42 - Circling Condors in the air and hissing air escaping from our tire

Track: Torres del Paine to Punta Arenas, Chile

Driving of in time was double rewarded today: 
Firstly with stunning sunrise views on Torres del Paine.
Secondly, we were in time to take the Y290 route to Puerto Natales, before it was blocked for road work the rest of the day. Yay!

We continued following the road signs ‘Ruta Fin del Mundo’(Route To the End of the World). On the road we met up with impressive condors, roadrunner-birdies and Orange Beak birds and a Forklift Truck. What a forklift truck has to do with anything?
... read on ...

41 - A Chilly Pisco Sour- by an Angel appearing from Spooky Grey Clouds

Track – Lago Grey at national park Torres del Paine

Today we signed up for a Boat excursion, embarking at the boat 'Lago Grey III' to see the Glacier Grey up-close.

Great grey cloudy views on vicious pointy mountains. With spooky dark clouds and sometimes a ray of sun breaking through.

Next thing- Bright blue Ice and an Angel to keep us warm. In a very ecologically way using the glaciers ice! How?
... read on ...

40 - After the Rain, The Sun Comes Out – revealing the majestic rocks of the Torres del Paine mountains

Track 40 – exploring national park ‘Torres del Paine’, Chile

After Rain, The Sun Comes Out’ a Dutch saying, was right again. (Na Regen komt Zonneschijn). This meant already at the breakfast we had a most amazing view on the massive mountains and pointy peaks of Torres del Paine.

Perfect day to explore the park – where we greeted Guanaco’s, noticed that not all Flamingo's got The Memo and we discovered a kobolt. We needed to do some serious math as well. Calculating exactly not to run out of fuel.  ... read on ...

39 - Guanaco as Early Bird, La Panda handling the Austral wind and Spooky Mountains

Track: El Calafate, Argentina to Torres del Paine, Chile

Driving through the pampas of Argentina, there is never a dull moment. Right at sunrise, with sun in blinding straight angle to the car, a Guanaco decided to cross the road...

Oeps...
It was probably on the run for the UFO from space that just landed!
Or was it in a race with the aliens to be first reach the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?

At the end of the trip we were welcomed in Chile by an - Dûh - Original Chilean Condor. Torres del Paine decided to put on it's Halloween face- the Spooky look! ..read on ...

30 - White Vulcanos of Puerto Varas

Track: Loncoche to Puerto Varas, Chile

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Day in key statistics

• 262 km - distance driven

• 98 km/h average speed in 2.40 hours motion time

• One crucial Tourist Office visit - meaning we spend the evening re-planning the upcoming week of our trip. Due to a tragic mud-slide at the village Santa Lucia mid December 2017, that part of the road is still blocked. The alternative is a ferry, for which the waiting list is several days. Alfajores here we come- we will reroute through Argentina.
   

Local Fact

• The vulcano Osorno has a height of 2661 km above sea level. Wiki says the last eruption was 1869, so we can sleep without any worry!
   

Highlights of the day

• The hotel room has the most perfect view on the vulcanos - waking up, we will see the famous vulcano Osorno. Wow!

• Sleeping inn, with nice morning walk in village Loncoche - where on Sunday morning apart from some dogs, every one seemed to still be sleeping. Lovely layed-back atmosphere!

29 - Turn Right, Right, and Right - then straight on cruising south

Track: Santiago de Chile to Loncoche, Chile

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Day in key statistics

• 773 km - distance driven (in our planning, it was indicated as 771 km, so quite accurate!)

• On average - every 64.5 km there was traffic police control. We counted twelve of  traffic control patrol flex stations.  Eleven of them, we auto-cruised by without any issue

• The first traffic control of the day = first speeding ticket of the trip.
  Bit unfortunate, as we read the data in our Garmin this evening. In Chile, road rules are strict. So we kept right at allowed speeds. For 30 minutes and 54 seconds, we were within the speed limit. However, exactly at the six seconds it took to overtake a wobbly driving car: the moment we got laser gunned by Traffic Police. 

• The remaining 728 km we drove in cruise control fixed on 118 km/hour. Self-Driving car, you are welcome, as driving on cruise control - it's utterly boring and more tiring!
   

Fun Fact

• Cissy saw Mega Mars Mellows in the fields along the highway.  Despite the fact Jurgen says these are hay bales packed in white plastic for transport - I stick to the story that it were Mega Mars Mellows and We Should Pull Over to 'harvest' them.
   

