Ruta 23 CH, a 5 stars road in the Andes
Chile Route 23 (Ruta 23 CH) is a very scenic road located on an arid high plateau in the Andes mountains in the northern portion of Chile.
The road is 304 km (188 miles) long and runs from Calama, a city on the Loa River in the Antofagasta region in the northern part of the country and the Argentinian border on Paso de Sico.
Remember this is a mountainous area, climbing up a high mountain, with a notorius absence of oxygen. Altitude and extreme weather are always a factor. In summer, the extreme temperatures are 23 degrees Celsius, and -12 in winters, prevailing cold and dry weather. The road was totally paved in in 2018. It tops out at Abra El Laco, a mountain pass at an elevation of 4.569m (14,990ft) above the sea level.