Ain't No Mountain High Enough...

At the cold, windy and snowy border crossing between Argentina and Chile

This post, and quite frankly any post from this blog, is way overdue, but I still wanted to take the opportunity to tell and show you a little bit about our trip through the Andes Mountains into Chile.

We left Mendoza on a warm, sunny morning, heading west towards Chile. To get there, we'd be traveling by bus through the Andes Mountains, the longest continental mountain range in the world. At 6,960 meters, Aconcagua, part of this mountain range and on our travel route, is the highest peak in the western hemisphere.

Heading towards the Andes from Mendoza

The weather quickly changed from warm and sunny, to dark and rainy. Then, even darker with a torrential downpour (we'd later see snow as well). Rain in Mendoza, a dessert, is quite rare, but it had rained quite a bit in the week prior as well. So much in fact that the road through the Andes was closed a few days earlier because the excessive rain was causing landslides. We were lucky that was no longer a concern. The only problem the rain was posing now was to hinder our view through the big bus windows of our upper deck, front-row seats. As you can see, the view was still incredibly awe-inspiring, even through the rain kissed windows. 

Perhaps the craziest part of the ride is when you are descending the mountain on the Chilean side. There is a series of 32 switchbacks down the very steep mountainside. In a double-decker bus, you feel like you just might tip over the edge at any moment.

Series of switchbacks on Chilean side

If you find yourself in South America somewhere close to the Andes, I highly recommend taking a bus trip to a neighboring country through them. It is one of the coolest experiences we have ever had. The trip from Mendoza to Santiago was listed at seven hours, but it is actually longer when you factor in the time you will lose at the border crossing. From station to station, the trip was a full ten hours for us, including the three long hours spent at the border crossing. In my opinion, a small price to pay for what you will get to see. For the best views, be sure to book the upper deck front seats if you can.