Norte Chico

After dropping Marcus off at the airport, I travelled north on the Panamericana Norte (Ruta 5) towards the Pacific. I had decided against Valparaiso and Viña del Mar as I had had enough of cities for the time being.

The journey north on the R5 was monotonous, I don't like driving on motorways. Every now and then there is a toll station where you can pay in cash. Sometimes you also pay at the motorway exit. Not as cumbersome as in UR, where you have to organize a tag for the windscreen. Overall, the amounts were between 500 CLP and 4'000 CLP, so not really expensive.

When I got to the sea at Pichicuy, my anticipation cooled. The coast outside the villages looks beautiful, but you can't go there - it's private property! The towns have the flair of the Spanish Mediterranean coast, some of them holiday paradises made of concrete. To be fair, it has to be said that there are huge beaches where holidaymakers flock in the summer. But not what I'm actually looking for. 

My attempts to find nice places were not that easy. I didn't want to stand on the beach in the towns and the places outside were more like rubbish dumps than idyllic pitches.

The dilemma continued all the way to Los Vilos. Frustrated, I gave up the search for a pitch by the Pacific and went for plan B. A pitch in the Andes

I wanted to go to Pisco Elqui and visit observatories if possible. The first observatory was the Observatorio Cruz Del Sur  in Combarbalá. And as I drove along the D71, I was where I wanted to be.

I found a great spot in an old quarry just outside Combarbalá and took a break from the coast.

I spent the rest of the day surrounded by cacti and an Andean jackal

Combarbalá looked deserted from the outside, but was full of people in the afternoon. Due to roadworks, it took me some time to find a car park and the ticket office at Plaza de Armas 12 before I went up to the observatory. Unfortunately, nobody was interested apart from me. So again, no guided stargazing that evening. Nevertheless, I watched the stars without a telescope and it was beautiful. Unfortunately, my photos with a tripod didn't turn out!

I wasn't alone at the observatory either, as a family was celebrating a birthday in the car park that evening. I would have been even more impressed if they had taken their rubbish with them!

I continued on the D55 through the mountainous semi-desert to Ovalle. The old railway line runs parallel to the road. Seeing railway tracks, station ruins and bridges in the middle of this barren landscape was a change of scenery.

The first green plantations appeared near Huatalame. First fruit trees along the Rio Cogoti, then vines. It was a real eye-catcher in the brown-grey landscape. I was visibly impressed when the vines were planted right up to the high slopes.

And these green patches in the landscape became more and more the closer I got to Monte Patria. The Embalse la Paloma also irrigates the vegetable gardens as far as Ovalle.

Ovalle itself did not encourage me to take a break at midday in 32 Celsius. If there was anything worth seeing, I didn't see it. With 2 empanadas, I made my way up the valley of the Rio Hurtado. I either wanted to spend the night by the river or continue to the Observatorio Astronómico Cerro Tololo. The D595 is unpleasantly winding at first, but not worth seeing. From Samo Alto it becomes a beautiful winding motorbike route, the Circuito Antakari.

The Rio Hurtado winds its way through the mountains like a green snake.

I could imagine spending the weekend here. Above Fundina, a cluster of houses, the only IOverlander pitch was excellent. Really nice, right by the river. The only place big enough for my van was also the locals' toilet.

So I drove on to Hurtado. I had to seriously think about the last time I had driven on a track, because the D445 to Vicuña was a track. From around 800 m.a.s.l, it went up to over 2'000 m.a.s.l to my pitch at 1'744 m.a.s.l.

The piste was so good that I didn't even deflate. I was rewarded with a top-class pitch. 

6 kilometres to the Observatorio Astronómico Cerro Tololo, I could even see it. So I ordered a ticket online straight away.

I saw my first condors in the distance and was rewarded with a deep red sunset.

I spent the evening and part of the night taking photos. In the evening, I had already noticed that the waxing moon made it difficult to take pictures of the starry sky.

At some point during the night, when I answered the call of nature, I realized that I had neighbors who watched the stars at 5 a.m. while listening to guitar music around a campfire. There was enough space. I hadn't heard the car coming.

In the morning, I received my reply to the ticket request 

Dear Sir, we thank you for your message, however I regret to confirm that in March we'll be closed from 8th to 15th inclusive, since these are the dates around the full moon phase when excessive moonlight prevents us from observing almost anything through a telescope.

I had about 5 observatories nearby and was here at the wrong time 🤢🤕.

After a relaxing weekend, I traveled to Vicuña. The first small town in Chile that I liked. Probably also because I was able to park 500 meters from the Plaza de Armas. Vicuña, with its 25'000 inhabitants, is the center of the Valle de Elqui and thus of Pisco production in Chile. 

I sat in the shade of the trees in the plaza and watched the locals. Everything was so relaxed. No nervous honking, no shouting, just pure life. I found a general shop where I got lighters and petrol. I looked at the observatory on the plaza, a simple tower. 