Special highlight edition: the colors of the day

• Green - Trees, Trees, Trees, grass fields with cows, more Trees, Trees, Trees - Green, Green, Green!!! 

• Black - Sadly, the south of Chile is frequently victim of wild forest fires. The damage these do was clearly visible at fire-blackened stretches. On the hopeful side - we did see small plants regrowing, adding a new start of green on the black.

• Yellow-Goldish - the color of the endless grain fields we passed

• Blue - We crossed many bridges with sight on beautiful BLUE! steams and rivers. Not the red-brown mud-dish rivers we have seen before a lot, just lovely blue

27 - Getting Business Done - Mi Amor

Track: Wazing around (Cissy) - Jurgen on diplomatic route (working day)

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Day in key statistics

• 37 psi. That's air pressure of our tires (which i will try to remember)

• 80% De-Re-Wazed. Of course i managed to miss a turn on the inner-city highway. So Waze had to work hard, recalculating, while i was enjoying cruising all through town. Tunnels, fly-overs, nice road along the river; Santiago de Chile is a pleasant city to drive in, and live in - at it's first sights that is.

• 605 times Reverse-Forward maneuvering to get la Panda finally perfectly Reversed Parked in a tight parking spot
   

Fun Local Fact

• Apart from 3 kisses to greet one each other, Dutch people might come across a bit 'reserved' in daily contacts. In Lima you can get an ego boost to go to the Inca-market, where you are called 'Linda' (Beautiful), 'Princesa', 'Reinita' (Queen).
  Not here in Chile.
  Right away you are 'Mi Amor', my Love, for street vendors selling you the booklet 'Road Law of Chile', taxi drivers and waiters in restaurants... I found it rather funny, as it's done in a charming way.
   

Highlights of the day

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• La Panda is back 'home' in the hotel

• Again a most lovely summer day! 

• Mi Amor come 'home' at the hotel with  good vibes - he got a lot of good business done during the day. Time for winding down with a chilled Chilean beer & southern Hemisphere catching up with the Northern Hemisphere e.g. talking nonsense with Leen in USA.

• Nice dinner with Catelijne, Jurgen's colleague based in Panama - good reason for Sushi! ; P

25 - Home-Hotel-Office at Double Tree hotel

Track: Hotel room to Lobby and Jurgen @ the Office... walking to Sushi Restaurant

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Day in key statistics

• Two Taco's - that did not deserve it's name; it's a mistake to go to this fast food Mexican restaurant

• Lot's of Fine Sushi - The Warrior, The Lucky Mango - erasing the lunch failure memory
   

Fun Fact

• Driving in Santiago de Chile. Strange mind twist - I easily drive in Qatar, Lima and packed La Paz. I can handle anarchy, not obeying rules (by others of course, not referring to Jurci), and road chaos. Santiago de Chile is sooooooooooooooo organised it scared me.
  
  Dropping the car at the Nissan for the 5.000 km service was a good way to get re-acquainted with proper driving I guess...
   

Highlights of the day

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• Sushi!

• The lovely 80-90 music to enjoy at the hotel lobby. 

• Boring maybe, but getting stuff out of the way, laundry, digital filing & editing, catching up with JurciTravel road log, re arranging bags and grocary shopping - gives a sense of satisfaction also. Thus, can be counted as highlight!

24 - Looking like a Lost Puppy - gets you free rides

Track: Taxi, Walking, Bus, Metro in Santiago de Chile (Cissy) - @ the office (Jurgen)

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Day in key statistics

• One free bus ride  - see fun facts

• Start of new addiction: Capuccino Helado at the DoubleTree hotel lobby

• Mail Mountain Monday - First workday of the week for Jurgen, who besides meetings had to conquer his Inbox Email Mountain. 
   

Fun Fact

Went shopping. For a new tire for la Panda. Arranged it,  so let's take a walk back. After few blocks i realized: 
1. This is like an industrial area, not too interesting;
2. the end destination 'High Mirror Tower' is too far away;
3. I am hungry and thirsty and no food in sight.
4. I don't have any internet connection for an Uber or Wazing Walking

More worrying - No taxi to be seen. 

Ha! The Bus!!! 
It took a while to explain where i wanted to go...Then it seemed endlessly before I understood i was actually offered a free ride: 'No, you can't buy a ticket on the bus. B ut hop in anyway and I drop you off at the nearest Metro station'.
Guess i must have looked like a lost puppy, with the language knowledge of a toddler of two... So I got a free ride of 15 minutes to 'Metro-Station-Civilization' - wow!
 

Highlights of the day

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• The niceness of the people of Santiago - very helpful to explain you the directions, and warning you for pick pocketing. While travelling you always have to be alert, but i have to say i feel very comfortable and safe walking around.
   

• The apron 'Pisco Sour Chileno' - which made me laugh. There is a passionate dispute between Peru and Chile about the origin of Pisco. In the end decided against to buy it as present for a very Peruvian chef, as I reckon the discussion is to sensitive to joke about. 

23 - About Curves, continuous lines and Bienvenido a Chile

Track: Las Leñas, Argentina to Santiago de Chile, Chile

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Day in key statistics

• 171 km - distance driven

• 17 curves - in the first 25 minutes after entering Chile. We loooooved it! Top Gear road!

• Many yellow double continuous lines - signifying - patience testing Jurgen as those lines can't be crossed to take over nerve testing sloooooooooow trucks. In Rome, do as the Romans do. In Chile - we know from experience, better 'Respect the Road Rules'

• 10 or more tunnels - testing the nerves of slightly claustrophobic Cissy. Jurgen was very helpful in comforting "you know these tunnels are really old". Seriously? It's not comforting to know a tunnel is 'really old' - as it makes me wonder directly about.. maintenance and stuff...

• 2.05  hours - time in motion

• 60 minutes - border crossing  'Paso Internacional Los Libertadores' Argentina to Chile
   

Fun Fact

• The border crossing from Argentina to Chile takes place inside a fairly loooong tunnel. One (Jurgen  perhaps?) might miss the 'tunnel-road-signs': First Argentina wishing you a 'Buen Viaje'- Good Safe Travelling, followed by a friendly Chilean 'Bienvenido-Welcome' to Chile.
  
  No worries, there is an other way to know where you exactly crossed the border line.
  
  Somewhere halfway the tunnel, the lights change from cosy-yellow warm light and bit wobbly asphalt road to efficient blue-ish bright LED-lights and very leveled concrete road.  
   

Highlights of the day

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• Zig-Zag 17 curves down the impressive massive mountains at the Chilean border

• Arriving mid-afternoon in Santiago de Chile, in soaring heat! Like, the cutlery on the terrace, which had be lying in the sun, it was to hot to handle

• Parking la Panda. Indication of height: 1.95 meter. The specs of La Panda is that the height is 2.05 meter. Back to the main entrance... The Manager and the Handyman of the Double Tree were most hands on. Measuring tape, slowly slowly, and La Panda found it's secured double (it's a bit wide) parking spot : )

22 - Totally Unplugged

Track: El Chiflón to Las Leñas, Argentina

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Day in key statistics

• 255 km - max speed of the day. No Worries- this is not true, we had an hick up in our Garmin that day. we are not abusing La Panda with excessive speeding! Nor taking risks in our safety.

• 1.000 liter milestone. Yes, la Panda is a thirsty car!

• 597 km - distance driven

• 6.22 hours - time in motion
   

Fun Facts

• Meeting the 'Lessemsaurus Sauropoides' at early morning. Too bad there are no road signs warning you for crossing dinosaurs!

Highlights of the day​

• Cruising along the decayed train tracks; decay that has it's own beautiful charm to it

• Sleeping in the restored abandoned houses of the last railway stop before the Chilean border. Absolute Nothingness - including No Wifi or any internet connection. Lovely afternoon to just stroll around and 'changing train tracks'- it still functions!

21 - La Panda thinks it's a Zebra; off-day for all

Track: hotel only

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Day in key statistics

• We are on a lazy day. Let's skip the statistics ; P
   

Fun Fact

• We mix 'Old School' with 'Nowadays'. Meaning; we bought the Lonely Planet of Argentina, Chile and Antarctica today.
  
  To combine the Google Earth information with hands on practical information. We plotted lines on the gravel roads inside the national parks. Hm... you can only go in with a guide. Lonely Planet preparation could have informed us about that, saving the deception. Guess we got too spoilt in Saudi Arabia... driving where ever... 
  
  Anyways - we are tuning in to 'nowadays' - Lonely Planets in digital format instead oft the paper books. Snif! 
   

Highlights of the day

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• Zebra: looking outside to find out that our car was changed in a Zebra look. Funny shadow effect

• LAZY: yes, there are stunning national parks to visit here. However, sometimes one just need a break from all impressions. Yatzee, Siesta and Lazy day it is!

20 - Smooooth Abundant Green Roads leading to El Chiflon desert

Track: Tucuman to El Chiflon, Argentina

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Day in key statistics

• 544 km - distance driven

• 39.7 Celsius / 103.5 Fahrenheit at our end destination El Chiflón

• 5.02 hours - time in motion
   

Fun Fact

• Sometimes one gets surprised. This time by the quality of the restaurant. The 'Medallion de Lomo' was so fine that it ended up in Jurgen's favorite top Ten places to eat a Lomo. 
  
  Great, as we surely don't mind at all to go back and spend more time at this lovely hotel and explore it's spectacular natural parks more extensively.
   

Highlights of the day

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• An other surprise of the day - admiring the antique industrial art: The Petrol Pump at the Shell petrol station. We are trying to find out which year it was made- ''Industria Argentina, modelo F.1934, nr. de construction 2002'. We keep you posted when we figured it out!

• Imagine:  To walk in the breeze of a hair-blower on full heat'. It resembles how it feels to walk at mid-day in El Chiflón. Definitively our type of climate we flourish in.  

19 - The foundation of the Republic of Argentina - History and Art!

Track: sight seeing the historic city center of Tucuman

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Day in key statistics

• 8.05 am - The start of the 'Improvement of the hotel'. Crazy amount of noise. Seems like 'improvement' means tearing down the building, inclusive it's guests?!?

• 8.10 am - Phone call to reception: "The work is not supposed to start before 9.00 am"

• 8.16 am - Ha! 44 minutes of peace

• 9.10 am - Breakfast outside of the hotel (dûh!)
   

Fun Fact

• Graciela and Jurgen both remembered how on primary school they had to draw the 'Casa de la Independencia' (the building where Argentina's independence was signed). So they had to go and see the 'original'
   

Highlights of the day

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• Blue sky! Sunshine!

• Visiting the 'Casa de la Independencia' - the building where the independence of the Republic of  Argentina was signed in 1816. Smart combination of Art and History class! 

• Graciela realized that in her drawings the roof tiles were missing. Jurgen's drawings lacked the different heights.

18 - A very flat tire, Hold your Horses!

Track: Salta to Tucuman

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Day in key statistics

•  308 km - distance driven

•  70  minutes to change the tire; not exactly a pit-stop. Mostly as the jack was not feeling like cooperating to lift the Patrol plus luggage up....

• 16.05 pm - arrival at Tucuman

• 3.45 hours - time in motion
   

Fun Fact

• Horses... Don't get flat tires... Now there is an idea...
  Just only; we are not good horse riders and we have a fixed date of a ship to Antarctica to catch : )

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Highlights of the day

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• Hold your horses - literally, no matter the horse power of our Panda car, with a beyond repairable flat tire, you are going nowhere!
   

• "Every disadvantage has it's advantage", the quote of legend Cruijff was validated. As suddenly a big group of authentic Argentinean 'Gauchos' passed by and had a break. Cissy had a photography ball - leaving the changing of the tire to the 'guys'. Thanks 'Guys'... Even so, it was a severe scratch on Cissy's drivers ego - less than 20 meters 'off road' on side road of highway: snapping up a flat tire. How??!! Grrrr... Expensive sanitairy break : (
   

• With appreciation for the lesson learnt from the Argentinean gentleman who stopped to help. Roll your wheel on a high stone, not to have to lift all the weight of the car by just the car jack. As the Patrol weights by itself 2645 kilo's (plus 140 liters petrol... and plus... euh... abundant amount of luggage weight),it was a very useful new trick to know 

17 - #HowCanThereBeAnyThinArgentineans?! #FailedDiet #Again

Track: Salta city center to Vaqueros, village 30 minutes drive - located in abudant green valley

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Day in key statistics

• one more? of course!  #faileddiet #again, as how to say no when the most delicious BBQ meats are offered to you? Right, one can't, and one should not. While in Argentina, max enjoy while it lasts...

• about half a roll of painters tape - to stick the 360degrees camera at different angles to Mateo's drums
   

Local Fact

• After three days in Argentina, we each have eaten about a whole cow and half a pig. At the various restaurants and at Lucas superb home BBQ. Next to that, there is the bread-baguette danger- accompanied with lovely dippings like the Escabeche de Porotos at Curly's. And cheeses!  And don't forget about the Worlds Best Cookie- the Argentinean Alfajor!
  So by now I am completely puzzled: how on earth it is possible that there are still Any Thin Argentineans at All?!?!!!
   

