Border run

Because I had accidentally rejected a job that came with a Chile visa, I´m left with only a 90 day tourist visa. Two weekends ago, I realized that I was at day 84 of 90. The quickest and easiest way to renew the visa is to make a short trip to Argentina. For this reason, I traveled to Mendoza, Argentina early last week. I had to be back in Santiago for an English lesson Friday morning, so my trip would only be from Tuesday night to Thursday morning - one full day in Mendoza. Here´s how that went down:

First of all, I thought I had this whole bus-riding thing down after the first Viña del Mar debacle and another, more successful trip, a couple weeks later.  The process seemed to go well enough at first. I went to the station, asked questions and got answers (and even translated for an asian girl who didn´t speak Spanish), decided which bus I would take at what time, and bought the ticket. All good so far.

When I started to board the 3:30pm bus for Mendoza on Tuesday, I discovered that my ticket had been issued for Monday. Fail. After a short, stern conversation with the attendant in the station, I was able to exchange the ticket with a modest fee. Semi-success. The trip went pretty well for awhile after that. I was able to read a couple sections of  "Emotional Intelligence" by Daniel Goldman. My copy was in Spanish and only showed Spanish language publication sites. I believe it´s available in English, however. If you want to learn more about how different parts of the human brain function, check it out. Back to the story, everything was going fine for the first three hours or so. We made it to the base of the Andes mountains.

There, it was expected that we would have a two-hour wait to be able to cross. There is a lot of construction in the winding road and only one lane is open at a time. Half of the day is reserved for Chile to Argentina travel and the return trip is open at a different time. That two-hour wait turned into something more of a six-hour wait. At least we were able to get up and walk around. The bus wasn´t extremely uncomfortable either.

Let´s jump ahead a bit. I arrived at 4am at the bus terminal, exchanged some Chilean pesos, CLP, for ARS, Argentinian pesos ($1 USD = $472.30 CLP = $5.11 ARS) and went to where I would be staying. I rested a bit and awoke later Wednesday morning to my first (and only) day in Mendoza.

A modern Argentinian bidet

The first thing I noticed was the additional micro tub in the bathroom. Bidets, as they are called, originated in Europe but are very popular in South American countries such as Argentina and Uruguay.  In fact, they can be found in higher end modern luxury hotels as well as in old homes. I didn´t ask my host for a demonstration, but rather did some research online. The free wifi at McDonald´s helped me learn some of the new city but wouldn´t tell me anything about this bathroom fixture. For some reason, a search term containing the word "bidet" is blocked in many places in the country. How strange. Anyway, there is free wifi among one of Mendoza´s main streets, San Martin. Check it out if you go there.

Danger. Don´t fall in. 

Unfortunately, there are also many large ditches that run along this street. The Spanish word for trench is "zanja". I found myself using it just because I liked how it sounded. As you can imagine, they are designed so that water runs through them. They are not covered and look a little dangerous to me. I almost fell in one while I was waiting on a stop light to change. As with many Central and South American places that I have visited, it is VERY important to keep an eye on where you are stepping. The sidewalk is not usually even, cars run wild, and Mendoza puts trenches in the way for you to jump over or avoid. Good luck.

Mendoza zanja

More regarding the streets of Mendoza - I noticed that the cars were generally not as new as in Santiago and other heavily populated places in Chile. Someone told me that this is because of the higher taxes taken by the Argentinian government - something to look in to if you´re thinking about moving there.

Zanjas everywhere

Taxis were different models than those used in Chile but they have similar "micros" as they are called. A micro is a bus used for public transportation. They can be quite large. I often want to call them "maxis" instead of "micros". I don´t think that would fly here. Check out the link below for a video of buses moving through traffic as if they were worms navigating a swarm of ants. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWBdPc4Ft8k

One thing that Mendoza had that I hadn´t seen in Santiago is electric street cars. At least, I think they were electric. They were connected to a cable above the street.

Typical house keys

As for the housing in the city, it seemed to be pretty similar (but not as modern in general) to Santiago. Perhaps the spaces were a little bigger as well. I stayed in an area with not many high rises. This building had nine floors, I think. The elevator had a door on the outside that each rider opened and closed themselves. One time, I found myself waiting for the car to arrive and wondering what was going on. Ooops, I just had to open the door. Keep this in mind if you see handles on elevators.

Elevator

Anyway, that´s about it for my experience in Mendoza. I walked the streets looking for something to do and didn´t find out that there was a zoo in the city until much later that night. By that time it was closed. I had to leave the next morning so I didn´t get to go. Maybe next time.

Luckily the bus ride back went a little better than the trip there. I´m going to leave out the part about losing my ticket in customs and having to fight with the bus company to allow me to pay for another one. Geez-ca-geez.

Steer clear of these

The larger bus companies sometimes try to make trips on long bus rides more exciting. Our "bus attendant" (if he can be called that) on the way back was very outgoing. He stood up to give an introduction of the bus, an orientation on the trip, and advise us on safety precautions. Unlike in an airplane, it is not expected that you sit back and pay attention. Think of it more as a Rocky Horror Picture show viewing party. He who makes the most/funniest comments wins. I wouldn´t advise throwing popcorn or getting up to dance, however.

The bus attendant typically visits the cabin to talk to people, help with customs forms, and ask for donations. Monies collected in the bus go towards two things:

Aduana - customs. 

1. Bribing the border officials for a quick trip through customs. Apparently a border crossing can be like a trip on the metro - a Russian Roulette. You never know what you´re going to get. A donation generally helps to expedite the process. It seems that our donation was acceptable on the trip to Argentina. We didn´t have near as much luck on the return trip. The process was much more involved and intimidating. I´m told that this is normal when entering Chile. Be prepared for an interrogation worse than in the airport if you travel by bus. Watch an episode of  "Locked up Abroad" to be ready for what you might encounter.

Ditch in disguise

2. Showing the motormen that you had a good time. Some try harder than others to make the trip enjoyable. Feel free to ask questions and get to know the driver and other helpers on these trips. Tipping is appreciated as well.

I wonder if they change this sign to a guy wearing pants in the winter.

In the end, I spent as much time traveling in a bus as I did in the city of Mendoza. Maybe one day I´ll go back and give it another look. I´m thinking Buenos Aires for my next trip though. Stay tuned.

Safely back home in the Santiago Metro