Santiago is a city of 5.1 million people. It has wide sidewalks, many walking streets, an efficient subway system, countless parks, museums, sculpture gardens, and outdoor cafes. We rented a small studio apartment just south of downtown that had a rooftop terrace with an amazing view. We spent our days in Santiago walking around taking in all the sites from the city. We would set out with a single destination and end up walking for hours because there were so many interesting things to see.
A beautiful room in the national library
We took a walking tour that highlighted many of the buildings and historical events that have shaped Chile into the country it is today. Our young and passionate guide showed us her favorite pieces of public art, painted on buildings and the walls of the subway stations. She took us to buildings that had been transformed from symbols of a harsh dictatorship to cultural centers and museums.
Some of the subway murals of Santiago
While in Santiago, we visited the Fundacion Diabetes Juvenil de Chile (http://diabeteschile.cl/), the organization that runs camps for kids with type 1 diabetes in Chile. It was wonderful to see all the support materials that they have created to help kids and families live with diabetes.
Also while we were in Santiago we had lunch at a restaruant run by the former classmate of one of Lisa’s neighbors in California. Martin runs Dos54 a beautiful cafe that caters to the business lunch crown. He was delightful to chat with and gave us many tips on things to see and do in the area.
Martin took time to chat with us during lunch
Our original plan was to head across the border into Argentina for a few days to check out the wine country surrounding Mendoza. From there we planed to cross back into Chile and spend a couple more days in Santiago before heading south towards the Chilean lakes district and Patagonia. We looked at several different ways to get to Mendoza because even though it was geographically very close, you needed to cross the Andes mountain range to get their over land. After reviewing all our options, including flights, buses, and rental cars we opted to go with the bus. We read several reviews stating how beautiful the ride was and we were able to book the front seat on the upper level of the bus, meaning we would have panoramic views as we crossed the Andes.
The morning of our bus ride we received a message from Martin letting us know that a bridge along the route had been washed out due to some heavy rain the night before. We tried calling the bus company to check on the status of our trip, but unfortunately we couldn’t get through. Ultimately, we decided to go to the bus terminal and try to figure things out in person. At the terminal there was a long line of people waiting to talk to the one attendant. When we finally made it to the front of the line he told us not to worry, the bus would make a detour around the washed out bridge to a different border crossing. What would normally be a 6-7 hour bus ride would now be around 10 hours but it shouldn’t be too bad. In the whole scheme of things 10 hours didn’t sound too bad so we grabbed our bags and borded the bus.
Our seats were great but not quite the epic views we were hoping for on the other road. After about 4-5 hours of driving we finally made it to the Chilean border. Initially we were pleased with what good time we had made and we began thinking that 10 hours was an accurate estimate of how long it would take us to get to Mendoza. Unfortunately, that thought quickly faded as we continued to sit on the bus as it inched toward the border in a line of other cars and buses that had all be diverted from the other border crossing.
People parking their cars and waiting hours to cross the border
Finally, after about 2 1/2 hours we were allowed off the bus to stand in a long line that wrapped all the way around the immigration building. We stood there for another hour, watching the sun go down. As we thought we would make it to Mendoza by nightfall, neither of us had packed clothes to keep us warm after dark in the Andes. As it started to get colder and we were still a very long way from the front of the queue Lisa remarked “it could be worse, it could be raining.” Not ten minutes went by and rain started coming down from clouds that hadn’t even been visible moments before. Now wet and cold we huddled next to the building, waiting our turn to get our exit stamp from Chile. Once we had our passport stamps in hand we headed back to our bus for the journey on to Argentina.
We usually picture immigration offices of neighboring countries to be a few hundred meters apart. You cross one then you quickly arrive and cross the other. This, however, was not the case with this particular border crossing. After passing the Chilean side we drove for almost 90 minutes before we arrived at the Argentinian side. Therefore, it was around 11pm by the time our bus took its place in line to cross the Argentinian border. We waited on the bus for around a half hour before an official came aboard and told us that the power was out and that they had to close down the border. We would need to wait until it reopened at 9am the next morning to get processed and receive our stamps. At this news we decided to take a short walk and then settle in for the night.
A couple hours into what we thought would be a long and uncomfortable night, another official boarded our bus and asked everyone to hand over their passports and documentation. Generally, we are not very enthusiastic about being separated from our passports but in this situation we had no other option. An hour later the man came back and returned all the passports with entry stamps to Argentina. And with that we were legally in Argentina. It had taken more than 9 hours from the time we arrived at the Chilean side of the border to make it all the way through. So much for a total trip estimate of 10 hours.
The rest of the trip was uneventful. We watched the sun come up over Argentina and finally made it to Mendoza 21 hours after we had boarded the bus back in Santiago. Somehow, I don’t think we will be taking the bus back to Santiago in a few days…
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