Image: Spacer
Crossing South America in vintage British cars, a Healey Westland and a couple of Austin Healeys raising money for Save the Children and getting lost Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Home
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer + Sponsor and Win!
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer + Route Information
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer + Log & Blog December
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 4
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 5
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 6
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 7
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 8
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 9
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 10
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 11
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 12
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 13
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 14
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 15
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 16
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 17
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 18
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 19
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 20
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 21
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 22
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 23
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 24
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 25
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 26
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 27
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 28
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 29
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 30
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Dec 31
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer + Log & Blog January
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Cast and Crew
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Buy our USA adventure
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Gallery
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Movies
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Contact Us/Pledge
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Sign our Guestbook!
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Privacy/Disclaimer
Image: Spacer


Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer Save the Children Web Site

+ Log & Blog December / Dec 26

 Progress log and blog report

26 DECEMBER 2005 - Boxing Day and the high Andes crossing

Today was a normal working day in Santiago, so the streets were full and all the shops open again. A surprise was how cool it was, so unlike yesterday. Julian had found an address for his exhaust to be welded up, and they opened at 9am, so Alan, I and Ivor headed off to the car park to work on our cars there and Julian and Chris went to the garage. A morning was spent fixing Ivor’s re-charging problem and hopefully his wobbly fan, the Westie was checked over and a new speedo cable fitted, and Julian’s invisible exhaust was repaired. By about 1pm we were ready to go.

The-invisible-exhaust
The invisible exhaust

We knew where we were headed, Los Andes. The Chilean side of the high Andes pass across to Argentina. Could we get on the right road….! ‘U turns are us’! We eventually ignored the fact that a slip road had the markings to Los Andes covered over and took it – and got on the right road, Rn 57. Oh, don’t think about maps, the most official, well coloured maps seem in reality to have just made it all up. The same is true for Argentina this far north. Our advice: ‘get used to asking people’. Los Andes was not far. We stopped for petrol and decided to go into town for a bite to eat and explore.

The-streets-of-Los-Andes

Unfortunately the earlier welding to Julian’s exhaust gave up the ghost and needed a fix with wire at the side of the road in Los Andes. As we watched our very own mechanical guru and Mr Fixit, Alan, tackle the problem we noticed the horse and carts carrying various goods were almost as common as the large lorries! By now it was very hot again and the town looked dry, dusty and not too appealing. Also where ever we stopped seemed to have parking restrictions, so we decided to head on up Rn 60 and stop if we saw anything appealing. We didn’t. Probably if we hadn’t been so hot we would have been less fussy, and I think we had this image in our head of the perfect place up in the hills in the cool. Unfortunately no such place existed. As we got higher the roads became more unpredictable, fewer cars were seen and more huge lorries carrying goods across the border dominated. The scenery however was stunning.

Lorries-and-Healeys

A good friend of Julian’s, Ed, was hoping at one point to be coming with us. Julian said he is a keen climber and would have loved these views, so some of these photos are for you Ed!

Approaching-the-border

Winding-our-way-up

On the road were a number of tunnels, these are as a protection against avalanches wiping out the road. The tunnels are usually dark and can be very potholed, so beware. With huge trucks in front and behind, the road can be taxing. Through a series of absolutely enormous hairpins with crumbly sides and no crash barriers, we and the trucks wound our way to the top of the pass.

Remnants-of-the-railway

The highest altitude we measured on Chris’s watch (which seems to do everything) was 3,200m or 10,700 feet. Not nearly as high as we drove in the US, but high enough to knock the spots of any of the passes in Europe! There was an alternative road which cuts out the tunnel at the top and goes much higher, and we would like to have taken it, but it was still snowbound and apparently the condition of the road was not good.

The-high-Andes

Long before we expected to we came to the Chilean border crossing to Argentina, this was most impressive at it was an integrated one. No check out of one country, drive a bit and check into another. The whole thing was managed as one process in a large well laid out building. The only problem was they did not know what to do with a Carnet de Passage and it is vital we have ours correctly processed at each crossing if we are to get the cars out of Argentina again. So we insisted the Carnets were stamped and Julian gave them a lesson in how to do it.

Leaving-Chile

The remains of an extensive railway and telegraph line followed the road, large boulders crushed the tracks in many places and tunnels had collapsed. In the foothills of the Chilean side the railway was still operating, as we passed long trains pulling what looked like large barrels. There is a great deal of mineral wealth in the Andes and they were probably taking ore back in to Chile for processing. The railway (narrow gauge – invented by the Welsh) was abandoned in the 1970s and today Chinese companies are thinking of opening it up again. Certainly judging by the number of lorries on the road, it would seem to make sense.

Long-trains

On the Argentinean side it looked more arid, there was less snow and even the river seemed to be made of mud. A fast flowing chocolate coloured river followed the road, eroding the sides of a valley as it splashed its way over rocks and boulders, an impressive site against a backdrop of multi-coloured mountains.

-river-of-chocolate

All we had passed in terms of habitation for many miles looked like attempts at ski resorts. Many buildings were boarded up and had broken glass. A few looked like they were still operating, but none held any appeal for a visit. We were heading to Mendoza for this night, unless we saw anything attractive along the way. By now the air was cool and the driving down the Andes very pleasant. We saw plenty of signs for horse riding, something I would love the opportunity to do in the Andes, but alas no time.

Abandoned-buildings

As we wound our way down Rn7 we saw trees again and came to the little town of Uspallata. Just as we came in we spotted a hotel, originally named the ‘Uspallata hotel’. It looked quite posh, but in Argentina the prices are so good we thought we would go in and try it. It actually turned out to be a very interesting place. Built in 1948 (same year as my Westie) even now the interior design looked quite modern, only the hardwood fittings betrayed the passing of years. It is also probably only the only hotel in Argentina to have a bowling alley, let alone a classic one! The pool table was more recent, but golf course fairways are smoother, so not surprisingly we didn’t seen any games played. The hotel even had a brick and stone rabbit house (probably kept for their meat) a large outdoor swimming pool (again very 40’s style) an impressive garden irrigation system and a huge restaurant.

A hostel for even more budget travellers was in the grounds, and according to Maria (a Swede travelling South America) it was an extremely good one with individual rooms. Clearly in the 40s this was a rich person’s hotel for walking and exploring the Andes – well worth a stop and at about £35 for a twin room it was very good value. There was also an adventure trek booking desk for white water rafting, horse riding, 4x4 driving. Lots of stuff. This was manned until about 11pm, so as we waited for the restaurant to open at 9pm (quite common) plans were laid for a late start and a bit of an adventure tomorrow morning.

Back-down-again

the-amazing-Andes

Going-down

Unfortunately for me I had been slacking and was 4 days behind on the web write ups, so I would use the time for that. Julian wanted to relax and read, so Alan, Chris and Ivor booked the white water rafting trip for the next morning. I confess to being jealous, but I know if I got to 5 days behind the memory would fail for the write-ups and it would all just get harder. Good night!
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer
Image: Spacer

Image: Spacer
fine tuning by zincweb internet www.zincweb.co.uk