Costs pp: bus Mendoza to Santiago 75p. Metro 460p.
14/9 We took a day bus this time, of course because the terrain we were to cover promised to be amazing and it fulfilled our hopes. We travelled in front seats east through the countryside and up into the mountains. We didn't seem to climb much but must have but mostly travelled thru a valley surrounded by huge snow covered peaks. There was a railway line running beside the road but it is no longer used. In the centre of the pass we saw some ski-fields and people out skiing really close to the road.
The frontier was in the middle of a 3km tunnel and the customs on the other side. We had to get rid of any fruit etc like coming into NZ but had no problems going thru and back on the bus for a couple of hours trip to Santiago.
We arrived about 6.30pm and from the terminal walked to the metro and managed to catch the metro changing once to the station where Pamela (the friend with whom we are to stay) met us. The first train was no bother, not many people but when we changed the second station was chocka with people and we had to squeeze on with our huge packs but people were kind and helpful.
Pamela had lived in NZ when in her early teens with Maxine in Rotorua as an exchange student for a year. She is a lovely person who works as a freelance interpreter (english/spanish). Christian (Pamelas partner) had cooked us a wonderful meal and we were also joined by a visiting friend of his from Patagonia who Christian hadn't seen since primary school. It was a lovely evening.
15/9 This day was spent doing our washing, all of it! It was a big cleanup time, and we also backed up our pics to DVD. Carol rang the British Embassy and found out that they only take passport applications from 11am to 12.20pm each day.
16/9 Next day we headed off early to get Kent a passport photo and go to the embassy. No problem there except that he had no permanent address to state in Chile. The passport will take up to 3 weeks to process and Pamela and Christian are planning to head south to Pucon in the Lake District for the weekend taking us with them so we have decided to carry on from there and continue south to Patagonia picking up the passport on our return.
We left that afternoon for a 5 hour drive to Challin where Christians mother lives who welcomed us into her home to stay the night.
