Mendoza Hotels
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Stairway to heaven
Entry 70 of 79 | show all | print this entry |
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If Chile have the resemblance of Pacific calm, then Argentina must have turbulence of an Atlantic storm. The great Ying/Yang of South America. Today we are headed to Argentina.
The news out of Argetina was not good. Many travellers we meet on the road had temporarily "escaped" the country for fear of riots and political instability. The demonstrations and frequent clashes with riot police was a daily occurrence as we have seen on TV. The Peso, official Argentinean currency, which was pegged to the US dollar 1 to 1 in recent years, now stood at 2 to 1; and in many black markets, the uncertainty had pushed the Peso to almost 3 to 1. In reality terms, all goods are 3 times more expensive to the local population than before. There was no money in the banks as everyone who had any kind of savings, in panic, tried to withdrew their money before it turned into useless paper. The government closed the doors of the banks and anyone who had US dollars deposits cannot withdraw their money. The International Money Fund, so hated in this part of the world, are waiting for the storm to pass before their futile attempt to rescue THE BIGGEST economy in Latin America. A fear of ripple effect could damage both Brazil and Chile and the rest of South America. In a far complex globalized world, everyone is effected to a degree.
We boarded the bus in Santiago, not knowing what to expect. The fear of the unknown was in both of us. We are experienced travellers, but a sudden economical/political problem stood in our way, like a Nascar driver who bravely dives through a pile-up in front of him, this was our final lap of the Daytona 500, there is no stopping, no looking back, we will be in Buenas Aires in 24hrs.
First, our bus slowly climbed the foothills of the Andes, passing through great expenses of the Chilean vineyards. We reached the bottom of the Andes in less than an hour and suddenly, the great mountains stood before us, 5000+ meters straight up. This was the stairway to heaven. We have descended the Andes on two precious occasions, but this was our first climb.
The road was narrow, one way, and zig zag as far as I could see towards the sky. Continued mostly in 1st and 2nd gear, our bus followed other giants trucks and buses as it made its slow ascend to the heavens. It was like riding the world's highest elevator, and the view was gorgeous. Not far from here, across the border in Argentina, the highest peak in South America, The Aconcagua (7000m / 22800ft) stood majestically above all else.
We reached the border around noon. The usually procedure followed, off the bus, take our luggage, exit stamps in the Chilean Immigration, on the bus, entry stamps at the Argentinean Immigration, X-ray scan and check for illegal drugs, and on our way. The whole precess was quick and efficient, probably because the Argentinian officers didn't care as much considering there are much more important problems facing their country today. After everyone was counted, our bus made its way down the mountain road following the glacier river valley that cuts a narrow canyon between the giant Apostles; the air was cool and thin, the vegetation was almost none. There were many close encounters with falling off the cliffs as our bus swerved and turned. We trusted our experienced bus driver, and lets hope he is not disgruntled and still receives his regular salary from his company. Another boring movie was playing on the bus, so both of us took a "Siesta" in the afternoon until we reached the city of Mendoza around supper time.
The people in Mendoza looked a little down considering the problems facing their nation, but to our surprise, where were no riots, no police, no panic, everyone just going with their daily routine. We exchanged few dollars to buy dinner; here in the heart of the Argentina's cattle country, the beef burgers tasted delicious. After an hour, we exchanged buses and continued our journey to Buenas Aires. At least the Argentinean bus drivers are still employed.
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