BEESANDTOES

Day 1 - Santiago (Chile) to Upsallata (Argentina)

Free from the traffic and pollution of Santiago, it was a breath of fresh air to cruise along the North-bound highway of the Chilean countryside. With nothing but arid hills and massive snow covered peaks all around we were exactly where we wanted to be. Finally, on the road. 

Mendoza, Argentina, across the Andes, was our first anticipated stop, a mere 500 km away. But like we would soon come to learn, things never really turn out according to plan when on the road in a foreign country. We now follow the simple notion - don't expect anything, just drive. 

At 9pm, after a spectacular winding road up through the Andes, we finally reached the Argentinian border where three long queues of cars, all with their engines turned off, waited to get through customs. 2 hours and an expensive sandwich later it was our turn. Considering we had done all the necessary paperwork in Santiago, we were pretty confident at the fluid border crossing into Argentina. It was everything but that. The Argentinian customs were great, a smile, a stamp and we were set. However the Chilean customs were a nightmare. Considering it was not the same person taking the vehicule out of the country (since we had just recently bought the car in Chile) they refused to let us go through telling us we had to drive back to another customs office 30mins away to deal with the chief in person. At 11pm, tired and having just driven for 3 hours, that was clearly out of the question.

Somehow, after about 40 minutes of negotiation and explanations, we managed to work our way around it and get the stamp we needed to get through. 

Bienvenidos en Argentina!

Day 2 - Upsallata to Mendoza

Having crossed the border so late last night, we ended up finding ourselves a cozy dead end in Upsallata (halfway between the border and Mendoza) to park the car for the night. It was our first night in our new rooftop tent! Cozy, exciting and surprisingly very comfortable.

We woke up to discover the perfect spot we had picked out (in the dark) the night before. Tall trees provided the much needed morning shade (avoiding an uncomfortable and sweaty wake up), fields with grazing horses provided the calm and space, and in the distance the appeasing mountains completed the scene.

We started by sorting out all our gear that we still had packed in our bags into the various plastic boxes that serve as storage in the car. After re-organising the whole interior to our convenience we headed east towards Mendoza. 

The drive was absolutely mind blowing. The winding road with its thick double yellow line in the middle followed the river, twisting its way through an arid rocky landscape. All around the impressive Andes mountains enrobed in white dominated the horizon. One word filled our mouths after every curve: Wow!

Upon reaching Mendoza, a much needed brunch imposed itself at the Mercadito restaurant. A delicious meal calmed our senses and gave way to a chilled afternoon in the various cafés of downtown Mendoza where we caught up on our virtual lives. The news of the shootings in Paris quickly overwhelmed us and we tried to get in touch with all our dear friends and family across the Atlantic. Luckily everyone we knew was safe. It didn’t take anything away from our mutual disbelief. I went off to scout for a place to spend the night in order to get my mind off the shocking news. 

I found a beautiful spot in the middle of the famous Parque General San Martin. 

By the time we went back to set up camp (around midnight) there was a huge crowd of people all over the park. Cars with the doors wide open spitting out all kinds of different latino tunes. Needless to say saturday night in the Parque General San Martin is not the ideal resting place. We packed up and ended up parking along what seemed to be a calmer street of downtown Mendoza. Probably one of the worst nights of my life. Noisy (each time a truck drove by it felt like it was driving through our bed), bright (a light post happening to shine right above the car), heavy hearted, and the eternally conflictual combination of heat and mosquitoes. 

Day 3 - Mendoza to San Juan

Waking up is not a problem when you never found sleep. We drove back to the park hoping to see its calmer facade. Fair enough, this time the sunday morning actives were out - rowers (on the large stretch of lake), runners etc… a very different crowd from the drug and alcohol infested hearts of the night before. We set up our camping table and chairs and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast overlooking the lake. We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon at the Aldea Cafe raving on human interconnection and the loss of humanity  (cf. Morning Tears). The very friendly staff of the Aldea Café gave us the much needed hope in human goodness and positivity.

By 3pm we took off towards San Juan. We drove in silence. 

That night we set up camp in the Parque de los Poetas (10km out of town), with a similar atmosphere to the one in Mendoza the night before but we were hopeful it would calm down by sundown (it’s sunday evening for crying out loud!!! Don’t you all work in the morning?). Apparently most of them do, but the night was still accompanied by a loud latino-based soundtrack coming from a group of teenagers that arrived at 11pm and set up there “party-car" a stone’s throw away from our camp. Another rough night...