Purmamarca to San Pedro de Atacama.

The border between Argentina and Chile runs at the highest points on the Andes that separate the two countries. When we heard that a bus connects the two countries via the most northern pass of el Paso de Jamo, we knew we wanted to take it.

The Pullman coach had left Salta at 630 am and was expected at Purmamarca, a small village on the the cusp of the foothills of the Argentinian Andes at 930 am where we waited at the side of the road. School children walked down to the village followed by dogs – birdsong sounded unusually loud. Sylvie strolled down the hill while I sat on the bags as if I was a 20 year old back packer.

Only 10 minutes late the bus emerged slowly around the corner; red and black, gleaming in the morning sun. It pulled over to the side of the road and we were welcomed aboard by the two drivers Oscar and Carlos. We climbed up to the second floor and settled in for our 8 hour trip.

We were already at an altitude of 3000 metres but had another 1000 metres to go. The climb started straight away. A screen at the front of the bus indicated:

Conductor : Oscar Ramon

Velocidad : 36 km / hr

Tiempo: 3 hr 39

The bus climbs slowly, acceleration; gear change upward and then back down again. A small white church on the edge of a village. Two women next to me chat with English accents – somewhere from the north (Manchester I learned later). A man snores behind me.

Tiempo 4 HR 05

Higher up; the trees give way to cacti surrounded by clumps of Chartreuse coloured grasses.

Sylvie sits in front of me, wearing her anti-snore headphones.

The sky is blue with fluffy white clouds. As I stare at them looking for a better description than ‘fluffy white’ I see a bird of prey soar in the thermals and hope it’s a condor so that I have something more interesting to write about than the soft material-like nebulae.

I wonder if I should chew on coco leaves . People here believe they help alleviate altitude sickness. We had bought a bag from an elderly lady at a bus station in a village. If she had been in a Disney film giving away apples it would have been inadvisable to take anything from her but the rules for coco dealers are different.

The road staggers from left to right, like a drunk on his way home. Sharp left, then straight for a-bit then sharp right. The bus follows, swinging carelessly.

Cars overtake us on tight corners with no visibility but I don’t expect Oscar Ramon, our driver, to worry. This is not his first time taking 60 souls across the Andes in the Pullman bus. He’s a steady hand. A man of calm hand gestures like the thumbs up when he counted the 36000 pesos(120 usd) ,in 1000 pesos notes, I gave him for the return trip for two people.

This is Inca land. Mountains were sacred to them, they liked to be as high as possible, sacrificing people to the gods at the highest points.

I remember other Moutains in my life;

Mount Snowdon in Wales on rainy school trips. Grey, damp days spent walking, cold and wet but warm and dry in the evenings sleeping in warm bunk beds surrounded by friends.

McCloudGanj in the Indian Himalayas during a Buddhist retreat. Monkeys running across roofs and the sound of Tibetan music- drums and gongs during meditation filled days.

Leh , further north in the Himalayas, trailing behind Lucas and Sam on a 5 day trek. Climbing to 5000 metres and witnessing and feeling Sam caring for me as I struggled with altitude sickness.

Like the Incas, mountains effect me emotionally, they give importance to things. I think a little deeper when I’m at altitude.

Tiempo 4 hrs : 18 mins

We trail behind an 8 wheeler cargo truck labouring up the elevation, heading for the northern Chilean ports, access to the pacific for Argentina and Uruguay.

Tiempo 4 hrs : 45 mins

An altitude marker informs us we are at 4170 m, we stop climbing for now as we have reached the plains.

Surrounded by rocks of all different colours : rust, turquoise, mustard, chestnut.

Tiempo 5 hrs : 25 mins

The Salinas grandes cover an area of 212 km at an altitude of 3450 metres. White lakes that look like you could walk accross them.

They lie in the basin of Cordillera Damayayke which separates the Atacama plateau from the Atacama desert. A major tourist attraction of northern Argentina, a source of salt mining and recently, lithium exploration which is contested by local indigenous leaders who fear that any such mining would threaten local farming.

Tiempo 5 hrs : 55 mins

A few kms along the road we get out of the bus to queue orderly to present our passports. First to Argentinian customs and then to their Chilean colleagues further down the desks.

We are at over 4500 metres, it’s cold and the air is noticeably thin. A teenage girl, black make up,short skirt and big black dr Martin’s faints and is carried to the medical room.

After we have completed our administrative duties Carlos said I could go to the shop but to be quick. He pointed at two containers on the other side of the complex.

The women inside the first container seemed surprised to see me and then even more surprised when I asked if they had any coffee. “Of course” she replied but her face asked “did I really want some?”.

I purchased two coffees, biscuits and some cakes and rushed back to show my spoils like a victorious pirate. We climbed up the narrow stair of the bus and set off again.

We had one final peak to cross, where the actual border lays and then it was all down hill to San Pedro de Atacama.

Tiempo 6 hrs : 25 mins

100s of Lamas watched as we passed , all looking with the same look of curiosity and carelessness as they munched on grass.

Pink flamingoes prodded and poked their beaks in turquoise coloured lakes. Apparently they have evolved to be able to drink the salty warm water with a special gland behind the eyes. In these stark desert landscapes these birds looked like they had ended up here more by some sense of humour than by nature.

Tiempo 6hrs : 55 mins

Before the final descent we crossed a range of volcanoes one of which we learnt the next day had first erupted for the first time in 5 years 3 days ago.