We left the flatter wine lands and climbed steeply with ever present snow capped peaks above us. A lake signifies the end point of the fast flowing river that is used for rafting.
A train line twists next to the road interspersed with small villages, always with a church.
The boarder post is almost on top of the world. You can feel the temperature difference with the wind blowing icy air. When we climbed out of the bus, I said that it was Chile, Mands agreed that it was cold, so I pointed our: "No, we're in Chile."
Although well organised and controlled throughout, the crossing process takes 2 hours. Chilean police and services are known for their effectiveness and non-corrupt ethics - could do with shipping them out to South Africa. Every single piece of hand luggage and larger stowed bag was security scanned and sniffed (not the efficient police, but their highly trained dogs).
Everyone passed and we were off. Chilean side is much more steep and has hair pin bends. We've only seen such roads driving up to ski resorts before. That said, it was quite fitting that there were ski lifts on the mountain next to us for the winter season.
We continued to Santiago where we'd have a much anticipated week with friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment