Views from the road

Clare's last post covered our trip across country from from Neuquen / Cipoletti (Chipolata to us) to Bariloche, since which we have crossed into Chile and looked at their lake district. This has involved many variations of landscape.

We started in semi-desert plains with the road stretching straight to a shimmering mirage at the horizon for hours on end, then rising to hills cut with a winding canyon floored by lush vegetation and river, complete with rafters and fishermen, then opening to rolling hills and wide mountains surrounding huge blue lakes.

The lake on which Barlochie sits winds off in arms stretching many miles, but the main part as seen from the town presents an attractive view of the mountains behind with colours changing throughout the day with the rapidly changing weather.

Then onward through a remote desert road with occasional views back over the lake into increasingly lush canyons rising onto the Andes.

Both Argentina and Chile site their border controls many kilometres back from the border leaving between two startlingly distinct areas. On the Argentine side a bleak waste land with many dead trees and soil apparently of pure sand, seemingly embodying the feeling of being unloved, forgotten and left at the edge. Once on the Chilean side there is soon a radical change, with dense multi coloured vegetation including two metre wide cabbage leaves and four metre tall spikes that look like a cross between fern and bamboo, growing so close you would struggle to walk through.

Having read flattering descriptions of the Chilean lake district, we were somewhat underwhelmed; the lakes are just too big. There is no picturesque view of the far shore framing the water, they just stretch away like inland seas. The most obvious roads to use run far from the lakeside and when we tried to drive closer, we were faced with 15 miles of unsealed ruts, rocks and potholes for a road, twisting steeply over each fold in the hillside.

In fact, we have seen far, far fewer gravel roads than I expected. Argentine roads are almost exclusively a long thin strip of tarmac with one lane in each direction and days spent either quite alone or waiting to overtake the next lorry. The bits of Chile we are passing through have a dual-carriageway, twin-lane-each-way spine: the Pan American Highway, Chilean Route 5, which we previously travelled on way up north in Peru.

I've been trying to find a way to sum up a comparison between Argentina and Chile. The best I have so far is a difference in consistency. The bits of Argentina we've seen have a strong resemblance to each other: similar roads, similar standards of housing and shops. Chile seems to have a far wider spread, with roads varying between the Panamerican Highway and rock-and-gravel hell, with buildings ranging from glossy towers through cookie-cutter new housing estates to dilapidated clapboard and ramshackle huts. That isn't to say it lacks charm or that we're unhappy here.

The variety is well illustrated by the three cities we've stayed in in Chile.
- Puerto Montt, a city facing the Pacific, quite busy and complicated to navigate. On the route, Clare had seen a hoarding advertising the Holiday Inn Express, and then she spotted it as we were on the verge of getting lost in the town centre. Top highlight was spotting a school of dolphins in the harbour from the whole-wall window of our 8th-floor room!
- Los Angeles was a last-minute decision after deciding to drive further than originally planned and save a day's driving later. It is very plain, probably a "working town". Mobile data wasn't available when we needed it and we were left blundering around until Clare spotted a lone place on the side of a square - one of our most "humble" stops. The room couldn't be properly secured, so we were relieved when we returned from dinner to find everything as we left it. Not a "top tip". LA's greatest claim might be the Laja Waterfalls just 20 miles north. However, everything there was so commercialised (and, early in the day, shut) that we couldn't work out how to get closer than the view from the former A5 bridge.
- Viña del Mar was a nice surprise after Los Angeles, a busy town and for a seaside town very hilly. We had been on the road for nearly 7 hours, so when Clare spotted a Best Western hotel, we decided to go for it, more expensive than we would normally go for, but it saved us driving round for another hour looking for cheaper hotels.

Once we had both showered and bathed, we went for a walk and made our way to the seafront; lovely beach and a beautiful sunset to end the day.