Santiago, Chile

Dec 31, 2005

Needing repairs, I headed back to Santiago, because this is where I had the bike serviced last year and I have a lot of confidence in this mechanic. When he showed me the chain, with broken links, I realized I was lucky to have made it all the way back.

The ride up through Argentina from Malargue to Mendoza wound along a river, tucked up against the Andean foothills, High desert scrub gave way to Pampa, and then vinyards as I entered the province of Mendoza, where the Argentine wine industry is located.

Much like the road from Neuquen to Malargue, there were lots of goats and horses on the road, and the occasional odd creature scurrying across. One of them looked like a cross between an armadillo and a rat. Parrots explode from the trees.

On my recent circle of Chile, I met a guy from Mendoza who said it was a three hour ride from there to Santiago. On the map they appear to be very closs, so I set out optimistically and leisurely at about 4.30 for Santiago.

The road across the Andes is long, twisty, and cold. The highest it gets is about 10,000 feet, and above the road are jagged peaks, many snow covered. There is plenty of runoff from the snowpack, and because the Andes are relatively new, is is full of mud and rocks. Much of it runs across the road in places. There are a lot of tunnels, and relatively few guardrails.

I was a bit conderned after going through one of the long tunnels and seeing a sign that said ¨Welcome to Chile¨ because I hadn´t seen the Argentine border crossing, and it has been my experience that Chile and Argentina like to leave enough space between their two countries to fit their entire armies, should the need arise. While passing through the tunnel, I did wonder how many times both sides have planned to blow it up. Luckily, the Argentines and Chileans
share a building on the Chile side of the line. So I was able to go to window 1, then 2, then 3, then 6, back to 3, then 4, then 5, back to 4 because 5 said 4 did something wrong, outside to have my bike and luggage inspected, then to the guard at the side of the road, then back to 1, then to 2 then back to the guard at the side of the road and off to Santiago.

When they don´t share a building, my experience is that one side will say the other did something wrong, shrug and let you go.

The road down is a lot of numbered very tightly twisting turns, where it is apparently customary for trucks to see who can get up or down the fastest. There is a surprising amount of passing on the road, and trucks so long they have to drift the back end around a corner. And of course, no guardrails. At the top, before you make the descent, there is a pile of twisted cars they have pulled up out of various places, perhaps to serve as an example, but surprisingly,
or alarmingly, no trucks.

If I find the guy who told me it was a three hour trip, he may disappear. After five hours between Melargue and Mendoza, I enjoyed another seven on the bike, and arrived in Santiago at 10.30, exhausted and in need of a shower.