Avoiding the Earthquake in Santiago
Saturday, 27 February 2010 00:00
First off, we were not affected by the earthquake in Santiago. At the time we were 100 miles away in Mendoza, Argentine. At breakfast, several people said they were awakened by the quake around 4:00AM. Wendy and I slept through it but we have felt several aftershocks.
What a strange trip, there has been record rain in Cusco which closed Machu Picchu and now this earthquake that has turned Chile upside down.
I guess the reason we slept well last night was because we attended the wine festival in Mendoza.
This was the second day of a three day event (The festival goes on for 2 weeks), and people were still going strong.
We had thought of heading over to Santiago today but after the earthquake news decided to stay in Argentina. Actually, the pass to Chile was closed, so we had little choice other then to head down Ruta 40.
As luck would have it, there was a rather large aftershock :nod at the same time the Beast entered a sand trap and Wendy and I got to have a real up and close look at the sand. Neither of us were really hurt (I have a sore ankle) and the beast made it through with only a banged up right saddlebag. About a hour down the road we stopped for lunch
And had a great view of a reservoir
At another break Wendy decided she needed another close up look at the road
The rest of the ride to Malargue was uneventful as we enjoyed the scenery and wildlife.
