The last leg….

MENDOZA

Mendoza was a day spent revisiting a few places, courtesy of a guided walking tour, which like the one in Punta Arenas was refreshingly frank about the impact of the colonisers. A trip on the Mendoza tram out to a winery in Maipu, missing the wine tour, but sampling the house wines anyway, finished the visit. We also discovered what is, in our view, probably the best ice cream shop we have had the good fortune to find.

ONWARDS FROM MENDOZA

The bus journey from Mendoza to Santiago was happily repeated, in reverse but no less spectacular, with a noticeable increase in temperature, much less snow, and brown rather than green grass as we descended into Chile. Our bus was over an hour early into Santiago – a novel experience! Given this bonus, rather than head to the train station for the late afternoon train we had planned, in true ‘Race Across the World’ style we looked around the bus station, finding a bus for Talca leaving within 5 minutes. Tickets were bought hurriedly and we were shepherded onto the bus which then whisked us smoothly to Talca.

Talca was a destination because a tour guide in San Pedro de Atacama recommended we visit Constitution, a small seaside town, circa 50 miles west and connected to Talca by the last narrow gauge railway remaining in Chile. This runs alongside the Maule river. Services are only twice daily in each direction, providing a vital link for locals from the small riverside communities. Equally important, Talca is in the heart of the Maule wine region, an area known for Carmenere, Syrah and many other grape varieties. Our intention was to do a little exploring, enjoy some wine, then catch the (bigger and faster) train back up to Santiago for our flight home.

Of course, like many journeys of our trip this one was not without it’s hiccups. On arrival we learnt that the following day was the first round of the Presidential elections and therefore…… a public holiday! (oddly on a Sunday). Been here before! Trying to purchase tickets the day in advance for the Constitution train, we were advised that as it was election day tickets were prioritised for locals, but we could see if there was availability the following morning. Fortunately there was. The unexpected bonus came when we tried to pay – we discovered all public transport was free on election day, so our 3 hour each way journey was at no cost. Along with many locals collected at halts on the way (standing room only the by the end) we made the rickety, bumpy, dusty journey in an old narrow gauge train running the narrow ledge between the Maule river and the mountains. It was delightful. The reward on arriving at Constitution, in itself a pleasant little town, was fabulous rock formations along the black sandy beach onto which rolling Pacific ocean waves crashed.

Our 2nd day in Talca was also our last full day before we began our journey back to Santiago and then back to the UK. We opted for a quiet day with nothing major planned other than a visit to a Vina Balduzzi in the next town, for a tasting of Chilean wine.

During all of our travels in South America we had not had the opportunity to experience a ‘proper’ train journey – all other trains and trams had been ‘for the tourists’, in the main. We were able to finally try a scheduled train by taking the Chillan to Santiago train from Talca. Running three times a day and with new trains, what could go wrong??!! Should have known better….. After 30 minutes delay we were told the train might go within the hour, or maybe a bit later and that “they didn’t know the reason for the delay” and that the information they had was as much as we had i.e. very little. It felt very much like we were alreay back in the UK. Eventually the train arrived and after a smooth journey we landed in Santiago 90 minutes later than intended and headed to our final hotel base of the journey at the airport.

And so, that’s it. We’re done. 3 months of indescribable scenery, fabulous wildlife, different cultures and adventures we were and were not expecting. We have been Iqueque to Cape Horn, Buenos to Valdavia – north, south, east and west; sometimes on the main tourist trail and sometimes off it. Around 16,700km/10,400miles between destinations by plane (28%), bus (35%), boat (17%), hire car and taxi (17%) and train (3%). And this doesn’t include the trips and tours which will not doubt add another couple of thousand km. And top of that circa 23,100km/14,450miles long haul.

We’ve stayed 27 different places at 31 addresses (as sometimes we had to move addresses when we decided to stay longer). Some wonderful, some average, and some which will stick in our memories whether for good or bad, and become the stuff of “family legend”. It’s been fabulous and challenging in many different ways and we are both sad to leave, and glad to be heading home. Now to start planning the next one……..