November 19, 2018 – November 23, 2018

When I had dreamed about this trip, I had romantic visions of us visiting cities like Santiago. I pictured us getting a bit dressed up, visiting museums, churches and parks, then heading out for a late night dinner, maybe on a patio with a full moon and soft music playing in the background. But after visiting many colonial cities on this trip, to tell the truth, they are starting to all look alike.  In addition, it is hard to “clean up” nicely when you live in a small camper with no bathroom and most of your cloths are dirty and/or slowly deteriorating from harsh laundry service.  Also big cities can be quite a challenge with our truck and the dog….we want safe and secure parking that we can fit into and Piper is not always welcome at all establishments (What!  I know!  They just don’t know her like we do).  That being said, it seemed a shame to be so close to city such as Santiago and not visit…in we went.

The streets of Santiago were nice and wide and the traffic was surprisingly mild.  Still we had our usual challenges finding a place for the truck. We tried a recommended parking area but when we arrived the place was packed and the spaces were narrow and short. So, we continued on and ended up in a gated parking area where we “camped” for our time in the city. Nothing glamorous, really not even that cheap, with off duty tour buses rolling in and out each evening and morning but it was safe, there was a toilet, and it was close to the SAG office, where we needed to do paperwork in order to be allowed to take Piper into Argentina.

We spent our days chasing down “to do” list items. We needed filters and oil for the truck, we needed a Health Certificate from a vet for Piper, then we needed to go to the SAG office to get her border paperwork, then we needed to return to the vet as he had not completed the forms correctly.  And finally, we also got my camera repaired.  We did some tourist things as well.  We made it to the main plaza of the city, a large popular grassy park with benches, statues and fountains, and we climbed up the small Cerro Santa Lucia for some views of the surrounding mountains and the downtown area.

One evening we went for some appetizers at a seafood restaurant and then ended up at a British pub for a beer and a Chilean version of poutine.

Chores completed and the timer ticking once again on Piper’s documentation, we did one final grocery shop, then headed out of town towards the border with Argentina.

There are two options for this border crossing into Argentina….the first is the main route, which takes you across the border on a paved highway through a tunnel carved into the mountain below the divide. The second option is a winding gravel road known as “el caracol”, the snail, which takes you up and over a high mountain pass….any guesses on which one we opted for?