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General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Sparks on October 22, 2006, 02:14:51 PM

Title: Pics of Chile - an afternoon drive (dial-up un-freindly)
Post by: Sparks on October 22, 2006, 02:14:51 PM
I've off the board a few weeks.  Been sent to Santiago Chile on an urgent job. Well we managed to get a couple of afternoons off so I rented an Explorer and we decided to check out a couple of the dirt roads up into the mountains - only 1 1/2 hrs from the hotel in central Santiago and - wow ! Pics are a bit big I'm afraid and taken with a Pentax pocket "point and shoot"

This was the second trip:-

We started up the valley and already the view was impressive
(http://www.onpoi.net/ah/pics/users/43_1161543157_theviewupthevalleywhereweareheading.jpg)

The closer we got to the snow the better it got
(http://www.onpoi.net/ah/pics/users/43_1161542662_themountainsgetcloser.jpg)

The drop off the edge of the track looked higher than this .....
(http://www.onpoi.net/ah/pics/users/43_1161543518_thisishigherthanitlooks.jpg)

We were haeding for a lake which looked interesting on the map but we had to stop just short ...
(http://www.onpoi.net/ah/pics/users/43_1161543059_whywehadtostop.jpg)

Continued ...
Title: Pics of Chile - an afternoon drive (dial-up un-freindly)
Post by: Sparks on October 22, 2006, 02:21:59 PM
So this was the end of the road ....
(http://www.onpoi.net/ah/pics/users/43_1161542964_thecarattheendoftheroad.jpg)

Notice we had to turn round or reverse back an F*****g long way. We turned but it took some time back at the hotel to get the leather of the drivers seat out of my arse ..... :eek:

The lake turned out to be a resevoir - how they built it up there beats me !

(http://www.onpoi.net/ah/pics/users/43_1161543615_lakepanorama.jpg)

On the way down we noticed this glacier wall way up on a ridge ..
(http://www.onpoi.net/ah/pics/users/43_1161543733_theicewalloftheglacier.jpg)

Just an amazing trip and done in less than a full afternoon !! The dirt road stretch was 24km - 15 miles ?? Incredible.  If this is what the Andes close to Santiago is like then Southern Chile must be breathtaking.

Sparks
Title: Pics of Chile - an afternoon drive (dial-up un-freindly)
Post by: Nilsen on October 22, 2006, 02:40:35 PM
beautiful!
Title: Pics of Chile - an afternoon drive (dial-up un-freindly)
Post by: ByeBye on October 22, 2006, 03:09:16 PM
Nice pics!

I know what you mean about drop offs and stuff not translating in the pics, but that looks pretty steep to me.

Looks like a fun trip.
Title: Pics of Chile - an afternoon drive (dial-up un-freindly)
Post by: eskimo2 on October 22, 2006, 03:30:17 PM
Very nice; looks like Alaska.
Title: Pics of Chile - an afternoon drive (dial-up un-freindly)
Post by: rogwar on October 22, 2006, 03:52:03 PM
Chile is a nice country. I go there a couple of times a year for the mining industry. The Atacama desert is impressive in the north as well. Thanks for the pics!
Title: Pics of Chile - an afternoon drive (dial-up un-freindly)
Post by: mora on October 22, 2006, 04:07:17 PM
Very nice!

I must rethink the passing of Chile on my itinerary.
Title: Pics of Chile - an afternoon drive (dial-up un-freindly)
Post by: Sparks on October 22, 2006, 04:12:34 PM
Rogwar - you might know what it is they were mining up in this valley ? It was pretty small scale - a white almost chaky mineral but quite heavy and fairly easily shattered. (Not chalk though). We saw them hauling trucks of it away to what looked like a small crushing plant at the bottom of the valley.

Thanks for all the nice comments guys. This place seems like a bit of forgotten jewel.

One thing we weren't so sure about - part way up was this abandoned compound.  Our initial thought was an abandoned mining settlement but it looked more "labour camp" - did Pinochet have this kind of thing :(

(http://www.onpoi.net/ah/pics/users/43_1161551534_apinochetlabourcamp-wewondered.jpg)
Title: Pics of Chile - an afternoon drive (dial-up un-freindly)
Post by: SFRT - Frenchy on October 22, 2006, 04:15:09 PM
Sweet, thx you for the pics.