Initially, we planned to make this journey overnight since we read up that it was around a 9-hour trip. However, whilst on the Uyuni Salt Flats tour, we met an Argentinian traveler who recommended we do the trip in day time instead since the landscapes were beautiful and we were not disappointed. When we arrived at Valparaiso, we bought bus tickets for Mendoza leaving the following day at 8.30 AM costing 15,000 CLP1 each. The bus departs from the main terminal and it takes about 2 hours 30 minutes to reach the Chilean customs control point at the border. On the way here, the bus goes up meandering roads to climb up the Andes mountain. It starts with rocky mountains but then we start to see some snow and by the time we get to the top, the landscape is completely white covered in snow. There was a queue of vehicles at the customs stop so it took some time to get the Chilean exit stamp. From here it was then another 20 minutes to reach the Argentinian customs control point.
Again there was a queue here so we had some time to leave the bus and take some pictures. Once it was our turn to go through customs, the group from the bus is put in a queue. The officials unload bags from the bus and inspect some at random. If you see your bag on a table, then you have to approach the customs official as they go through your bag. Otherwise, you just pick up your bag from the pile it’s left in and proceed to get your entry stamp. Once the group is back on the bus, we continue to Mendoza. Again the landscape of the Andes here is beautiful as we descend the meandering roads. It takes about 2 hours 30 minutes to get to Mendoza and we arrived at around 5 PM.
