This last weekend we took a trip commonly know in Chile as the ‘visa run.’ Tourist visas are only valid for 90 days. To renew your visa you can pay the government of Chile $100 per person or you can leave the country and then when you re-enter, you will receive a new tourist visa. We opted to spend our $600 (actually much less than that) by traveling to Mendoza, Argentina to visit.
We went by bus. On Saturday morning we left the house at 6 am to be at the bus station by 7 am. Our bus was scheduled to leave at 7:30 am. We left a couple hours after that but we were just happy we had a bus to go on. Our bus had been hit by a car so originally they were going to put us all in vans. We were happy when they showed up with a bus! The trip to the top of the Andes was an interesting one. The landscape changed as we went. Near the top there was a series of about 30 switchbacks! The top was all rocks and sand. The rocks were smooth and shiny from the wear of snow and rain. They had big gorges in the filled with sand that spread out into what I think is called an alluvial fan. The whole time I was watching the rocks I kept thinking of Dale and how much he would enjoy seeing it. The pictures just don’t do it justice. (for those who don’t know, my brother in law, Dale, is a geology major)
Just after crossing the Chilean/Argentine border there is a border patrol station. The bus pulled in and we got in line to leave Chile. Then we stepped to the side 3 feet and got in line to enter Argentina. After getting our visas, we went through customs. They got the bags off the bus and unzipped each one and looked around a little. Then they peeked inside everyone’s purses or backpacks. After that we got back in the bus and headed downhill to Mendoza.
The Argentinian side was not as steep a slope and it opened into a big plain like area in Mendoza. One interesting thing was watching the brown river that flowed down out of the mountains. It was filled with dirt and sand from the mountainside. Then it entered a reservoir and you can see in the picture that the sand settled and the water turned from brown to a beautiful color of blue.
Sarah found us a great hotel in Mendoza. The Hotel Ritz. It was right off the main street where all the restaurants and stores were. It was an older building but it had nice, clean rooms and very soft beds! The customer service in Argentina was excellent. That evening we walked around the streets. We could have chosen from about 100 restaurants it seemed. They all offered lots of beef and wine. Those are the main products of the area. When we were seated at our tables and were looking over the menu, the waiter brought Jeff and I a wine menu. When Jeff told him we didn’t drink wine we just want to enjoy the ‘carne’ (meat) you should have seen the look on the waiters face. You could have just as well told him we were from Mars! The steak was delicious! The following week was to be a big wine festival in the city. Everyone was setting up booths and getting ready for it. Many of the booths were already set up and people walked up and down the street with a wine glass in hand. They would stop at each booth and sample their wine. They had water jugs at each booth as well so you could rinse out your glass.
The next day we got up and packed our bags. Our hotel included a very nice breakfast. Argentinian breakfast was very similar to Chiles. Sliced ham and cheese, bread, yogurt (very runny), cereal (mostly served for kids and gringos) juice and coffee. Most people put yogurt on their cereal, not milk. They also had some jam filled rolls that were good. I haven’t seen them in Chile. Chile has much better bread in my opinion. Their bread seemed very mediocre. I noticed this at the grocery store as well.
We walked about 10 minutes away to attend the Mendoza ward for sacrament meeting. It was nice. The building was a great big stake center. The ward could have fit in ¼ of it. It didn’t have air conditioning and everyone enjoyed a fan that I keep in my purse all the time now. After church we went back to the hotel. They were storing our bags for us. We changed in the bathroom there and then left our bags again. We walked all over town looking at parks, plazas and buildings. We walked and walked and walked. We were really worn out! We found a park by a grocery store so Jeff and I went in and bought some sandwiches and apples and chips and we had lunch in the park. Then we just relaxed and rested. Sarah and Josh had planned up a trip to the aquarium and the zoo. However, when we arrived in the area it looked so sad and scary we decided to leave! Josh was disappointed but he made up for it by running around in the parks.
At 10:30 that night we got on our bus and headed home. We slept until 2:00 am when we arrived at the border. We waited in a line of busses for an hour. About 3 am we got off the bus and got in line to turn in our visa’s to Argentina and get new visa’s into Chile. It was the same as before, one line for Argentina and 3 steps away, another line for Chile. After getting our visas we went through customs. Chile is much more serious about protecting what comes into their country. First all the luggage from the bus went through a security scanner. If they saw anything suspicious they would ask who owns the bag and have them come up and open it. After than we all lined up in a room with a long 2 foot wide table in front of us. Out came the search dog. He was having a great time doing his work. They put him up on the table and he ran along the table smelling each of us. He would flinch a bit if someone had cookies in their bag but he would keep going. He got to one kid and he wouldn’t leave him. He sniffed and sniffed until they took the kid out of the line and into another room. Then we all went and got back on the bus. Pretty soon, here came the dog on the bus. They let him run around and he went straight to the seat that the kid had been sitting in and wouldn’t leave that spot. Then the police came in and searched all through the seat and cushions etc. Finally they left and about 30 minutes later the kid got back on the bus and we left. He must not have had drugs with him but he surely had been using them or carrying them with him at some point.
We arrived in Santiago about 7:30 am and after riding the metro and a bus we arrived home at 8:30. We slept quite a bit that day to catch up on our sleep. All in all it was a fun experience and we are really glad we went.
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