Highlights of the day

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• Superb home BBQ by Lucas

• Superb private concert by Salta's best drummer Mateo and 'the pope' Francisco on guitar, all recorded in 360 degrees. Such a talented musicians!

• Meeting a 17 year old who knows all about Jazz, Wynton Marsallis and Jazz at Lincoln Center NY. wow!  (One of his dream is to ever play there. Ha Ha, my dream is to  photograph a jazz performance  there. Maybe dreams can be combined one day!)

16 - The sky falls - pouring down cats and dogs?!

Track: Salta City, on foot

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Day in key statistics

• Double portion - of the delicious 'Escabeche de Porotos' = Olive oil beans. As it was really good! 

• Two felt hats - one black as present for my cousin, one wine-red for me.

• Unaccountable number of Rain Drops pouring down!
   

Fun Fact

• International sayings to describe heavy rain:
  Argentina:  "Se cae el cielo" ; the sky falls down. That's a bit dramatic, but makes more sense than the Dutch expression: "Het regent pijpestelen"; It's raining pipestems.
  
  In the UK it is "raining cats and dogs". Euh? Interesting? Wanna know where that expression comes from? Check mentalfloss.com. 
  
  Anyways the rain was throwing enough chair legs (Greek expression) to us, that we decided to take a taxi back home to the hotel.
   

Highlights of the day

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• Artesania Market - the art and handicraft market. An interesting scroll down, products varied from absolutely 'Kitsch, with a capital K' to inspiring creations like the jewellery of artist Marcela.

• The 'compliments of the Chef' - Escabeche de Porotos. Yep, we asked for an other portion. Graciela's fine culinary mind deducted the ingredients for us, and discussed the recipe with the Chef. Something to try once back home in Lima : )

15 - Argentinian Peña - WOW - best way to spend a Saturday night

Track: Tilcara to Salta, Argentina

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Day in key statistics

•  216 km - distance driven

•  10.09 am - departure time

•  15.10 pm - arrival at Salta

•  3.14 hours - time in motion
   

Fun Fact

• My theory; that in every Spanish song at least once the word 'Corazon' ( heart ) or 'Amor' ( love) should be incorporated; is validated in the Saltenean Peña
   

Highlights of the day

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• Hugging Alex and Graciela - Family Time!

• Rodrigo Moro- what a voice and great performer!

14 - Breathtaking day: my heart pounding between my ears

Track: Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia to Tilcara, Argentina

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Day in key statistics

• 14 mountains - 7 colors: breathtaking view at 4300 meters altitude

• 1.28 hours - to cross the border at Villazon, Bolivia to Argentina 

• 589 km - distance driven

• 8.29 hours - time in motion
   

Breathtaking Facts

Today's travel was breathtaking because:

• The amazing rocky landscapes on Bolivian and Argentina side
   

• Walking down the Mirador to the 14 colored mountains – enjoyable. Owgh, forgot that on altitude of 4300 meter a climb up is… well… let’s say, I noticed my heart seemed to be pumping between my ears.
   

• The off roading we did today; rocky curvy roads with many steep U curves/turns. The road to the hotel was really something else, Jurgen enjoyed it as a little  kid in the sandpit. For Cissy, well, it was a whole different kind of experience. Let’s leave it at ‘it’s an all other dimension of breathtaking’.
   

• Encounter with 3 cows and 2 horses on a 1 car wide (just) road, hm…on a road that already made me make a mental note to myself: “we should really draft our will sometime soon”.  Morbid, I know, but in that context it made total sense.
   

Highlights of the day

• Surviving the road up to the hotel. I know, it sounds a bit too Drama Queen-ish. 
  Hoeray for the Comfort Food - chips, olives, peanuts  (Cissy) and Chilled Beer (Jurgen) to wind down from a day with overwhelming load of impressions and experiences
   

• Haute Cuisine dinner by charming Sandra - a true hidden gem as Chef de Cuisine. Her food by itself makes the drive up more than worthwhile. Her three course Çhefs Choice' diner was excellent, and most welcome after a long eventful day of driving
   

• Herd of LLames crossing the highway. At the exactly the yellow sign: 'Be aware LLamas crossing' was placed. Such a rules obediently herd, funny...

