Border crossings like this are so much fun, dont get many opportunities to see them so far out in the middle of nowhere. Carlos and his driver parked up and waited until my bus arrived.Whilst waiting he took me to the front of the queue to ger my passport stamped so i was officially leaving Bolivia. When the bus parked up, he was to introduce me to the driver so i he could say goodbye and make his way back to Uyuni, what a great bloke, a perfect guide, informative, helpfull and passionate about his job. It was only 45km to Acatama town, 10 km off roading then on to tarmac, what a relief after nearly 1000km in a jeep. As we defended towards San Pedro i certainly noticed the altitude change, from 4200m above sea level to around 2000m in Chile. Once in the town we had to go through the Chilean border control.Once through the bus dropped us off within walking distance of Acatama centre. It seemed an age walking with my backpack looking for somewhere to stay, I must of asked nearly half a dozen places before i come across Camino del Inca, 56,000 Chilean pasos for 2 nights, quite expensive really but i needed my own room with a shower after roughing it for a few nights. Once located it was time to get some pesos and enjoy a spot of lunch, steak, egg , chips with a nice custard and peach tart for desert. After a well deserved decent meal my next challenge was to get some transport organised to Iguazu, that was fun, a tourist office recommended Andesmat, showed me on the map where it was, once i got closer it was a case of asking the locals, this Chilean bloke only sent me the other side of the town to the Andesmat bus station office, 1 1/2 hours later i found the booking office, 120 yards from my accomadation. Clara was a Dutch lady who had come to Acatama 18 years ago as a backpacker, she never left after arriving here. Clara was a fantastic help, sorting my bus to Salta on Sunday morning and a flight to Iguazu on Monday evening at 18.10. Clara had recommended Barros restaurant for the evening so after going back to Hostel Camino for a few hours sleep i was going through the door of Barros, it was on a crossroad, and the entrance was bang on the corner.Going through the doors you could of mistaken yourself walking through the kitchen but once past the kitchen and till areas you walked out to the back of the restaurant. You could tell this was a real locals watering hole with a food menu that didnt cater for the English, my waiter was assigned to me, a mid twenties bloke who looked like he was one for the ladies, short ponytail with a little stubble. Order my meal with a 2 bottles of drink, sprite and Heineken. Looking around i noticed the walls were built with clay blocks, with corrugated iron seperating one side to the next dwelling,,the seating area was formed in an L-shape, tables made out of sliced sides of trees , tapered from 10 one end to 18 the other, the seating was either wooden benches or plastic stools standing at 14inches. I was sitting opposite the vertical line of the L-shape and the stage for the bands and singers at the right hand side of the top of the L. The place itself was built with lots of bamboo, varying in sizes, supports were 3 thick, the roof braces probably about an inch, this was then covered with rolls of binded straw, there was an opening to the right of me, that was for the smoke from the fire which was on a round lid about 4ft wide and 10 inches off the floor, give the waiters there due, they kept the fire going all night with the wood that kept appearing. First act of the evening come on stage, (a gravel floor with a vinyl matt) he was obviously a Micheal Jackson fan, he was miming to a few of his numbers, once he had finished he would go around and collect his takings for the night. My food now on the table, a lovely tuna omelette with boiled potates, it wasnt what i ordered but i didnt complain. Time for the next act of the night, 3 youngish girls, they stood in front of the Chilean flag which was covering the whole wall behind them, it was red on the bottom half, white on 3/4 of the top right hand side and a blue square with a star in the middle on the left. One of the trio of girls played a small drum, one an oboe and the other the main vocalist, the crowd seemed to love the music with lots of clapping and singing along, i enjoyed there stint even though i couldnt understand a word of any of there numbers, even so, i put a 1000 pesos in the girls collection hat at the end.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Jul 2014 04:32:36 +0000
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