We saw window washers scaling the tallest building in South America (yikes!) and had to hold our breath. Time to go, but we had one issue to deal with. Jim uses a travel CPAP machine at night and he forgot the humidifier that keeps him from drying his nasal passages. It kept him from having a good sleep last night. Going online, we found exactly the store we needed around the corner from the restaurant. And, fortunately, they had the humidifier he needed. What were the chances??

Once back at the hotel, we both crashed. By the way, WiFi isn’t available everywhere as it is in most cities. Using Google maps to get around requires some pre-planning. I ordered an eSim but so far, it hasn’t worked. Now, I have to get the many pictures into this entry. I still haven’t figured out how to insert videos. Anyone know WordPress better than me? See you tomorrow…

On November 13, we will be flying from Mexico to Santiago, Chile to begin an almost three week wine tour through Chile and Argentina, as well as on the border of Bolivia. It is spring there and the weather should be perfect.

Truthfully, we are not wine experts but we know we will enjoy trying the various wines of each region. Starting in Santiago and ending in Mendoza, Argentina, the food and wine experience will be very special.

We end our trip with four days in Buenos Aires, something we are looking forward to enjoying. I have been remiss in posting pictures in the past because I figured most people will be bored to tears. However, I have been asked to add photos whenever I am able, so get ready!