12 - Hotel Luna Salada from dusk till dawn

Track: from hotel room, to lobby, to restaurant to heli-platform

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Day in key statistics

• 1rst day - of the feared travelers belly. It was not to bad, just to be sure to be in reasonable range of sanitary.

• therefore ... less than  1  km - in motion, no driving, just minimum of walking
   

Local Fact

• There was a strike in Uyuni, blocking the major roads. The protest against the municipality was amongst others to get better drainage systems in place.

• Due to the blocked roads, at 7.30 am we got a What's App, 9.00 am departure will not be possible. Maybe around 11 am.... Oh well, let's reschedule for tomorrow
   

Highlights of the day

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• Early morning: Getting the First Aid bag from the car at 7.36, first peaks on the wonderful mirror of a wet Salar de Uyuni.

• Throughout the day: Feeling only 'so-so', it's very comforting to stay at a cozy hotel room and hotel with all facilities- firewood heated public seating areas we really appreciated, as change of 'scenery' from our hotel room.

• Spectacular ending of the day: A literal highlight of the day this time. Highlights- as we saw again so many thunder lights illuminating the sky above Salar de Uyuni.

11 - Orange Warriors and the most beautiful Thunder Storm!

Track: Cochabamba to Salar de Uyuni

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Day in key statistics

• 585  km - distance driven

• 5.30  am - departure time (augh! That was early!) 

• 14.35  pm - arrival at Salar de Uyuni

• 7:55  hours - time in motion
   

Fun Fact

• As the rims of the wheels of our Panda were severely clogged with mud - we decided to stop and have the car cleaned. Daniel, the four year old of the owners, was good company. He took is backpack, with an endless amount of toys in it. Which he showed all to us, we admired all of them with the appropriate "Wow's".

• Boys being Boys - then the puppets had to fight. Of course we were pleased to see that his Orange warriors always win!
   

Highlights of the day

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• Playing with Daniel

• The first flight with our drone at our holiday - at the stunning location 'Jardin the Piedras'- the Garden of Rocks. Enjoy the flight and the scenery - clip.

• In Uyuni: Dark Stormy Skies. Thunder! Lighting! More Thunder and Lightning! Impressive nature forces at work - we loved it!

10 - Cochabamba - Colors everywhere

Track - Walking and Working

Day in key statistics

• Ranked in his personal Best Meat Top 10 - The Lomo Jurgen ate at  lunch at La Estancia Restaurant. Thank you, Ricardo!

• Second time - Jurgen in Suit & Tie, this time to visit the Mayor of Cochabamba

• Zillion - travel agencies offering tours at the Salar de Uyuni. Surfing for one, Cissy's head was spinning with all the options. And decided, oh well, we arrange it tomorrow when arriving there. That's what I did 24 years ago as backpacker, before the internet days! Let's go outside and ENJOY Cochabamba instead of hanging in front of a laptop!
   

Fun Fact

• Instant Feeling  Happy Rush - looking at the buses in Cochabamba! Someone went out of their way to make each of them Colorful Pieces of Art on Wheels. It's the bus variation of vibrant Carnaval; only this one to be enjoyed all year around!
   

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Strangely enough
Highlight of the day
 

• Finding Heineken beer cans. To celebrate in style the birthday of our friend Serge, R.I.P, with dearest memories.

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9 - Leaving in spooky fog - 9 Celcius to Arrive in Bright Sun - 26.6 Celcuis

Track: La Paz to Cochabamba, Bolivia

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Day in key statistics

• 390  km - distance driven

•  7.15 am - departure time

•  13.05 pm - arrival at Moquegua

•  5:45  hours - time in motion

• From 4467 meters altitude to 2528 meter altitude in Cochabamba
   

Fun Fact

• On our way out, we passed Forum, the discotheque were we saw each other for the first time, 20 years back. Yep, we are getting old- did not go there after the overwhelming Ant-Eating Experience we decided to call it a day and skip Forum.
  
   

Highlights of the day

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• Arriving early in the afternoon, meant there was time for a walk in the ancient center of Cochabamba.

• The city center is a combination of mainly well maintain gorgeous buildings; painted in vibrant colors, fresh green plants and abundant blossoming flowers and friendly people - enjoying a relaxed Sunday afternoon. The park was buzzing - lovely charming city to relax! 

