I guess, I did not in detail explain what happened from San Pedro de Atacama all the way to Buenos Aires. Here it comes:
We spent the afternoon in San Pedro de Atacama. It is just a small town on the border from Bolivia to Chile just north of the big Atacama-desert. It is weired, because the weather and the landspace are like we were used to in Bolivia, but the living-conditions are really some levels up. The streets are well paved and they don´t have holes. Houses, restaurants, shops, banks, everything is just in a much better condition than in Bolivia. Well, but it is much more expensive also. But, don´t get me wrong, we really liked Bolivia!
Remember: For the busride from La Paz to Rurrenabaque, which was an eighteen hours busride, we paid sixty Bolivianos, which are six Euros, per person. We bought the bustickets from San Pedro to Santiago and went pale when we heard the price: 50 Euros per Person! But you can really tell the difference. The buses (Mercedes Marcopolo) in Chile are nice. The seats, semi-cama (half-bed) are comfortable, there is an aircondition, a steward hands out covers and pillars at night and there are videos, but you can only listen to the sound, when you bring your own headset. The plugs are standard. Most important of all, the streets are in a very good shape.
We went down on the Panamericana again, the main highway that goes along the coast on which we have
been travelling a lot before, from Lima down to Pisco and south of Pisco also. The asphalt is good, and it is just a really smooth ride.
In Santiago de Chile we stayed in the very busy hostel "La Casa Roja" (the red house). It is a nice colonial style house and it is really painted all in red. There were many tourists checking in and out, but the atmosphere was very relaxed. There is a swimmingpool, a kicker- and a ping-pong-table.
We went downtown and I met a Chilenen who explained to me very proud, that the German Wehrmacht were really some cool guys, that he has a friend who is just starting a Neo-Nazi-group in the south of Chile, that Hitler must have been a cool guy and that all the stories about Auschwitz are just lies. That made my day. I was speechless and very sad for hours. I wanted to hit the man in the face, but I was too stunned to react, so I didn´t. But isn´t it sad to hear people talk like that, and believe in it also? Sad.
After three days in Santiago de Chile we took the bus over the Andes, through the Libertadores to Mendoza. The ride is amazing, the landscape is breathtaking. Some of the highest peaks of the Andes are here.
Mendoza is known for its wine. And we were lucky: We arrived on a weekend, and there was a festival going on in the main square, the Plaza de Independencia. As it happened to be, we lived in the Hostal Independencia, just 50 meters to walk from the plaza. So we were there, lying on the grass, enjoying classical music and balletdancers and people in historical costumes walked by and handed out red wine and sandwiches for free. Nice! We liked Mendoza. It is probably the most relaxed town we have been in so far. We didn´t move much, we slept a lot, and all the other guests in the hostal did pretty much the same!
From Mendoza we took another fourteen hour bisride to Buenos Aires, overnight. We did not see so much of the countryside, but what we saw really reminded me of Westphalia, of home, of Haltern am See. Flat country, fields, trees, farmhouses and lots of cows. But in difference to Germany at the moment, it is warm!
Well, we are in Buenos Aires now and maybe you have read the stories of life here before. Tonight we will see Avatar in English and 3D with subtitles and Nadèges 30th. birthday is coming up.
More news later,
all the best,
Stefan