Andes crossing - Santiago to Mendoza

Crossing the border from Chile to Argentina by road through the Andes overnight was a little arduous, and having a 2 hour delay waiting at the bus station didn't help, but bought some visual rewards in the early hours of the morning with the rising if the sun. Getting out of the bus for border processing high up in the Andes at about 3am is a surreal experience, the air is crisp and it's extremely cold - I'm layered up with clothing including my gore-tex jacket. Jill and I held the customs line up which was a little awkward, I think this was due to our reciprocity fee paperwork. Checking of this paper work at borders other than Ministro Pistarini Airport has only been in place for about a week, and as we'd already crossed in and out of the Argentinian border once already I think the they were trying to work out the validity of our multiple crossings and the correct days remaining as this is our second entry into the country.
There are many older tradition style villages and houses along the road, although I didn't take any pictures through the not so pristine bus window. We arrive at Mendoza at about 9am, the sun is belting down, it's already very warm so the first thing I need to do is strip out of my layers of clothing and prepare for a look around the city.





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