Our adventure crossing the Andes

We began our trip early from the city of La Serena and started going inside Elqui Valley in the adventure of crossing the Andes. As we went forward, the hundreds of acres of Pisco grapes adorned our journey. This is the classic Elqui Valley postcard picture, the one that identifies it: endless green grapevines, huge and ever-present half-naked hills and the blue sky, the clearest in the planet. It’s the valley in all its magnitude.

We passed the village of Rivadavia, followed the path of the Turbio River, by Gabriela Mistral International route, and made a brief detention in the town of Huanta, specifically in the Casa Quinta San Juan, a typical country house, where we left our lunch orders ready, before continuing the adventure.

We went back to our way through the Andes Mountains for a few hours, appreciating its infinite range of colours: violet, indigo, red, purple, yellow, brown, etc. No photograph can capture the beauty of direct observation: you must be there and enjoy the show. Totally recommended, by the way, is to keep an extra memory-card for your camera, although you’ll always end up regretting for not being able to take the Andes home.

A few more hours and we arrived to the international border, where we signed some papers, completed the regular process, and continued our adventure crossing the Andes. After moving through an area of gorges, the road became a bit tedious, but it was worth: about 30 km. forward we found La Laguna reservoir: 40 million cubic meters and a solitude scene which is surprising because of its unique beauty. A few miles further and El Tapado impressive glacier appeared, located at 5.536 meters high, it is the largest reserve of fresh water in our area. Both in the lake and near the glacier we took a few minutes to obtain the necessary souvenir: pictures.

Continuing our adventure on the other side of the Andes, our place of lodging was the Hotel Termas de Pismanta, a hot spring hotel in the town of the same name, 100 km. from the border. We were now into the Iglesias valley and the landscape, full of poplars, welcomed us.

The hotel runs from about 1950 and among its services we found 12 thermal pools ranging between 38º and 45º Celsius (100 – 113 Fahrenheit), which can be used anytime, 24 hours a day, as often as anyone pleases. It’s recommended, however, to miss at least six hours between baths. These baths are detoxifying and indicated for people suffering from liver, rheumatism, gout, diabetes and respiratory problems. After intense journey through the mountains, our bodies were grateful to be treated as deserved.

After a few hours of total relax at the hotel, we went to the farm of Guido and Liliana, in the area of Bellavista, who welcomed us with a delicious picnic dinner and showed us the land they own, how they work and the story behind them. It was an excellent opportunity to understand how the people of this deep zone of Argentina live, away from the big resorts, beaches and glamour from Buenos Aires.

Day two.
After breakfast we visited the town of Rodeo, usually described as the touristic village of the Iglesias Valley. It has landscapes of enormous natural beauty and a great climate, with pleasant temperatures all year and very little moisture. After a short tour, we went to lunch at one of the most beautiful places of our entire journey: the farm Hammer or El Martillo, a property dedicated to agritourism and the best example of rural tourism in this area. We enjoyed the exquisite Argentina grilled beef at the farm’s restaurant, with a privileged view of the nature. You can even see, at the back of the farm, the crops they use as ingredients for the preparation of the dishes. Everything is natural. Even the tables, chairs, everything is made of the same wood we had seen in the area: poplar. It has a rustic and beautiful style, and I repeat, the best is the food: Argentine red meat is well known all around the world for its high quality. It has a distinctive taste, a result from the treatment that the cattle receives. The cattle lives on wide and fertile fields, eating only the green pastures without additional hormones stimulation their growth. Walking across the open landscape, the cattle receives constant exercise giving the meats a very tender texture and most importantly, a low fat content. All this along with very good wines from the area. With such a spectacle it was very easy to enjoy lunch… and extremely difficult to leave.

Our next stop left us all amazed by the contrasting experience. Close to El Martillo, this beautiful green oasis, the lunar landscape of the reservoir Cuesta del Viento is its exact opposite. We were surprised by the shape of rocks, similar to the Valley of the Moon, and also by meeting this beautiful water mirror among the mountains, by the striking violet color the appeared in the hillsides, by the immensity of the landscape … by everything.

We returned to the hotel about four o’clock in the afternoon. Some chose to go to the swimming pool, others took the spa and I went straight to the baths. The afternoon was free for relax, just like the previous one.

The evening was a spectacle. Ovidio and Teresa in El Ensueño, greeted us with an Argentina’s kind of grill beef and a show, a true master class on tango: its origins, its history, its variations. We listened with attention, we had fun, laughed, and then we sang the best and classical tango repertory. The evening was short between wine and music and ended up returning to the hotel, tired but happy.

Day three
The third day was simply to recovery and get energy for the return. Our desire to see it all, to take a thousand pictures, to learn about the culture and traditions of the Argentinian people we met, gave us the perfect excuse to have a free morning and use the services of the hotel. Hot pool, spa, massages, everything. After lunch we began to say goodbye, until a next opportunity, when the stress and the wildness of the city requires us to return to relax by crossing the Andes, leaving the problems, meetings, the daily routine of work, behind the mountains.