We drove up to the
town of Portilla. Basically we wanted to get some altitude to check
that the heater would work as it is only guaranteed to work up to 2200m . The
road is famous for it’s switchbacks about 23 but 17 in a row.
Portilla is a ski resort with a 65 year old chalet. All old world
inside and quite beautiful. Must hum in the ski season. There was
snow about but not enough for skiing.
Drove on a couple of
k's towards the immigration station and managed to get to 2990m. The
highest EC has been. Both heater and stove worked well.
Drove back down
taking some photos. We are still heading north but slowly. Headed
towards the coast. Drove back past Los Andes and through some big
avocado orchards. Some of the towns have some very narrow streets. Avocados must bring in some money the towns are all very neat and in good repair.
Drove up a neat looking ridge and stopped there for the night. A great
spot with views East and West but covered in rubbish. Such a shame.
We didn't see so much rubbish further south. Lots of big skips placed strategically helped.