Hannibal and the elephants could cross faster

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Hello again blog buddies,just having my morning coffee and thought I would catch up on my travels and tell you about my return trip from Mendoza.I had reservations about the bus, after having taken 14 hours on the eastward crossing of the Andes a week before.My decision was made after weighing a few factors such as the fact I was travelling on a Sunday and I had been told part of my previous experience was due to the summer holiday phenomenon occuring in the middle of January when wave two of holiday travellers heads to Chile from Argentina just as wave one is returning.It all seemed to make sense and so the decision was made and ticket in hand I went to the bus station to catch the 09:30 Andesmar bus to Valpo .

I was immediately encouraged to not be met by the chaotic scene that was the bus stations the previous week and while they were busy there were no long lines for everything from cabs to banos.the bus was again vaguely identified as being on platform 16 to 20 but sure enough there it was big,blue and a paper sign stuck on the window Valpo 9:30.I checked my backpack into the bus and went upstairs to my seat.As these things unfold it was seat number 16 again,the same seat I had on the long ride to Mendoza.I had changed my ticket to stay longer in Mendoza and the coveted Cama class seat was gone and I was again Semi Cama.Oh well never mind I thought and I settled in beside a Brazillian man and infront of me two french tourists I recognized from my hotel.At the appointed hour the giant bus pulled back with a shudder and we were off.It was cloudy again and a little rain was falling which was fine except that the windows started to fog up!!

Now I had been looking forward to the day bus going home so that all of the trip could be viewed so the fogged windows was a disappointment but camera close by anyway off we went west towards the mountains and Chile.We passed a lot of the area now familiar to me from my wine wanderings and i looked for and recognized areas and things I now knew and am familar with.I am always pleased with my ability to remember places I have been and the orientation of one area to another.It is my fathers infallible sense of direction!

The bus was full but quiet as we headed along the highway and the hills grew and turned into mountains,we passed vineyards and fruit orchards.Nut and olive trees filled the fields and the occasional refinery,oil and gas actually being the number one industry of Mendoza,ahead of wine and tourism.The trip was wending its way along nicely and with each passed kilometer I was getting more and more confident that it would be without incident or delay.Traffic was moderate and the large slow trucks were easily passed,sometimes across double lines!

The windows were clear again and the mountains all around us.treeless brown and rocky.Great falls of rocks and gravel having come down from on high left trails of rubble for hundreds of meters on the slopes.The narrow guage railway I spoke of last trip wound its way along the banks of the Rio Mendoza with the road beside that.The railway is clearly not used with great sections gone to avalanche or simply disrepair.There are few inhabitants in these parts and a house was rare to see.There seemed to be trails criss crossing to who knows where but few signs of life.At one point my seat mate,who was also taking pictures told me to prepare my camera for Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas at 6,961 meters,(22,837 feet).It is one of the seven summits,highest mountains on each continent and climbers try to scale them all.As we came upon it the clouds and mists obscured it from our view much to our disappointmen but also perhaps an omen of the obscurity of what was about to come,'The Chilean Border'!

The border crossing, Los Libertadores,is tucked away in a valley surrounded by the cliffs and a very inhospitable looking place with nothing growing around it and only dust and stone to welcome a traveller.The buildings from a distance looked older than the crossing I had gone through a week before but it was only visible from a distance as our bus turned off the road and parked with a line of other busses!! Not a good sign I thought.

We sat in our bus for ever,people got out and walked around .you could buy an empanada or a drink at a couple of little snack stands but none of us was going anywhere. The cars were being diverted in another direction and seemed to be crossing without much delay but the busses sat there with the occasional one going into the open door of the large building that was customs and immigration.All the large trucks went another direction and inspectors could be seem amongst them with the drug dogs wagging their tails as they sniffed around.The bus was resigned to this and I am coming to realize it is to be expected but there were heads shaking and grumbling as the time passed by,hour upon hour.

Finally our driver had us all get off the bus and line up behind him then when we were all assembled he led us into the customs and immigration building.The chaos I noted missing at the bus station earlier could be found under this roof in the lines of bus travellers peering into the windows at the faces of immigration police staring back and demanding papers,forms,explanations and process.Every bus had its shepherd in the form of the driver who did his best to get them to the windows and through the process.One window was check out of Argentina then next to it check into Chile and everyone had to go to both, and must be counted at the end of the process with the count matching the passenger list.This reconcilliation of numbers had been the cause of delay coming into Argentina and unless the count balances no one goes anywhere.

The bus ahead of us in the line had issues with some travellers and we stood there watching while the driver frantically tried to find the missed passenger or their paper work and get his bus cleared through that point.Eventually my turn came and I went to windows number 1 and 2 without incident,no taxes no surprises, to my relief and so back to the bus I went.Waiting there provided no relief however, as eventually the driver was on the bus going through the reconcilliation exercise himself with one of us apparently missing window number 2!! I never saw the offending passenger,if infact one existed, but the delay went on for another hour until the bus moved into the building then stopped!! We were all told to disembark with our hand luggage and made to line up before the SAG inspectors.These are the government inspectors keeping Chilean agriculture and livestock safe by keeping out any foreign contamination of chemical,insect or disease.There were also customs inspectors going through some bags but not all.The large bags were taken from the bus and x-ray'd and we had to also put our carry on through an x-ray before we were allowed on the bus.

Finally we pulled out into the daylight and had the border at our backs after 4 hours!!

Just past the border was the switchback section of the road I spoke of last week,In the daylight it is truly amazing.Literally a cliff with a road cut into the side of it switching back and forth 30 times.The bus inched down this engineering and faith based marvel behind a long line of trucks.From our perspective at the front of the double decker bus each hairpin turn took us to the very precipice of the cliff with nothing good waiting for us hundreds of feet below.Two older ladies in the front seat covered their eyes the whole time it took us to inch down this thing and that must have been at least a half hour.

I tried taking pictures with the brazillian guy but I am sure none of them do this thing justice believe me.Upon reaching the valley floor again things got back to normal and we proceeded west at a reasonable rate for a number of miles.Eventually though we came across the line of cars,trucks busses and motorcycles all being held up going the other direction.The highway is opened and closed in opposite direction to alow safe passage through the switchback section presumably and by the look of the line up those travelling east had been waiting at the side of the road for hours.Small impromptu campsites had been set up by the travellers to shield themselves from the sunshine which was not out and and to eat and relax untill the tide of travel turned in their favour.

The mountains went on for a while but eventually started rounding off and shrinking into hills with vegitation and green trees.Towns popped up and agriculture appeared again as we got closer to the ocean and its climate changes.The towns and vineyards passed us by with the only distraction a crashed and burning car blocking our way for a while while the firemen dealt with it.Closer to Vina del Mar the market gardens unfolded around us with roaadside stands of fruit and vegetables.Avocados by the ton and great bounty for the vegetarian on sale.Greenhouses everywhere and traffic picking up as the signs for Santiago and Valparaiso appeared and roads intersected.I pulled into Valpo after stopping in Vina and by the time I got a cab home it was 10:30.My arrival was scheduled for 4pm and here I was again 6 hours late. It was good to be home.

I am looking into a trip to the wine country around here and also getting myself set to go into Santiago for a few days so more to come blogging friends. Take care Adios

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