i always dread border crossings….in my experience, they’re ugly, confusing and sometimes expensive. i’m always surprised just how bad of a welcome mat they are for the countries. chile, however, has had really good crossings. up north, the crossing was modern (they scanned my car) and efficient (it took under an hour). and today, well….it may be the best border crossing in the world. let me try to take you through it:

the closest town to the aduana (immigration) is the quaint little town of entre lagos about 50km away. as you near the border, you enter the national park puyehue….which is a nice thick forest. then, you reach the chilean aduana, which looks more like a park ranger station. i entered, they gave me a small slip of paper and i got two stamps….5 minutes later and i was done. the no-man’s land between the two aduanas (about 20miles) is a really stunning landscape. i even got out of the car a few times to walk a bit and take some pictures. all of the snow was pristine (it’s a huge park, and not many people stop here) and you could hear the faint trickle of streams in the distance. the argentinian border is equally calm — one of the officers was even trying to set me up with his coworker…a young argentinian woman who has never gone to patagonia….or at least i think that’s what was happening….argentinians talk funny. 20 minutes later, i was on the road again….and in one of the (if not the) nicest parks i’ve been to in my life (parque nahuel huapi). part of it was my low expectations, but the landscape is really really beautiful: huge lakes, incredible mountains, snow, trees, rock faces, etc. i would love to come back one day and trek from argentina to chile.