National Road number 40 is the longest road in Argentina. It’s born in Cabo Vírgenes (The southest point of South America, right before crossing the Estrecho de Magallanes, that separates Tierra del Fuego from the continent) and it goes North, for 5000 km, bordering the Andes going through 20 national parks, 18 rivers of big relevance, connecting 27 mountain passes and reaching almost 5000 meters over the sea level - in this beautiful province that is Salta - and finishing in La Quiaca, a city at the border with Bolivia

But… the trips I made on this road were always from Mendoza to Jujuy (west-center of the country going northwest) , and is not always on the same road, actually the trip is zigzagging the main road visiting different attractions. So, I usually drive on this road a little more than 2500 km.

Last time I did this trip was December, starting on the 18th, picking just one passenger at Mendoza airport. From there we went trough the city, which is called by many people “little Buenos Aires“.

When I got to the airport I was VERY nervous. The one thing I knew about this passenger was that he was German… Imagine having a trip for 14 days with a person you only know his nationality. So there I was, standinged at the gate, with a piece of paper saying “Herr Schmidt”. Suddenly I saw a girl waving at my direction, but she was saying hi to a person behind me… funny. But then, he appeared. A 66 year-old-man. There’s a big stereotype about this nationality. And it might be true, but just for the first days. They can be the best trip-mates. On the third days we were already making jokes and having a good time.**

We spent the first night in a town called Uspallata, very quiet, between the Andes and the pre-Andes. On the next day we visited Puente del Inca and Province Park Aconcagua, from where you can take a look at the highest mountain in America. That day was very windy, almost unbearable. But we hiked for about two hours, looking for a spot to get a very nice look of this giant rock. I was amazed how energetic my mate was…

On the next day we carried on to El Barreal, in San Juan Province. On the way we went through La Pampa del Leoncito, National Park and Observatory. At this place the park rangers gave me a brochure with instructions in case you came across a puma. “If you see a Puma, try to scare it, holding your arms high and waving them. If the animal doesn’t leave and starts chasing you, run. If the puma attacks you, defend yourself energically”. H I L A R I O U S ! !

The next four nights we spent them in a very small town called Villa Unión, in la Rioja Province, from where we visited National Park Talampaya, National Park Ischigualasto (The Moon Valley) and Laguna Brava – (take a look at the pictures for further descriptions).

Unfortunately we couldn’t get to Laguna Brava, the truck started overheating and we had to turn back to the town… and this road is not a place to get stuck with the car, believe me!

After Villa Unión we headed to Chilecito, La Rioja Province. And this time was Christmas Eve. Accidentally, I found met a tour-leader that works for GAP (a Canadian travel company that organizes trips all around the world) travelling with a group of 12 people. We had a nice dinner and we got drunk drinking lots of local wine – it doesn’t happen all the time ;o) -.

Luckily I wasn’t hangovered the next day (lots of water before going to bed is the reason). I was having breakfast at 8 in the morning, and Mr Schmidt came to my table and put a big white bag on it and he said “Feliz Navidad”. I was shocked, I wasn’t specting any present from anyone, so I asked him what was it and he said “Schnapps!”. I opened the bag and I found one bottle of vodka, another of cognac, and another one of rum. If my memory is not malfunctioning, I didn’t say anything or did anything for him to think that was the kind of present I liked… but my friends loved it!

Well, following with the trip… we headed north to get to Cafayate, Salta Province. You have no idea how happy I was to be standinged in my region again! But actually was a very painful driving… this was actually the longest drive we had on the entire trip. And my mate was driving me crazy… ah, I didn’t tell you yet… he was travelling with two dictionaries, one was English/German and the other one was Spanish/German. And he was a vocabulary freak! Every time I came out with a word he didn’t know, he started looking for it in the two dictionaries he was carrying. But thanks to him I broaden my vocabulary. Still not enough though ;o)

We carried on, towards Salta. When we got there Schmidt and I got rid of each other for a couple of days… both of us needed a while to spend with ourselves. Anyway, we headed North, to Quebrada de Humahuaca, in Jujuy Province. This Gorge was declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in July 2003. A very interesting place, were you can see – even nowadays – how the local culture mixed with the Spanish during the colonization. Thousands of people go to this place for different catholic religious parties, that are celebrated mixing the old religion, the Inca religion.

Anyway, by that time we were just one day away of saying goodbye. This was in San Pedro de Atacama, in the middle of the Atacama Desert - the driest in the world –  in the North of Chile.

After spending 14 days with a complete stranger, you make friends with this person. And besides I was looking forward to the day this trip finish, the time of “goodbye” was actually kind of awkward. But anyway, still nowadays we mail each other (he doesn’t do Internet, so we use the traditional mail), and he will be one of my Spanish students when I get to Berlin… isn’t that nice?

The way back to Salta was actually the hardest day. I had to cross the Andes to get back to Argentina, and it took me 10 hours to arrive in Salta. Fortunately I found in Chile Migrations an Italian couple that were hitch-hiking, so I had a very good company for all those hours. Finally, we got to Salta at 22.30 on December the 30th, right at time for the new year celebrations.

This is the kind of trips you NEVER forget…

** What I wanted to transmit at that paragraph was what I was feeling about the uncertainty of knowing nothing about the person I was going to spend 14 days with. Maybe it sounded a bit aggressive, but what I wanted to say was completely the opposite. So, if someone felt hurt, I just want to say that a feel sorry and I offer my sincere apologize. Trying to write in a foreign language can get hard.