Crossing the Andes: A Once-in-a-Lifetime trip!

What began as a 3-day sightseeing trip along the Pacific coast of Chile during Bibba and John's visit, turned into a 4-day adventure, crossing over the Andes Mountains into Argentina. The view at the right is one of the many coastal vistas we enjoyed at the beginning, often reminding us of the California coast. We headed east from La Serena to Vicuña, at the foothills of the Andes, and we were amazed by Chile's beauty and diversity.

	We followed a winding paved road along side the Elqui River and the vinyards of pisco grapes grown in these high-altitude mountain valleys. Suddenly the paved road ended. All that remained ahead of us were giant mountains and a narrow gravel track. We were happy to find this sign!

As the road followed the river into the mountains, the terrain became more and more desolate. The Customs and Immigration checkpoint seemed to be an oasis of civilization with 4 or 5 men, and it was still hours from the border. We saw two herders, many goats, a few horses and mules, and 1 other car before we reached the actual border.

The mountains became barren with hues of many colors from minerals as we headed higher.

It got quite cold as we got higher and higher in the mountains, over 15,000 feet at the border. There were glaciers and fields of ice.

We were fascinated at how the ice had been sculpted by the sun and wind, much as the rocks had been eroded by water and wind over time. After reaching the border, we still had to drive another hour or two before reaching the Argentine Customs and Immigration Station. We noticed that the terrain in Argentina quickly became less rugged. We were struck by how much open space there seemed to be and so few people. We found out that only 4 cars had made the trip that day.

We spent nearly 14 hours making this very memorable trip across the Andes. Our journey wasn't over, though, since we still had another very long day of travel before we got back to Santiago. We spent the night in a hotel in San Juan, Argentina, and drove south the next day to Mendosa, where we crossed the Andes on a much more traveled route. This route, crossing to Chile near Los Andes, passes through more populated countryside, has services available, and is fully paved. It is the route taken by trucks carrying the chlorine from the Oxy plant at Talchuano to Argentina. Unlike the trip on the previous day, we didn't even need to use our 4-wheel drive! For more pictures from their visit, closer to Santiago, check out Bibba and John's Visit.

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