Closing a circle

A new morning and the mood is dampened, as is the sky. We've run out of air, or at least our rear tyre has. No big deal, but annoying nonetheless. We soon realise that this flat tyre is more of a minor story and decide to continue without changing the tyre. As car novices (neither of us has ever owned a car), we wonder whether a smaller hole can be repaired with a patch or something similar, just like on a bicycle...

Before we seriously address this problem, we continue to roll on our four more or less air-filled tyres, always nicely at 80h/km, we don't want to strain the consumption and we all have time. What follows now feels like the "Gold Coast" of Chile. Beautiful villas with large manicured gardens/parks with the best views adorn the coast. Half of Santiago seems to enjoy itself on this coast at the weekend. After weeks in quiet areas and sleepy villages, the lively region is a welcome change. When we open our boot and cook our lunch in some car park, we are watched with interest and greeted friendly, but hardly anyone dares to speak to us. We are definitely no longer in Iran. On the one hand pleasant, because you can do your things in peace, but sometimes a little more interaction would be nice.

When we wake up in the fog once again the next morning, we look for a solution to escape the grey blanket. A few marked paths on the map on a hill catch our attention, we drive there. Our expectation: a nicely made walk, perfectly groomed, about 1-2km long, so that you certainly won't get exhausted, with a nice viewpoint at the end, ideally above the fog line. This expectation was based on our previous experiences in this country. We always hoped for a hike and ended up with a walk. The reality: Already at the entrance there is a motivated group of hikers, well equipped. We still think they are simply over-motivated. But soon we realise that this is actually very close to our idea of a hike. Narrow natural paths lead up the mountain, so that we even start to sweat. A beautiful view from the Pacific to the Andes above the sea of fog awaits us, what a joy. A successful little excursion.

Before we take the route towards the Andes, we want to solve our little problem with the car. Our case does not seem to be a rare one here. We learn that we have to look for a "Vulca", which makes vulcanisations to repair small holes in the tyre. The defect is repaired expertly (a screw has drilled into the tyre) and we pay a whole Fr. 5.- for the flawless service.

A first border is ahead of us. As the visa is only valid for 90 days, we have to renew it. Not because we have been here so long, but because we want to stay longer and there will be fewer border crossings later. Theoretically, it's a simple matter. You can travel back and forth between Chile and Argentina as often as you like and as a tourist you always get a new 90-day visa. The border lies in the middle of the Andes at about 2000 metres above sea level and is one of the most important and busiest crossings between these two countries. Together with many lorries, we comfortably wind our way up the serpentines. Some trucks barely make it up the mountain. At the top we are irritated. Suddenly we have left Chile without passing a border control. Of course, that doesn't work, so we turn around and after 15 minutes of searching we finally find the border police to leave the country. There we are told that one of our documents for the car (only a temporary one) is not accepted and therefore the exit is refused. Quite frustrating, but not all that bad, because we still have our new 90-day visa. The exit stamp was already done before this thing came out, so we had to re-enter. Well, not quite as planned, but the goal is achieved.

Just below the border is one of the largest ski resorts in South America, Portillo. We take a break there and marvel at the nature, but something else catches our attention. "US Ski Team" is written on the skiers' dresses and many skis and equipment are lying around. Our curiosity is aroused, maybe we will discover Michaela Shiffrin. We patiently watch the athletes coming and going, the Canadian team also seems to train here. Unfortunately, we know the names, but not the faces of the athletes, with the exception of Shiffrin, who we unfortunately don't get to see. The longer we stay on site, the more we toy with the idea of spending a day on the slopes. Skiing in the southern hemisphere once in a lifetime would be something. No sooner said than done, we spend a cold night at altitude so that we can indulge in skiing the next day. And it is a pleasure. In contrast to our last skiing trip in Turkey, the rental equipment here is of a much higher quality and the good conditions put us in a good mood. But we also notice how spoiled we are at home. Although it is one of the largest ski areas on the continent, it would be one of the smaller ones in Switzerland. Besides, there is an insanely high use of employees. There is a person at every lift who checks the ticket and a second one who helps with the ascent, because the chairs come with a full shot, just like ours used to in the old days. In addition, we can now be called ski and snowboard experts, because we have also mastered the slopes for experts. Anyone who thinks we were able to get a breath of fresh mountain air is very much mistaken. The ski area is located directly on the busy pass road, so you cross the serpentines on the chairlift and are greeted by trucks honking their horns. Doesn't sound very idyllic, but there are also more tranquil parts in the area.

Shortly before we are back in the capital, the next morning brings us an impressive surprise. About 20 Andean condors circle above us. The impressive birds with a wingspan of up to 3 metres belong to the vultures and are native to the Andes. Close by is a cow carcass over which the impressive birds swoop. It is a real spectacle and an impressive sound when the wing beats make a real noise.

We arrive in Santiago on a historic weekend. After large, sometimes violent protests, the revision or complete renewal of the constitution was voted on in 2019 and this was clearly accepted at the time. Now, this constitution has been drafted by a committee and presented to the population. And now, this weekend, there will be a vote on whether to accept or reject the new constitution. To put it in a nutshell, it was rejected. An interesting process, which we will certainly continue to observe and about which we have already heard different opinions. We spend the night on the outskirts of the city in a room in a shared flat. There we are invited to a barbecue and spend a fun evening with lots of Spanish, delicious food and of course Chilean wine. Barbecuing is almost a national sport here, too, and the meat is correspondingly delicious.

The return to Santiago completes the first circle. From now on, it's really off to Patagonia. But always slowly, because it will still take a while until spring/summer arrives.