AMAZING ANDES

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We were both looking forward to the bus journey back to Santiago from Mandoza. The crossing of this part of the Andes is both long and unpredictable. The road can be closed at short notice so we left a couple of days grace in case anything went wrong. Our bus left on time and the day was very clear which was great as we really wanted a good view as our crossing from Osorno to Bariloche had been dense fog so we saw little of the mountains on that journey.

As we started winding through the hills and climbing it very soon becomes clear why the pass can be closed. Following the river winding through tight passes and past vast mountains and sheer cliffs the view is unbelievable. After a couple of hours we found ourselves starting to hit the snow which we could see had been ploughed to the side of the road. The mountains are both immense and beautiful. The snow caps gleeming in the midday sun and large crevises like I have never seen before tear down the sides.

As we winded further and further up we saw our first ski resort. Quite literally in the middle of nowhere there was this little village with lots of people taking advantage of small slopes. There was also an army base so we figured this was used for their training too.

Further along we hit the border of Argentina and Chile we were very surprised at the amount of lorries queuing to get through and were quite pleased when our bus was allowed to go right to the front of the queue. We noted that lorry drivers in Engalnd would be less than impressed at the advantage tour buses have here. The queus were endless goodness knows how long it takes for them to pass through.

When we got to the border we pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. We then found that we had a long wait as there was a ceremony being held right at the border exit. We could not really understand what was happening but there were people carrying wreaths and alot of speeches in Spanish. Music was being played and the whole process took around an hour. While all this was happening we were able to get off the bus but were told to stay close. We were right next to a ski resort and watched the skiers coming down some pretty steep and scary slopes. We also built a little snow man which ended with Tim having frozen hands and me having muddy hands looking for stones for his eyes. Quite childish really but it passed the time. Surrounded by the peaks in glorious sunshine it was really nice to get some time to stand around and admire them.

We passed through the border no problem having our bags scanned and me having to go back to immigration as they had forgotten to stamp my entry into Chile. Quite unbelivable really!!!!

Then came the best and worst part of the journey as we began our decent. We hit a very high winding road which had extreme drop offs and tight corners. Encompassing a ski resort we winded down this road where at times I had my eyes closed. It seemed to go on forever but eventually we got to the bottom. We passed our first ever frozen waterfall quite amazing as we had never seen one before and continued on better roads into Santiago. The whole journey took around 7 hours but it was well worth it for the views.

We have so many pictures from the crossing that I obviously cant put them all on the entry. You can get to them on our flicr site though.

As we had an extra night before our flight to Lima in Peru we spent our time in internet cafes updating the blog and Tim sorting out photos etc.... We enjoyed a very nice meal in Bellavista again and the time passed quickly. It had been sunny and warm in Mendoza. In reverse Santaigo was cold and dreary which we both struggled with!!!

We left Santiago full of anticipation for Peru and our planned inca trail.................................

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Comments

[ash and laura]

hello you 2 hows it going i was just reading a book on everest and remembered you had gone so i checked out your site you got some amazing pics hope all is good our money is out so gone sydney in search of gold