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Jorge and I left Curitiba jan/29 at 4:30am by car, crossing south Brazil and entering Argentina. After 1,400km we stopped at Federal City, 1.400km from Curitiba. Next day we drove 1.200 km to Mendoza in 14 hours. We arrived in Mendoza, very tired due the distance and the hot weather in Argentina. I remenber the landscape of Argentina...first the complete flat terrain with much livestock, and then Mendoza with its vineyards and the beautiful view of the Andes - our target....It was a contrasting landscape.
Sunday, the last day of the year, we crossed the Andes to Santiago. We stopped at Puente del Inca, thinking of Aconcagua and the climb we made last year. (Read about the Aconcagua Expedition)
At Santiago, we waited for David and Ting Sern at airport..... we crossed the new year inside my car with all our equipment inside and seeing the majestic new year party in central Santiago.
Ciao,
Gil + Jorge
From L to R - Gil, Jorge, Ting Sern & David
Breakfast, glorious breakfast! It seems to be the best meal after an epic 30 hour flight. Having cleared 2 sets of customs with a heap of gear and food, today was spent getting re-acquainted with Gil and Jorge. By Brazilian standards , it seems sparse but the sliced salami, cheese, butter, jam and warm bread goes down well.
Language is , of course, a big challenge - getting Spanish and Portuguese speakers together. It's a good thing Gil's English is cool and my Spanish creaky - we can get our thoughts across.
A recce to the Maipo Canyon failed today since all of Santiago seemed to have also the same idea and the single carriageway was backed for miles. The Chileans are terribly friendly and last night's New Year celebrations was a reflection of their passionate, latin character. Whole families lined the roads watching the fireworks and every car was happily tooting away to mark the REAL millennium. A Chilean at a stop sign passed us some fizzy to celebrate - a great night of festivities.
This afternoon was spent watching a group of paragliders do their thing over the hills near Santiago. Tomorrow, we hit the supermarkets for the rest of our food and will head to either the Maipo Valley (again) for Cerro Plomo (c. 5450m) or the volcano San Jose (c 5800m) for some acclimatisation climbs. We have all our gear and are ready to hit the hills. From Santiago, we get some cool views of the higher ranges to our east.
It's midnight now - time for supper. We're still jet lagged but Ting Sern always seems to be able to get some sleep somewhere.
Ciao
David
We left Singapore by MH (Malaysian Airlines) to KL at 9:30pm on 30/12/2000. After transiting at KLIA, we boarded the MH 201 flight bound for Buenos Aires at 1am. We arrived, dead as dogs, at 3:30pm (local Argentinian time) after flying for slightly more than 24 hours. On board that flight, while nearing the South American coast, its NEW YEAR back in Singapore. So, its hurrah from both of us.
David didn't want spend all his time at the airport waiting for the connecting flight to Santiago - so we took a short but expensive trip from the airport to downtown Buenos Aires for a very fast dinner - because we had only 1 hour spare after deducting the travelling time.Dinner was a yummy South American "pasta" - can't find the taste back home.
We landed at Santiago airport at 11:20pm (local Chilean time). Our South American friends (Gil and Jorge) were there at the airport waiting for us (having driven 3000km from Curitiba in southeastern Brazil to Santiago). "We arrived at Santiago at about 6am", said Gil. By then, I was so dead tired after this marathon flight I could think of nothing except sleep ...
However, the next challenge was to drive from the Airport to downtown Santiago. The highway from the airport was full of cars at some points. As it turned out, the crowd had gathered on the highway to watch fireworks - to celebrate the New Year (again). Downtown Santiago was worse - most major roads were jammed and it took us nearly 1.5 hours to find our hotel. Along the way, people was cheering,, dancing, etc ... even on the roads. Finally, we arrived. After the exchange of gifts for one another, the bed looks too enticing and it was really nice sleeping flat again.
Since Monday is a holiday, all shops are closed - we will buy some stable food tomorrow. We hope to depart for Cerro Plomo on Wednesday morning and spend 6 days on the mountain.
Ting Sernnnnnn.... zzzz....zzz...z...z.z. zz