Santiago to Mendoza

Although Chile and Argentina share many miles of border, the Andes lies between them for much of that border. The main route between the two is an wonderful pass road with the border on the very top.




On the Chilean side, there are dozens of hairpin bends, multiple tunnels and avalanche snow sheds, and of course wonderful vistas. The the Argentinean side is very different but equally beautiful with colorful mountain formations and vistas. It is impossible to capture the beauty of these roads, especially when you are trying to make good time to so we could avoid too much after sundown riding.

Once through the mountains, we weaved between mountains and rivers on the way to Mendoza, Argentina's fourth largest city.



For those who have ridden in the West, it reminded me of some of the nicest bits of road in southwestern Colorado, Moab, and Arizona.

Mendoza is a beautiful city, lots of large parks and outdoor malls similar to Pearl street in Boulder.

Getting my bike across the border and through customs was another story... to be posted! Lets just say it took two tries, a return trip and another night in Santiago, and a treasure hunt for lots of colorful official government stamps to allow Argentina to 'recognize' a Chilean document as 'official'.