Today was a driving day, though in these flood plains it felt more like wave surfing :-) The road is a constant up and down, nothing for sensitive stomachs! Whenever we were not crossing river beds, we were passing illegal dumps of plastic bottles, ...or so I thought. Until I read about the popular cult around "La Difunta Correa": According to legend, a woman died of thirst, while searching the desert for her sick husband. When her body was found days later, her baby was still alive, nursing on her miraculously full breast. Today that woman has become something like a saint. Countless shrines line the roads and devotees leave water bottles to quench Difunta Correa's eternal thirst. 
There is a plus for non-believers too: Should you ever run out of water in Argentina's wild west, don't worry. There is plenty! Conveniently bottled to go.

A million river beds later, we arrived in Chilecito, which seemed to be in a 100-year-sleep (aka siesta). Temperatures were in their forties again, and the only "person" far and wide was Jesus, watching over the slow decline of this ex gold rush town... We watched some tumbleweed roll by and drove on.

Another million river beds later we finally reached our destination for the day: Fiambalá. It only shows up at maximum zoom level on Google maps. I was afraid the place wouldn't exist at all! But here we are, the place does exist – it even is a leg on the South American Dakar Rally. Aside from bike racers, Fiambalá has some wonderful hot springs. We arrived there just before sunset and after a long day of driving and dust these pools felt like heaven on earth!! Tomorrow we will cross the Andes once more and continue our Xmas roadtrip in Chile...

Talampaya & Ischigualasto – two complicated names for the same thing. It stands for a vast canyon landscape from the Triassic era. A geological formation thus. But since the park lies on the border of two provinces, it needed two entrances, two administrations, and  – just guessed it – two names. 
In professional circles, Talampaya & Ischigualasto are known as fossil excavation sites. In the last picture you'll see a grey-whitish sediment, that expands upon contact with water, thereby shielding the layers underneath. This is where many dinosaur fossils have been found. However, as a tourist, you get to see none of the excavation – "for security reasons" – and will have to put up with admiring the canyon's natural beauty. 

The holidays are over and we are heading north for Villa Union. First stop: the windswept stone formations of Guandacol. This oversized souvenir is called Copa del Mundo (World Cup). 

The road then continues towards "Cuesta del Miranda", a stretch of scenic serpentines, perfect for shooting a BMW car commercial..., or just to look and enjoy. Very beautiful. 
But next, something strange happened. As we reached the village of Aicuña, we expected to find walnut groves and a nice plaza (according to a tourist leaflet). Instead we found people staring at us in suspicion. Others hurried inside and eyed us through the curtains... They obviously wanted us gone. So we left... Back in Villa Union, voices turned to hushed whispers, when we were told about Aicuña's doubtful fame as the albino village. And that affected villagers (4 out of 300) are sick of being treated like a freak show, thus often prefer to hide. Fair enough – I wish we had known this before though.

Another day trip from Villa Union leads up into the Altiplano, to Laguna Brava (4000m). The scenery was dazzling, much like on our previous Altiplano trips in Chile. Of course, the challenges of those trips to no-man's-land didn't change either: altitude sickness, freezing winds, weak engine, less and less petrol, and a good chance to get lost in the sweeping cordillera :-)) You name it. 
Fortunately we met an attentive tour guide up there, who prevented our car from getting stuck in the sludge of the lagoon. Then he even invited us to join his group. Now on foot, we noticed, why the shoreline was no place for a car. The whole ground felt spongy like a trampoline!  Apparently there are immense underground gas pockets up here. We could see bubbles coming up the chimneys, and sometimes you smelled it too. The water inside the chimneys was freezing though, no hot springs... We spent another hour or so, watching the flamingos and those striking colours of the Altiplano, before returning to more human-friendly altitudes.

Mendoza is wine country, and as you can see, we plunged right into it! We tried to cover the whole spectrum of what Mendoza has on offer – from world-class Malbec's at Achaval Ferrer (that surely would have ruined our holiday budget) to surprisingly good unknown producers. Our favourite "tour" was lunch in the vineyards of estate Ruca Malen. 

The next day, we decided: Enough wine, let's see the city! So off into Mendoza's historic center. However, we had barely started the sightseeing, when we found ourselves totally paralysed! We didn't understand what was going on, until we came across a temperature display: 44°C!!

