That's it for Argentina

We have to get up at 5.30 a.m., pack and take a taxi to the bus station with the last remaining Argentine pesos. There should at 7 o'clock our bus to San Pedro de Atacama start. Emphasis on should, because during the ticket inspection we find out that our tickets were wrongly issued for the day before yesterday and we idiots didn't check it. Fortunately, the seller remembers us and - after some discussion - is accommodating enough to issue us a ticket for today's trip. Do you have twice happinessthat there are actually still two free seats available in the otherwise fully booked bus.

For the time being the same route as yesterday we drive up to to Purmamarcawhile we both try to get some sleep. From there you go up the spectacular pass road again and continue through the Salinas Grandes. It follows that vast, dry nothing! Sometimes you can see some extremely simple mud huts, then shepherds with their llamas and goats. This is followed by more salt lakes, dry river valleys, gorges and endless dusty hills and all at an altitude of around 4000 meters above sea level. Until out of nowhere Border station Paso de Jama to Chile shows up.

There awaits us the usual procedure, Filling out paperwork and declarations, queuing for exit stamps, being part of the next line for the Chilean entry stamp and then everyone can pick up all their luggage outside and smuggle them through the security scanner. The thin air can be felt, but it causes more trouble for others than for us. We just leave the rest of our fruit on the bus without declaring anythingwhich luckily nobody notices. The rule is dull, too! Overall, however, the procedure is still bearable.

We continue through a barren landscape with reddish rock, as we see it Surface of mars to introduce. Over the imposing Paso de Jama the road rises to over 4800 meters above sea level. That life can exist here at all seems unthinkable at first glance.

Around 5 p.m. we finally arrive in the dusty one San Pedro de Atacama at. In the absence of a taxi, we drag ourselves to the cozy Sonchek hostel in the burning heat. In the cozy alleys we are looking for a functioning ATM and the post office, which is of course also closed here.