Puente Del Inca

After a fairly long and uncomfortable bus journey through the Andes we finally arrived in Puenta del Inca. We had a slight problem in that it was about 10.30 at night, pitch dark and we had no accomodation. We ended up having to settle for an expensive room in the first place we found. We then got our first taste of the difficulty of breathing at altitude. Puenta is about 2,700 metres and some of the places we're visiting in the next two months are way higher than that so we may as well get used to it. It was particularly difficult the next day when we hiked over that death trap of a railway bridge and along the mountain on the other side to get down to the Inca bridge. We had to do this as the natural sulpher bridge was closed to the public after very heavy snowfall last winter. We were gasping for oxygen that wasn't there and actually had to stop along the way even though it wasn't even that far.
After we were busted by the pesky Park Rangers we were escorted back to the town and then we decided we'd head for Chile rather than go back to Mendoza. The only problem was that we only had 100 pesos between us and the bus fare was 110. Given that the town (and I use that term very loosely) consisted of a couple of small hostels and about three other completely run down buildings, an ATM wasn't an option. In the end we managed to bum 10 pesos off the guy who managed the place we had stayed in with an arrangement to pay him back on our Visa bill for lunch. Coming to this arrangement was made a lot more difficult with the language barrier. Unbelievably sound of him though.
We passed the rest of the afternoon with plenty of wine for lunch (there was nothing else to do) and then another visit to the railway bridge for photos. The hostel manager then allowed us to pay for a few beers on credit card while we waited for our bus. One last beautiful taste of Quilmes. That's one hell of a beer they've got going on there.
The trip to Santiago was made very pleasant as we had the company of two hot Chileans who were heading back home after holidays in Rio. They were far more friendly and willing to talk to gringos than Argentianians were. We stayed in Santiago for just one night as we felt it would be foolish not to head straight to the beach for a couple of days. We're really slumming it now as we're staying in possibly the dingiest place of all time. I've no doubt that the building would fail any sort of health inspection. It's cheap though, which is more than I can say for the rest of Chile. The wine is brilliant here though - better than Argentina. No Quilmes though which is a savage blow. We're going back to Santiago tomorrow and then we head our separate ways for a couple of weeks on Sunday or Monday. Roy's off to Easter Island and I'm planning on going to northern Chile or else straight to Bolivia. The amount of stuff to do in Bolivia and then Peru is frightening. The next two months plus of the trip could end up being the best of all....