Santiago to Mendoza via the Andes

Back in Santiago for a day before catching a bus to Argentina.  We went to the Mercato Central - mostly touristy restaurants, but with a pretty serious fish market attached.

Fish market

Central restaurant area.

We hear Santiago is one of the most air-polluted cities in South America, and the views don't lie.  We could finally see the Andes through the smog this day.

Some Andes overlooking Santiago

Grabbed a snack at the Vega (locals') market.

Mote Con Huesillos and a Completos hot dog

Mote Con Huesillos is a very sweet/thick drink, somewhat like iced tea, but made with big chunks of canned peaches (I had 1/2 a peach in mine) and whole barley at the bottom - hence the spoon.  Hot dogs are common in Chile, and a "Completos" has tomatoes, saurkraut and a line of mayonnaise.  Not the healthiest lunch, but filling for < $2.50 total.

Next day we caught a bus through the Andes to Mendoza, Argentina, about 7 hours total.  Comfy bus, and absolutely stunning scenery.  The Canadian Rockies are beautiful, but let's not kid ourselves, they're nowhere near as BIG as the Andes are.  The road we travelled goes over a 3500m (11,500 foot) pass.  (All photos were taken out the window of the bus.)  More info on the road here: Paso Internacional Los Libertadores

First glimpse of proper snowy peaks

Up a narrow ravine

Oh yeah, now THAT'S a mountain

After gaining a LOT of elevation, we encountered a pretty steep pass.  The road went right up it - about 30 switchbacks in a row.

Switchbacks from below - can't really see them

We just went up that - note lack of barriers

After the initial set of switchbacks, I thought we'd be at the top.  Oh no.  Plenty of switchbacks and high alpine still left. [Sarah: Each turn is numbered, curvo 1 through about 30].

Avalanche sheds

Getting close to the top.  There was a ski hill at this height, but I can't imagine plowing the road to it in the winter! [Sarah: the guidebook warns that the road will close for days at a time in the winter if they get too much snow at once.  Now I can see why!]

Once we hit the height of the road & went through the Argentine border, the mountains became really colourful and varied.  The camera didn't pick up the vibrancy of colours very well.

Those aren't cloud shadows, they're purple rocks

Faced with this much scenery, a man just has to have his Sprim

After descending for what seemed like forever, we hit a broad plain of glacial debris with an opaque, terra-cotta-coloured river running through it.  It turns out we were maybe half way down at best.

As we were coming out onto the plains east of the Andes, we could see Mount Aconcagua behind us - the highest mountain in the world outside of the Himalayas at 6962m (22,800 feet). That's 3 kilometres taller than Mt. Robson, the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies.  (Mendoza is on the desert plains, at only 750m (2500 feet) elevation.)

Mt. Aconcagua

Rolling into the flat, dry deserts around Mendoza was a bit underwhelming, but the promise of wine was fresh in our minds.  (Irrigation has allowed the area to become a renowned wine growing region, so we were ready for some Malbec!)