I didn't see a lot of Pisco signs, bodegas or the Cooperativa Capel, one of the biggest Pisco producers, in the city straight away. I later learnt that the Centro Turístico Capel is located outside the town on the other side of the Rio Elqui. 

I tried to find a campsite that was open and failed. An employee at the Shell petrol station told me that the season was over. I was supposed to pick up my laundry at the only lavendería in town at 6 pm so I was stuck. In the past I would have got scabies, today I go out for late lunch.

I chnaged y plan and went in the afternoon for a Centro Turístico Capel visit. Similar to Montes, but only next to a distillery / boring factory. There was no English tour available that day, so I tried two Piscos and that was all there was. The Reserva for 28'000 CLP was only available with a guided tour, I understood that much. There's not much to see without a guided tour, so I left after 30 minutes.

At the Shell petrol station, I hosed down the Sprinter for the first time in 6 months. Now you could see every scratch ....

I followed the R41 to Valle Elqui in tge late afternoon. I had seen that there weren't many pitches and that the campsites in the Rio Elqui valley were more suitable for camping. As in Vicuña, the first campsites were closed. In Paihuano, I parked again in the car park of a campsite for 10'000 CLP. The town looked picturesque, but I didn't get any empanadas. The next day I drove up the valley, which is about 500 meters wide with steep slopes at the start. There were huge fruit plantations in the lower part, but vineyards dominated the landscape from Monte Grande onwards.

The villages had been prepared for tourism and looked good. Only parking spaces for the bigger van were in short supply.

In Pisco Elqui I found everything I was looking for, strolled through the town, tried 2 Piscos at Mistral and relaxed in the plaza. In front of the church, a group of women tried to convince passers-by of their faith. They left me alone.

It was quiet in the town, maybe 20 tourists were out and about. After a cup of coffee, I set off for the border. Coffee seems to be not what they prefer to sell. A Pisco shot was less expensive at least!

Time to head to the Paso Agua Negra. The R41 leads through a barren, picturesque mountain landscape along the Rio Laguna. Although there are only 2 options listed in IOverlander, there are several opportunities to stay over night before and after the border crossing.

There were hardly any cars traveling to Argentina and I was the only customer at the border station. After the usual procedure, the policeman asked me whether I wanted to go straight to Argentinian customs or spend the night in the mountains. I had already decided beforehand to spend the night at the Embalse de Laguna.

The R41 was tarred up to the reservoir. From the reservoir, it was only 140 kilometers to Aduana Las Flores in Argentina.

I had covered a total of 125 km and 2'000 meters in altitude that day when I parked my van at 3'145 m.a.s.l on the shore of the lake in the afternoon.

The view was breathtaking and the temperatures pleasant. Not over 30 Celsius like in Vicuña, only 22 Celsius and a pleasant westerly wind. 

I cooked the remaining potatoes and carrots, otherwise they would have been taken away by Argentinian customs. 

That evening I realized that Paso Aqua Negra (4'753 m.a.s.l) was still about 50 kilometers away. 

The route from Vicuña to Jachal has a fairly even elevation profile. No really steep sections, lots of tarmac, but from Embalse La Laguna it becomes a piste.

Not a really bad piste, but sufficient. You drive approx. 158 km from 616 m.a.s.l to 4'735 m.a.s.l, i.e. approx. 25 m per kilometer.

In the Andes it also gets dark and cool very quickly in the evening. It was dark by 20:00 and at 7:00 in the morning it was a mere 5 degrees outside. I had some tea for breakfast and prepared 4.5 liters of water to drink. Better to be prepared than to look stupid. 

The weather forecast wasn't great, it was supposed to snow on the pass in the late afternoon and I set off at 9.00am for my first pass over 4'000 m.a.s.l.

BTW, I saw snow on the mountains from my pitch in Argentina the day after. 

The last 50 kilometers took me about 1.5 hours in a breathtaking landscape.

On the one hand to take photos and on the other not to overdo it. I have to say that the drive up was more exciting than the pass itself. Apart from a few signposts, there is nothing there. Taking a walk to a point slightly higher was already a stretch for me but OK.

There are several opportunities to stay over night along the whole route, including on the pass. The descent on the Argentinian side is less colorful than the ascent in Chile, but I did see the remains of snow spikes, I don't know what else to call them.

I had expected a worse track on the Argentinian side and was surprised to find that after about 30 kilometers a first-class road began.

A little later came the checkpoint of the Gendarmería Nacional Grupo Guardia Vieja. The Chileans and Argentinians don't want any nasty surprises and you get a ticket at the start. The other side then knows who left when and on which day this vehicle should arrive on the other side. If something goes wrong, the gendarmería searches for this vehicle.

I didn't count, but I didn't see 30 vehicles that day. There was nothing going on on the Aduana Las Flores either. Very friendly staff, interested and helpful. We even ‘discussed’ the advantages and disadvantages of such a large sprinter After a brief inspection of my fridge, I was allowed to drive on. They didn't ask for fruit or vegetables.