February 6 will be remembered as one of tithe most spectacular days of this trip.It was on this day that we crossed the Andes by land.

It started with a wake-up call at 6am, and checking out at 7. I was surprised to see that there was a charge for our lunch on the bill as we had had lunch in the club lounge and we were never presented a menu or bill and two staffers told us it was free for plats. The front desk associate said that was not the case and I wasn't in the mood to argue. Plus, given the amount we ate and drank the $35US equivalent charge was ok.

Our cab got us to the bus station in under 5 minutes where, just as in Buenos Aires our bus got posted only 10 minutes before our scheduled 7:30am departure. Efficiency was not a high point on this departure and we did not pull out of Mendoza until 7:51, 21 minutes late.

We took Andesmar again, and were on their semi-cama service, which was basically a double decker Greyhound bus. Again, we had secured seats on the top deck in the front row so we had a panoramic view of what was to come.

Mendoza is nothing to talk about but once we entered the Andes the scenery was spectacular. Tall mountains, and very arid like the mountains in New Mexico. The road was paved, but only two lanes and a double striped center line meant nothing to anyone, including our bus driver.

At about 11am we reached the Chile/Argentina customs stop where inefficiency was in great force. First we had to line up at an Argentine line where we got stamped out, then move next to a Chilean line where we got stamped in, then go outside to collect our "checked luggage" and put it through x-rays, and then, finally, submit to a personal inspection of our carry-on bags and person. I much enjoyed the personal inspection as it was carried out by a cute beagle, and since Mrs. Dcstudent and I own 3 beagles it was nice.

Two hours after stopping we were again on our way and immediately started down 27, yes 27, switchbacks all in a row. It was amazing and we got some cool pictures we will post to our Flickr account as soon as we get home. There were no guardrails and especially when we overtook vehicles by driving on the wrong side of the road, on a switchback, on a road barely two lanes wide...well lets just say the experience was something else! Indeed on the drive into Santiago we passed a major accident where a tractor trailer had...taken a tumble and there were all kind of police and highway workers directing traffic and cleaning up.

We arrived in Santiago over two hours late (about 4:30pm, 2:30pm New York time) and were met upon exit by one of my closest friends who we would be staying with these next few days.