The fasten seat belts sign comes on as the plane crosses the Andes, apparently a routine precaution against the turbulence created by air flowing over the high mountains. But we don’t see the summits through the thick layer of cloud until we have banked left and started the descent into Santiago. The airport looks new and immigration is efficient. We have a slight delay while customs inspect a flask in our luggage. The Chileans, protected behind their high walls, are very concerned about importing agricultural pests and diseases.

We are staying in Santiago as house guests with my brother and his family. They live in the suburb of Los Trapenses on the mountain side of Santiago. This is all new development. Building is allowed up to the 1000 metre mark and their place is at around 990 metres. Looking back down the valley, Santiago sprawls into the distance. There is a noticeable layer of pollution in the air. Warm air carrying pollution from traffic and factories gets trapped beneath a layer of cold air creating, particularly in winter, poor air quality. Already in the foothills, from here the heights rise quickly. The highest peak visible from Santiago is El Plomo at 5,434 metres. Now in October, there is still some snow on the summits. Looking towards the peaks from the back garden we can see the condors circling on the air currents, mobbed occasionally by smaller birds, and then, riding a draft, rapidly disappearing into the mountains.

The centre of Santiago is not very interesting. We travelled into town on the Metro, which like the airport is smart and modern, from Los Domingos. The oldest square and the centre for the city’s grid is Plaza de Armas. There is little to see except some interesting statues (*) and the Metropolitan Cathedral. Chile has not yet understood coffee and we are over-charged for some very thin dregs topped by a splurt of cream at a cafe on the square. We strolled around the area and visited Cerro Santa Lucia. There is a park around the hill and a small fort at the top. We are approached by a couple of girls on the walk there, who asked for money to help them pay their university fees which aren’t subsidised in Chile. More than likely panhandling but for the small sums involved it seems better to err on the charitable side.

The previous day we had climbed Cerro San Cristobal, just on the north side of the Costanera Norte. The funicular railway wasn’t operational. The path zigzags up the hill to a chapel and a statue of the Virgin Mary looking out over the city. The view from the top is worth the walk even on a dull day like this one.

The following day we drove out of the city towards the coast to visit one of the wineries, the Cases del Bosque, in the Casablanca valley (*). Like many of the wineries, you can tour the cellars and taste some of their wines. The set up here is excellent. Chile’s drink drive laws don’t have any tolerances built into them, so I was restricted to the aromas. This did in fact work quite well; losing one sense meant focusing more on the other. Back in Santiago, in the evening we had supper at a very popular restaurant in Las Condes called Tiramisu (*). Because it was very popular, we had to wait at the bar and drink Pisco Sours until a table became free, which was not so much hardship. Las Condes is an up market district and business centre and has much more of the feel of a modern capital city than the old centre. Pisco, originally Peruvian, is distilled from grape juice, somewhat like grappa. It is exported  but I have not been able to find it.

The following day we retraced our path coastward to Valparaiso. The final approach is through a valley which brings you out on the waterfront. The city is built on a narrow defile of flat land by the port and on the steeply rising hillside behind. The buildings in the upper town are colourfully painted, giving the place its characteristic aspect. We parked in Plaza Sotomayer by the docks, where the headquaters of my brother’s firm are located. We asked about a boat tour round the port but apparently there wasn’t one. Trolley buses still run here and the buses themselves must be half a century old, but only five of the old wooden ascensors are still working and we took one up to the upper town for lunch. It resembled a garden shed on a trolley. The ascent is not far off the vertical. Away from the waterfront, the character of Valparaiso becomes apparent. There is little traffic in the roads. The buildings are in various styles, and varying degrees of dilapidation. Many of the walls are colourfully painted corrugated iron. We had an excellent lunch at the Cafe Dimalow (*).

From Valparaiso, we drove north through Vina del Mar and up the coast to Zapallar. Once outside the towns this is a very attractive coastline, a stretch of dunes and scrubby windblown trees. The secret is out however and there are a number of condominiums being built on the shore. Just south of Zapallar, we parked in the seaside town of Cachagua. It is a fine spot. There is a long wide stretch of sand against which the Pacific waves break. At the end of the beach there is a small island, maybe no more than 20 metres out, but sufficiently isolated to make it a safe place for a colony of Humboldt penguins. We had driven out to Valparaiso on Highway 68. The treeless landscape of this part of Chile is spectacular but not very forgiving of blights like roadside billboard advertising. We returned on Highway 5 which winds through cactus studded hills and doesn’t suffer from intrusive commerce in the same way.

Thursday is a rest day before we fly north to Calama on Friday. We are staying 3 days in San Pedro di Atacama. Calama is a mining town and the airport is a single strip in the desert. All flights are to and from Santiago and I guess primarily carry workers travelling to their shifts in the mines and tourists on their way to San Pedro. The transfer from Calama to San Pedro is around 100 kilometres. We are staying at Casa Solcor(*). It is more like a rented villa than a hotel. For most of the time we are the only guests, until the last night when 3 bikers from across the border in Argentina turn up.