8 - Enjoying Rainy Day, lunch at Ali Pachi in the historic center and re-routing time!

Track: Sleep inn, lunch at the historic center and lounging in hotel

Day in key statistics

• Zero  - views on the Illumani. It was a stunning, but fully clouded rainy day

• One -  more night in La Paz, tomorrow we drive off to Cochabamba

• Two  - chocolate bonbons on the bed; the daily courtesy gift of Stannum Hotel

• Three - severe floodings on planned route to Salta, Argentina. So we planned the re-routing today. Which will take us also through stunning landscapes

• Four - layers of clothing to keep us dry and warm-ish. Hm... wonder how we will survive Antarctica if we need now already four layers ... oh well, we cross that bridge when we get there.

• Five -  courses at the splendid Bolivian restaurant Ali Pacha
   

Fun Fact

• Grabbing a taxi does not only involve negotiating the price.  It is also a part of the deal to check if he has change from 20 Bolivianos (= 2,32 euro/$2.05) when you agreed to pay 12 Bolivianos to the historic center.
  
  So we started a new hobby – collecting coins to have  small change handy.

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Highlights of the day
 

• Pure culinary enjoyment at lunch again - starring Bolivian haute cuisine by Ali Pacha restaurant  (thanks Gabriela for the tip)

• The kindness of Chef Antonio, for the permission to photograph and the fun in teaming up in the doorway. To get the best light to photograph your  stunning dishes!

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7 - Check; all Cable Car lines done ! and culinary Adventure at Gustu

Track: Memory Lane La Paz 20 years back and nowadays

Day in key statistics

• Yellow! –  today we completed all the Teleferico lines that are currently in operation in La Paz

• 20! - Today it was exactly 20 years ago we started living together. First apartment was on avenida Arce - with stunning views on my dear Illumani mountain! Our hotel room now has the same view, wow! We are truly privileged!

Fun Fact

• Sometimes an disadvantage can be an advantage. Like a  'more or less' level of Spanish. So you can enjoy to eat pork.... right?  ... see blog 'Gustu'

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Highlights of the day
 

• Gustu! a culinary adventure at Worlds 23rd Best Restaurant

• Stunning views at La Paz valley and mountains at the end station of the Yellow Cable Car  line

6 - Teleféricos - Floating above La Paz and El Alto

Track: Exploring the Blue, Red and Orange Cable Car lines

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Day in key statistics

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Note -interesting differences, while we had exactly the same day...
 

• 10.483 steps - by Cissy  and  9.385 steps - by Jurgen

• 7.88 km -walked by Cissy, 6.6 km walked by Jurgen

• Out of 10.483 steps of Cissy, 4873 steps were  'in a healthy pace'  according to Samsung Health. I know, that's less than half. On my defense: try walking on 3500 plus meter altitude.

• Jurgen's I-phone app indicates he climbed 6 floors. Well, the cable car did that for us, but hey, seems that  the statics is logged to his credit!

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Fun Fact

• The White Cable Car line is almost ready - on the list for next time. Now we walked it down to the end station, which was close to our hotel. Lovely walk in drizzeling rain. Probably that stimulated the 'Healthy Walking Pace' as registered in the Samsung app.
  
   

Highlights of the day
 

• SUSHI!!! @ New Tokyo in the nice company of Jürgen’s colleagues Paul and Ricardo and their elegant spouses.

• Finding out that the Orange cable car line is operational - being Dutch, we love Orange! And - we were lucky to have a cable car to ourselves. We reckon that this close to the feeling of a 'self-driving car' in the near future. Could get used to that, as it enables to fully take in the scenery

5 - The Beauty of Bad Weather

Track - Hotel Home Office (Cissy) & Work Visit El Alto (Jurgen)

Day in key statistics

• 2.6 km - walked by Jurgen, probably < 1 km by Cissy (Homey Hotel Day)

• 2 of each at breakfast: Pancakes with Dulce de Leche (addictive creamy Caramel, bit like Nutella) and 2 fried eggs

• 98% - Relax mode on -  the 2% missing- when Cissy was fading away white at the Grocery store. 3500 meter altitude does have it's effects sometimes.

• 100% Relax mode - for the Panda, it's chilling at the parking, no drivng today

Fun Fact

• Benchmarking different brands of Apple Juice. The amount of kcal per serving ranges from above 200 to 24...
  