Well, apparently, the South American siestas (1-7pm) are there for a reason. We laughed at our mistake, returned to Casa Glebinias, and did, what every sane local would do: cool off at the pool and take a looong nap :-)

Christmas BBQ at hotel Casa Glebinias. Argentinian christmas cake is divine, really different from the German version. Alas, no picture. It got eaten too fast...

It's Christmas time, and we are not keen on putting up the plastic tree for a fifth time in a row. Instead we decided to go and explore our neighbouring country, Argentina. The planned loop: cross the Andes into Mendoza, drive north to Villa Union and Fiambala, cross the Andes again, return to Santiago via Bahia Inglesa and La Serena. However, entering Argentina with a (Chilean rental) car is no easy task! It requires some thorough preparation... From all we've been told beforehand, Argentina's ATM's often don't have cash, you can't rely on credit cards either, and petrol stations might lack the petrol, that you were counting on. Also, you may come across corrupt police, and need endless paperwork for everything anyway. So, obviously we tried to provide for all contingencies, stacked up on Argentinian pesos (which we did need), got a jerry can (which we almost needed). Florian already applied for the car documents way ahead. Of course Hertz forgot about it and only came into action at the eleventh hour, when we finally received a bunch of paper with weird notarial notes, insurances, nice stamps and fanciful signatures from god knows whom. 12 pages in total!! But it paid off and we entered Argentina without too big a hassle.

Right after the boarder we caught a glimpse of the Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Southern Hemisphere (6961m).  Further on the RN7 highway is the beautiful sulphur-coloured Puente del Inca (Inca bridge) and the reservoir of Potrerillos. And now on to Menoza! Our roadtrip is just beginning...

On the capital's main square, Plaza de Mayo, the simmering Malvinas' conflict became evident once more. Dozens of protesters lined the streets, calling on Cristina Kirchner to break the long-standing taboo and to do justice to the victims of the Falklands War. Fortunately, the mood at Plaza de Mayo was relaxed, so we felt safe to walk around and explore the city. For quicker orientation we took a hop-on hop-off bus. That way we passed everything from classy European areas, modern US-American highrises, to run down shanty towns. It's all extremely big. Crossing 20-lane roads is not uncommon. A must-see in BA is the grave of legendary Evita Peron. There was no chance of getting lost in the cemetery maze  – we just had to follow the crowds. After nightfall the presidential palace is lit in neon pink, which I found extremely cheesy. However, we watched a superb Tango show at nearby Café de los Angelitos. Note the crammed combo band!

The last day we spent strolling along Puerto Madero, a trendy modern district at the Rio de la Plata riverbank. By chance we came across this half done monument. According to Ludwig's theory, a statue of Maxima might be erected here, once she becomes queen. Be that as it may. For now Holland will have to put up with me :-)

Last but not least a few pics of us exploring the vessel "ARA Presidente Sarmiento". The ship sailed around the world 39 times, including Cape Horn! Today it lies at Puerto Madero, where it's been converted into a tourist attraction. All in all, Buenos Aires was an interesting side trip, although the country's financial turmoil really shows: Buenos Aires' infrastructure is dated, historic buildings neglected, etc. Many Santiaguiños come here for shopping. But after unsuccessfully touring through 50 shops in search of a leather vest for Ludwig (long story...), I am not so sure we will.

From our balcony in Santiago we can almost see the Argentinian border, but somehow we never made it across.  Now we are finally there, ...coming from the back of beyond :-)
At first glance, Ushuaia seems like a regular little town. But we soon discovered that we had arrived at some sort of Antarctic propaganda outpost. Argentina is staging its territorial claims here. It starts with a prominent information board right at the ship docks, informing visitors about the "illegal" British occupation of the Malvinas, aka Falkland Islands. Flags "celebrate" the 30th anniversary of Ushuaia as the Malvinas' capital. The main road to the airport is called "Argentina Malvinas" and coincidentally it passes by their brand new Malvinas square. And if the Malvinas conflict with Britain wasn't enough trouble, Argentina also claims the exact same piece of the Antarctic Peninsula that Chile pretends to own. I truly hope they will never find oil down there...