Santiago,
Chile
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
We left Mendoza at midday the 27th for the supposedly 7 hour journey to Santiago over the border in Chile. It all went fine with some fantasic scenery including the highest peak outside the Himalayas called Aconcague which is just under 7000 metres. I had rented a car last year and travelled this road but it was just as spectacular a second time. Apparenlty this is where they filmed the movie Seven Years In Tibet but I haven´t seen it. Just before the border we went under the tunel through the heart of the Andes and came out the fat side to where the border post was located. This is when it went pear-shaped. We waiting over two hours on the bus waiting to be processed. Of course no one told us this - we were just left to guess what was going on. Then we had to get off with our bags and stand in line while they were put through an x-ray and checked over by sniffer dogs. Then we had to queue up to get stamped out of Argentina and stamped into Chile. At this stage I think we´ve spent longer at Chilean border posts than we have inside the country.
If you´re planning a trip leave yourself an extra week to get in an out of the place. By the time we got to Santiago it was time to get a taxi straight from the bus station to the airport. I hadn´t printed out the flight information so weren´t too sure of the details. I gave Bosco the opportunity to go up to the desk and tell the girl that he wasn´t sure what flight number, time or Airline he had a ticket for with but that it was definitley to Rio.
LA756 at 01.30 with Lan Chile as it turned out.
