It seems I've only just gone to sleep and the alarm is ringing in my ear to advise me of the fact that it is time to get up. It's fair to say that I'm struggling this morning. I ended up having to turn the airconditioner on last night, as Mendoza is quite a deal warmer than Copiapo of a night, which I am not at all used to. That, combined with the lovely cold that I've got from my fellow sneezing passenger, who insisted on spraying it around the bus for 7 hours, means that it is hard to get out of bed. Not much choice though, unless I want to spend a few more days here in Mendoza. It's an attractive thought and I linger on it for a few seconds more than absolutely necessary, but in the end, push it aside and get ready for another day on a bus.
The shower in my apartment is amusingly small, measuring not much more than half a metre by half a metre, but on the plus side, there is an abundance of scaldingly hot water to get my senses moving. After packing everything and wondering about how I'm going to negotiate the exit door AND leave my key behind It's necessary to use the key to lock the door on the way out), Jorge (my host) rescues me by arriving to open the door and reclaim the key to the apartment. I say my goodbyes and am warmly thanked for my visit. Anyone visiting Mendoza and being interested in an apartment (rather than a hotel room) could do worse than stay at the "Modigliani Art & Design Suites" (Modigliani was a famous painter).
I wander off to the bus terminal with plenty of time to spare, such that I even have time to scout the bakery type shops at the bus terminal in search of something palatable for breakfast. Being South America (so it seems), all of the pastries are loaded with sugar. I settle on a couple of croissants (local name being "media luna") and a custard filled delight for which I can't recall the name, but was actually the better of the two, given the croissants were liberally dosed with sugar.
Despite a small amount of panic about missing the right bus (they're not so big on obvious signage for gringo's here), a bus eventually turns up 15 minutes or so late, with a small sign advertising it as going to Santiago, and parks in approximately the right position. I push my way forward and before long, have my bag taken from me and stashed in the cargo hold, I get my ticket checked on the bus, and it's all aboard for the return journey.
Despite being assured that the buses are actually flat out today, given all of the Chileno's returning home after their long weekend, the bus leaves only half full. I've got no one sitting next to me and no-one is sneezing yet, so the trip is looking OK. It's also quite sunny, so I've got a good chance of some scenery!
I snap away at the scenery, which is equally breathtaking heading to the west! The day is very clear, and I'd swear that there is a heap more snow on the hills than there was yesterday. As I mentioned, the peaks are much sharper here than they are to the north, and the whole vista is just stunning. As we hit the customs point, the highest point in South America, Aconcagua, is somewhere above me, but I don't know enough about it to know what it looks like. So, it's possibly in one of my photo's, but I don't really know. It's apparently a serious peak for mountain climbers, and still catches people out every now and again. I understand there has been at least one fatality there this year…
Customs and border control are again rather amusing, with no real clear sense of what to do and where to go. The people in the queue in front of me are processed quite rapidly, however when I arrive at the window, the official gets up from his seat and disappears for about five minutes with no explanation, leaving me rather bemused about the whole thing and wondering whether I should get into another queue, or whether he'll be back in 20 seconds more. One of the other officials (a relatively young girl) is busy watching a movie on her computer while dealing with customers who dare to interrupt her. Quite how she pulls that off is a mystery, given all the other officials seem to be working quite diligently – perhaps it's just that I can't see the movies they are watching…
The trip back to Santiago is somewhat uneventful, with the exception of the extraordinarily curvy section (see photos). We stop for 10 minutes at a terminal on the outskirts of town and I experience yet another of the bathroom mysteries of the world – the officially sanctioned amount of toilet paper that you will use for this visit which is handed over when you pay your money to enter. Regardless of whether you need it or not. Suffice to say, having been caught short on one occasion, the "experienced" traveler ensures that he/she has their own supply in their backpack, just in case…
I've arrived back in Santiago late in the afternoon and don't depart for Copiapo until tomorrow morning, so I wander the center of the city (again) for a while in the glorious afternoon sun, have a refreshing salad for a late lunch, enjoy an ice cream, then it's off to my apartment for the evening.
I catch up on a bit of the news and it seems that the rescue of the miners trapped at Copiapo could be happening as early as tomorrow, which is just incredible news given the original promise of having them out by Christmas. Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly, not to mention that I make it back to Copiapo in time for the fiesta!
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