   

Highlights of the day

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• Jurgen's work visit with Ricardo to the Mayor of El Alto (... read more at blog)

• Bad weather!!! Rain, Thunder Lightning and moody skies - beautiful!

• El Provolone with Oregano at Argentinian  restaurant Sabor Gaucho! (no worries, an all Bolivian food dining experience at Gustu restaurant is booked for Friday) (and we promise... to eat Bolivian food when we in Argentina)

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4 - La Paz - Good Morning Illumani and rediscovering 'our' city

Track - re-exploring La Paz city

Day in key statistics

• 7.7 km - distance covered... note: by feet!!!

• 12.064 steps - what might have been a bit much on a first day at high altitude...

• 14 floors climbed  - according to I-phone tracking
   

Fun Fact

• Slash the price in half - bargaining on the Sagarnaga did not change. And there is abundant beautiful artesania to choose from.
  
   

Highlights of the day

• Goooood Morning to 'my' Mountain - the Illumani!

• El Teleférico - La Paz Cable Cars - Absolutely Brilliant way to see the city from above

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3 - Back after 20 years in La Paz, Bolivia

Track: Moquegua, Peru to La Paz, Bolivia

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Day in key statistics

• 442 km - distance driven

•  8 am - departure time

•  18.48 pm - arrival at Moquegua

•  6.28 hours - time in motion

• 4.20 hours - non driving time; among which crossing the Peru-Bolivian border at
   

Fun Fact

• A high day - La Panda cruises wonderful at 4741 altitude!
  we surely don't miss the 'Fiesta' warning signs of our former cars!
  
   

Highlights of the day
 

• After almost twenty years - we are back in La Paz, Bolivia.

• Driving via El Alto to avenida Arce, crossing the ancient centrum of La Paz.
  Now that was some driving challenging fun for Cissy. Parked without anyone hit or scratches on the car!

2 - Relaxing: sleeping inn, scenic easy drive, lounging at sun set

Track Camana to Moquegua

Day in key statistics

• 264 km - distance driven

• 9:38 am - departure time

• 13:37 pm - arrival at Moquegua

• 3:40  hours - time in motion

• 19 minutes - fuel station pit stop
   

Fun Fact

• 2 times only:  toll boots passed (8.75 soles each)
  
   

Highlights of the day
 

• Sleep inn at Camana, as we only had a short distance to cover
   

• Relaxed afternoon with  stunning sunset at Moquegua

1 - First miles heading to the South Pole

Track: Lima - Camana

Day in key statistics

• 831 km - distance driven

• 5:46 am - departure time

• 18:36 pm - arrival at Camana

• 9: 49 hours - time in motion

• 2.59 hours - break time for relaxing

Fun Fact

• 34.5 Celsius - max temperature of the day, at 12.30 pm
  
   

Highlights of the day
 

• After months of anticipation and planning: we STARTED our Lima-to-Antarctica trip, see clip 'The First Miles to Antarctica'
   

• Ceviche Corvina-Rocoto at Chala - Cevicheria Don Secuna; oerfect like always and with nice views on the local fishermen habor and summerly beach life

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Travel Plans

Track: Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chili, Antarctica

Let's gooooo
 

• By car - starring la Panda
  Lima-to-the-most-Southern-city-of-the-world:
  an estimated 9.076 km and we are in Ushuaia!
   

• By boat - the Duckie
  Ushuaia-to-Antarctica:
  for an estimated 4.000 km our home will be... at sea
   

• By car - La Panda
  Ushuaia-back-home:
  'straight' back up North for an estimated 8.434 km
   

Some of the expected highlights of the travel:

• Jurci Time!

• Waving to the Ilumani in La Paz, Bolivia-  to mark 20th year anniversary of Jurci Travel

• Hugging our family in Argentina - and Graciela's smile opening up her present

• Enjoying the beauty of Chili

• Dream coming true - Antarctica!

• Returning back home to dear friends, the volunteer work and  Peruvians gastronomic delights

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44 - After 9.917 km driving - we are at the harbor Ushuaia, embarking soon to Antarctica

Track: Rio Grande to Ushuaia - Worlds Most Southern City, Argentina

Lima to Antarctica- and back; the Grand Plan of our current road trip. One important milestone we reached today: Harbor Ushuaia. Where we had to be in time, to board the icebreaker vessel Ortelius to Antarctica.

The upcoming days details to be arranged, things on the list like laundry, finding a secure parking spot for the car. That's a bit of an issue it seems ... read on ...