- Indirect return to San Juan with a detour to the Voranden
- Drive through the dust-dry, lonely land
After the lavish party, you will sleep in first in the New Year. We have breakfast outside at an unusually cool 20 degrees. After saying goodbye to our friendly hosts, we head south.
On the well-developed Routa 40, which crosses Argentina from north to south, drive through dry bushland. There are also a few smaller sand dunes to be found. There is a lot of dust in the air, which severely restricts the view. Soon we will leave the province of La Rioja and will be back in San Juan.
Then we leave Routa 40 and drive on 491 and later on 150 into the Andes. A strong wind blows around our ears and dries up the landscape even more. The area resembles the plateaus of Central Asia and signs of human settlement are extremely rare.
From here roads would lead further into the Andes - for example to the remote San Guilermo National Park - and over to Chile. There is no time for that, after all, we have to return the rental car tonight.
We continue via Routa 149 through deserted wasteland. where a salt lake can be seen before we turn back on 40. We arrive around 6 p.m. San Juan, where we unload our luggage in the hotel and return the rental car. Finding a restaurant on New Years turns out to be difficult again. In a cafe there is an aperitif platter with plenty of fillings, then you go to bed.
