Mendoza to Santiago: Crossing the Andes by bike!!

We found out that we needed to get our birth certificates translated into Spanish for the wedding, and not just any Spanish, but official Argentinian Spanish, which could only happen in a few cities in Argentina. So, we decided to take the bus to Mendoza, ~500km away across the border, then ride our bikes back to Santiago, across the Andes.

This is us celebrating getting the translation done AND the fact that you can drink in public in Argentina (you can't in Chile)!

The road generally follows the Rio Mendoza to its headwaters in the Andes.

Originally, the route was a walking/mule trail for the Inca then, in the early 1900's, a rail line was put in. It went out of service in the 1980's but there is talk of reviving it.





A truck full of garlic!

An artificial lake - it was so nice to jump into after our first day of riding in 35+ weather!!

That night, we met a Canadian couple who were living in Potrerillo guiding river rafting, and they invited us to stay at their house. I had worried that us Canadians weren't as nice and generous as Argentinians, so I'm glad they proved me wrong!

The rock around there was all volcanic and really red.

A cemetary we stopped at for lunch the next day.

Some interesting advertising.

We met this amazing Argentinian couple coming the other way down from the pass, with their two year-old daughter in the trailer behind them. They had so much stuff, including a whole pannier full of diapers! But they'd previously ridden from Ushuia to Alaska, so it seemed like they could handle it.

The following day we stopped for lunch in a little one horse town called Los Penitentes.



There a lot of little altars alongside the road with all these bottles of water surrounding them. People believe that by leaving water there, it becomes holy. I hope I'm not going to hell for making a mental note that these would be a good emergency water source.


The "Puente del Inca" or Incan bridge is a natural stone bridge that formed itself over this river. The building is the remains of a spa that used to be there in the 40's.

Aconcogua, at 6959m, is the tallest mountain outside of the Himalayas.

Right around here, the wind started to really pick up. And I thought that I knew what a bad headwind was before! The last 20km up to the pass took us three hours.

The hostel we stayed in at the pass claims to be the highest hostel/refugio in the world. At 3200m, it was the highest I had ever been, so it was also the highest meal I'd ever had, the highest shower I'd ever taken, etc., etc. The joke just never got old...

The view at the pass.
Near the top of the pass, there is a 4km long tunnel through the mountains that saves everyone from having to climb another 1000m higher! The tunnel was originally built for the train.

Tightening all my bolts before we start descending.
Crossing back into Chile.

Guess how much fun this was??!! We made it the whole rest of the way home in one day, and I swear I only pedaled about five times.