Buses across Argentine/Chilean border from Salta/Jujuy to San Pedro de Atacama ("SPA") only run 3 times a week, through the day, but some sharp timing (and some top class interpretive Spanglish from yours truly in the absence of Anna's fluency) managed to snag us a couple of tickets for the early (8.30am) departure on the morning of Friday 26th.
Hyperbole is not even slightly needed when describing the ensuing bus journey. 6 months of globetrotting have involved all sorts of experiences across all sorts of landscapes on all sorts of buses, but based on visual diversity alone I defy anyone to find a journey that is quite as spectacular, in so many different ways, as the journey across the Paso de Jama mountain pass that represents the northernmost road crossing between Argentina and Chile (and features a delirium-inducing ascent up to about 4.5km above sea level in a few hours). The constantly changing backdrop began with the artistic colours of the Quebrada de Humahuaca, as previously graced by 'Lads on tour'; rose upward into green hills and mountain pass roads, continued rising upward beyond the tree line as the green gave way to a dusty mix of reds, yellows and greys; then the road stretched dead straight into a white horizon as we drove through a salt flat at about 4000 metres a.s.l.
The ascent on the Argentine side of the pass
The plateau atop of the Argentine side of the pass; greenery is replaced by all colours of sand
Salt flat on the horizon
Surrounded by salt
Through the salt; more sand and scrub
At 3500-4000m a.s.l., the roads get quite winding...
...and then a few minutes later they'll be dead straight for as far as the eye can see
All this was before we had even left Argentina - the formalities at Paso de Jama were uneventful but for another idiot immigration official stamping my sixth and final Argentine stamp directly on top of another one (exiting Australia, for anyone so interested). Given they do the same thing thousands of times a day, you'd think they'd get vaguely competent at it. But all was soon forgotten as Anna and I sampled some coca tea - coca leaves being the same bad boys that, via various steps, end up as cocaine (although apparently about a tonne of coca leaves are needed to make about 1g of the drug). For what it's worth, its taste was unimpressive.
The surreal 3000m gradual descent down the Chilean side - San Pedro in the far distance
Veterans of high altitude travel will know all about the effects it can have on the human body, and are probably quite aware of the best ways of mitigating the headaches, dizziness, stomach churning, fever and other symptoms that go hand it hand with going up to high altitude too quickly. Sadly, I wasn't quite so aware that, if avoiding altitude illness was on your agenda, red meat and alcohol were standard no-no's for the night before. I'd like to say that up at 4400m I found myself somewhat regretting the previous night's "last night in Argentina" binge on steak and Malbec red wine, but for about 15 minutes I was so delirious that the thought process needed to feel regret was, along with thought process of any kind, not happening. And, more to the point, 10 minutes of feeling light-headed discomfort is a sacrifice worth making for an evening of great food and drink.
Anyway, SPA sits at about 2400m a.s.l., just off the northeastern tip of the great Atacama Salt Desert, and west of the towering peaks of the Andes that we earlier dissected. Most imposing is the classically conical-shaped volcano Licancabur (right) which, at nearly 6000m in height, is visible due east from anywhere, for miles.For a tiny town in literally the middle of nowhere, SPA is pretty damn touristy - a point proven by the veritable multitude of tour operators set up in the town offering this, that, the other, and everything in between. However, their existence hints at why this Godforsaken no-man's-land in the middle of the desert is a must-visit location for travellers and young Chileans alike. In a similar manner to our journey over here, the area surrounding San Pedro boasts some of the most surreal, varied, and generally awe-inspiring natural attractions of anywhere in South America - or indeed the world. And that should we what we get to enjoy over the next few days!
Before I dash though, I'll sign off with a quote from some girl in front of us in the queue to get our passports stamped at San Pedro.
"So we're getting our Chilean passport stamps here... so where were we between here and where we got our Argentina stamps?!?"A wise man once said, "stupidity is infinite".
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