January 17, 2017
On my last day in Chile, I decided to leave Santiago and drive as high into the nearby Andes Mountains as I could, to the border with Argentina.
![](https://www.patrickchovanec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/C17cVAAW8AUnvzx-1200x900.jpeg)
Passing through the town of Los Andes, Chile, on the way to … the Andes.
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The road kept going higher and higher into the Andes, but at least so far it was all paved.
![](https://www.patrickchovanec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/C2X9uaqVIAQ15qp.jpeg)
Chilean customs check point high in the Andes, at the border crossing to Argentina. You are now leaving Chile … well, sort of.
![](https://www.patrickchovanec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/C2YuFlxXUAAhTFx-1.jpeg)
Sane people take the Cristo Redentor Tunnel (3080m, 10,015 ft), opened in 1980, to cross from Chile into Argentina.
![](https://www.patrickchovanec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/C2YuzHrWgAAgtmf.jpeg)
I, on the other hand, took the dirt road that climbs over the original LaCumbre pass (at 3832m, 12,752 feet).
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It is impossible to show just how terrifying this “road” was.
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The “road” over the Andes from Chile to Argentina, over the LaCumbre Pass.
![](https://www.patrickchovanec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/C2Yw9n6WgAA86by.jpeg)
At the very top of the pass is a statue of Christ, placed in 1904 at the exact border between Chile and Argentina.
![](https://www.patrickchovanec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/C2YxrCTXcAAYndU.jpeg)
View of the Argentinian side, from La Cumbre Pass in the Andes.
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The tour buses you see come from the Argentinian side, which I’m told is a far less suicidal climb.
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My momentary step into Argentina, at the top of the Andes.
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At this point, I am really not looking forward to going back down the same way I came up.
![](https://www.patrickchovanec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/C2YzvMFWEAQyG1j.jpeg)
he way back down (La Cumbre Pass, Chilean side).
![](https://www.patrickchovanec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/C2Y0Q7-WQAA8hCY.jpeg)
People are asking if I trusted the driver. I was the driver. So no.
![](https://www.patrickchovanec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/C2Y0x_oXEAAugMg.jpeg)
Yes, that is a cliff. But what a view, eh? (I tried not to look).
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n 1817, San Martin lost 1/3 of his men and 1/2 of his horses crossing this and another pass at same time of year.
![](https://www.patrickchovanec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/C2Y2zIgWEAIYmUz.jpeg)
After crossing the Andes from Argentina, San Martin’s army defeated the Spanish at Chacabuco, Chile:
![](https://www.patrickchovanec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/C2Y3e-IXgAAlBk3.jpeg)
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