Having checked in we walked into town for lunch at a restaurant which has been recommended called Las Delicias de Carmen. After lunch we are picked up for the first of the four tours we have booked. This one is to a place just outside town called the Valle de la Luna. The landscape here is volcanic, created by the deposits from the volcanoes that ring the area. Not the highest, but the most noticeable because it stands alone and has the classic cone shape of a volcano, is Licancabur (*), whose summit is at 5,920 metres. The tour lasts four hours and is quite strenuous on a hot and dry afternoon. It ends with a view of the sunset from just outside the town, which is spectacular (*). Supper is a pizza take-away from Pizzeria El Charrua just off the main street Caracoles.

The next day we have two tours. The first is a journey up into the hills. On the way we cross the Tropic of Capricorn and stop for breakfast by the line marker. Across the salt flats we can see the spoil thrown up from the lithium mines. Our destination, two lakes called Laguna Miscanti and Laguna Miñiques (*), are at an elevation of 4,300 metres. Although it is not difficult to walk, you can feel the thinness of the air. It is a beautifully still morning and the mountains are mirrored perfectly in the water. Some vicuñas are grazing by the water’s edge and there are a couple of Andean flamingos on the farther side. On the way down we stop briefly at the village of Socaire. This is not a dry place as we are actually on the edge of the Atacama, and water from the rivers is dammed to provide irrigation for the terraced fields. Our guide Edmundo explains that control of the water flow is vested in one of the farmers each year. The post is renewable, presumable if the task has been well carried out.

Back on the valley floor, we turn off the main road and head towards Laguna de Chaxa, which is out in the middle of the Salar de Atacama, the Atacama salt flats. The salt creates an unforgiving landscape but there are numerous birds and lizards. Most spectacular are the Andean flamingos. We are fortunate to catch a flight of five birds coming into land on the water (*).

After a brief stop at another typical village called Toconao, we are back in San Pedro by two o’clock in the afternoon after a seven hour trip. After a brief rest, we are picked up for our next excursion. Our first stop is at the two pools Laguna Piedra and Laguna Cejar. It is possible to swim in the pools, or rather, to lie in them on your back, Dead Sea style. The water is caustic and not for the fair skinned. A little further on there is another set of circular pools which are not so alkaline. Then it is back to Laguna Piedra to watch the sunset. The tour company, Inca Coya (*), has laid on Pisco sours and peanuts while the sun sets. Back in San Pedro, supper is take away pizza again.

On Sunday, our final tour requires an even earlier start. Pick up it as 4:30am for the drive out to the geysers at El Tatio. Not quite as far to go as the previous day, but the road surface is not as good as we wind up the hills in the dark. The idea is to be at the geysers for dawn. I am not exactly sure why this is, since there is nothing obviously about the geysers to benefit from the morning light and it is bitterly cold. However, we have checked our names at the ticket office and it seems that there is a limited time window for visiting the site and a limited number of visitors each day. Our party is among the early arrivals. When we arrive the swimming pool is empty and the children have it to themselves. By the time we are leaving, it is starting to fill up as other tour buses arrive, and starts to resemble a large bath. Breakfast is by the pools, the breakfast drinks heated in the hot springs. As we leave we pass more family groups of vicuñas grazing.

The access road crests at 4,400 metres here, surpassing the family record for elevation set the day before. On the way down we stop as a village called Machuca. It appears to be more or less abandoned now; a place kept going for tourists. The local shop has started barbequing, and there is a woman selling artisanal products. The houses don’t look occupied and the church is locked. Further down, we stop for a walk through a valley to admire some cactuses. There is small stream of clear water running in the valley floor.

We are back in San Pedro by lunchtime and able to relax for the only time on this trip. In the afternoon we strolled around the town taking pictures. In a shop selling local products we picked up a woven rug to hang on the wall as a tapestry when we return home. In the evening we headed back into town for supper. The evening is disrupted because this Sunday is the day of municipal elections all over Chile. Everywhere we have travelled we have seen posters and banners supporting the candidates for mayor and councillor. Unfortunately, presumably either to help keep the peace, or maybe as an incentive to vote, Chile is dry on election day until 9pm. This small glitch aside, we have a pleasant supper in one of the restaurants on Caracoles. The staff observe the spirit of the restrictions without watching the clock too closely.

San Pedro is a surprise. It has the look and feel of a pueblo, a town of dusty streets that are little more than lanes and adobe buildings that are barely a single storey high. There is a white-washed church in the main plaza. But there is also an astro-turfed football stadium and a large municipal swimming pool. A shanty town has started to put down roots on the road out of town and has already acquired street lighting. In the holiday season, which was just beginning when we visited, the town is lively in the evening when the bars and restaurants open. It is a tourist town, but has not yet been spoiled by tourism. There are signs that the  local administration is controlling tourist numbers. With luck its relative remoteness and relative expensiveness will protect it.

We are up early once again the following day in order to be ready for the pick-up and transfer back to Calama and our flight to Santiago. There is a fine view of Aconcagua from the plane as we start the descent into the capital. The highest mountain outside the Himalaya and Karakorum ranges, the summit  falls just short of the 7,000 metre mark at 6,962 metres. We have little time today. After returning to Los Trapenses for lunch it is back to airport in the afternoon for the return flight to Buenos Aires.