Rolls Alaska to Argentina & back: 18 San Pedro de Atacama, Chile to San Sebastian, Argentina

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

*Miles for the day: 276 (444 km) Miles to date: 10,938 (17,603 km)*

My grand plan of an early start got shot down when I went to the customs and immigration office at the edge of San Pedro de Atacama yesterday afternoon. This office controls both routes out of Chile to Argentina, and one to Bolivia. Several local people had said to go in the late afternoon and tell the officials that we would be leaving before they open at 8 AM, and they would stamp us out in advance. I was informed on no uncertain terms that it was impossible by one of the immigration people.

In the bar that night we were talking to a bartender who knew the two passes. He suggested that we take Paso Jama, as the road is better and it is not as high as Paso Seco, which involves 5,500 meter (18,040 ft) altitudes. We decided to take his advice, even though it is a little further.

After a couple of false starts we finally arrived at the customs/migration office at 7:45 AM. Ahead of us was a line of trucks and one bus. Truck drivers confirmed our choice of Paso Jama while we waited in line. The offices actually opened on time and processed everyone quickly. We were then directed to the customs line where we managed to slip in front of a bus load of people and were soon under way. The border is at the top of Paso Jamas 160 km away.

For the next few hours the poor car climbed continually. The hills were so steep that with the gas pedal to the floor we could only move at between 10 & 20 mph (16 & 32 kph). During this period we climbed from San Pedro de Atacama at 2,500 meters (8,200 ft) to 4,856 meters (15,928 ft). When Vic and I were at 8,000 ft (2,439 meters) above Mexico City there were problems with the Rolls idling, but it seemed to improve when we used premium gas. This time for the last three tanks I used premium (97 octane) and before the last fill up put in a container of octane booster. It seemed to work well, as while the idle was a bit rough at the top it ran perfectly. My main worry was that in the first 25 miles (40 km) it used ¼ tank of gas!

Once we finished climbing we were on a flat plateau with high snow capped peaks around us. The road straightened out allowing the speed to increase and the gas consumption to decrease. A traffic policeman in the middle of nowhere signalled for us to stop - they record all passing vehicles and drivers. He then wanted his photo taken with his cell phone in front of the car. This is an area of huge salt flats or not yet dry salt lakes, and there were even a few alpacas around. It is high altitude desert, but speckled with small hardy plants.

Eventually we reached the Argentine frontier. The bus had passed us on the last long hill before the border post, but by the time they had the passengers off and organized we were already in line. Passport stamping was quick, but customs took longer. There was some difficulty in explaining my BC vehicle registration, as it is done by the government owned insurance company and has the ICBC name on it rather than "Canada", but once accepted the inspection of the car was cursory. Questions about the car were asked, photos taken and a hearty welcome to Argentina offered. There was even a gas station at the border, so we filled up.

For the next 100 miles we were never under 4,200 meters (13,776 ft), and the varied scenery was awesome. There were many salt flats, ponds and small lakes plus incredible rock formations. In the distance were the snowy Andes peaks. We passed over one salt lake on a causeway. On either side salt was being gathered in commercial quantities - the white of the salt was as pure as new snow.

The decent was through huge canyons, windblown rock formations and massive cliffs. Switchback followed switchback down thousands of meters in height - at times it was possible to look down and see a dozen switchbacks directly below. The colours of the cliffs and hills were indescribable - pink, red, blue, green, grey, yellow, orange - like an artist's palate was dropped and splashed the whole area. This went on for miles and miles.

At about 4 PM we arrived at the small town of Purmamarca, where there are a number of hotels. It is a world heritage site, due to the vividly coloured mountains that surround it. The town itself is constructed of mud brick buildings and dirt streets - similar to San Pedro de Atacama but more upscale. We found a great place to stay at a reasonable price, but this is a cash area - no credit cards accepted in hotels or restaurants. We walked the town, visited the markets and had a good meal of trout at a restaurant where we talked to the owner for quite awhile. He wrote out the name of his brother who lives in San Juan, a city we will visit in a few days, so we will have a contact there if necessary.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

*Miles for the day: 41 (66 km) Miles to date: 10,979 (17,669 km)*

Today dawned cold, foggy and rainy. Marilynn had hoped to get some photos of the morning sun hitting the coloured mountains, but they weren't visible.

When I went to start the car the fuel pump ran continually, but it still started OK. After a photo session with other hotel guests we drove south, but not far as the smell of gas was strong. Marilynn had noticed this yesterday when we were coming down from the mountains.

We stopped for gas in San Sebastian de Pupuy, but the first two stations had none and the third station had only one of the three octane ratings advertised. Apparently there is a severe fuel shortage in Argentina - gas stations have a quota, and once that is sold they cannot get more until their next permitted delivery. Needless to say there was a line to get to the pumps.

A fellow who was asking about the car recommended a nearby mechanic, so we followed him to the location, where we found that once again we are caught in a four day weekend - Thursday to Sunday are national holidays. The mechanic was kind enough to take the car into his small shop and start looking for the problem.

It turned out not to be the fuel pump, but two gas leaks. Among his bits and pieces he found a seal that fit in a join to a fuel filter, solving that problem, but the other was much more serious. Gas was running out of a leak in a metal reinforced flexible gas line. It took some time to get it off because of the difficult location, and then it needed to go to a shop specializing in pressure fittings to be repaired. Our mechanic knew the shop owner, who agreed do the work in spite of the holiday, but the car won't be ready until tomorrow. A taxi was arranged and we checked into the downtown Howard Johnson hotel, where the manager was a relative of the mechanic.

We tried to change money, as the hotel wanted cash, but neither banks nor money changers are open. It could prove to be an interesting next few days!