When you are planning a trip to anywhere in the world, googling away, reading blogs, there is a plefora of tales and stories out there. 

Back in February last year I recall reading one, it was a couple of who were traveling from Santiago to Mendoza. 

They were sharing, their experience of getting a bus over the high Andes. 

They spoke of jaw dropping, mesmerising views, stunning scenery and gargantuan drops.

They also spoke, with a slight smug tone, how they had, through matticulous planning and careful consideration managed to secure seats, at the front upstairs.  In hindsite they sounded a bit like dicks, but at the time I swallowed it, hook, line and sinker.

That level of sensationalism really hacks me off.  Stuff doesn't have to be the best to enjoy yourself.

Everyone knows someone who, just back for their holidays declares that, the humous is Greece is the best they have ever tasted,  the puggies in Vegas are awesome, far better than the ones in the arcade or you have to have a BBQ in Australia for the real experience.  

It's just not necessary. 

Coincidently, Argentinians know their way round a BBQ pretty good but who am I to say if it is the best, sometimes the best BBQ's is just about having a laugh, celebrating the one day of summer and drinking 12 of those wee stubby bottles of beer.

We had to do this journey though, it seemed special, what our trip was all about.

We probably left it a bit late for the front seats and following our visit to the station, we were glad to have found the ticket office and get out alive.

Perhaps a slight exaggeration, however it was a bit a stressful experience. 

We sneaked in the visit on route to the funfair and the kids were going off their nuts displaying a level of impatience that I had never seen before.  Accusations of miss selling were being banded about and if had 1000 Chilean Pesos for the number of times that Axel said 'we are never going to get on the Tsunami', I would be a very rich man.

We did get good seats though, on a lovely bus.    No WIFI but you could charge your phone and the bus was 'con servicio'.

You get free sandwiches, snacks and drinks etc delivered to your seat by a friendly host. Think a young guy walking up the aisle with a squashed 2ltr bottle of sprite, topping up your polystyrene cup, rather than a trolley being wheeled past and 'any drinks or snacks' belting out.

The road itself, zig zaps up the mountain towards the Los Libertadores tunnel.  All in the shadow of Cerro Aconcagua. The views just grow and grow, the peaks and drops get higher and higher and the air gets thinner and thinner.

At a height of over 3000mtrs and over 3kms long the centre of the tunnel marks the border between Chile and Argentina. 

The tunnel opened in 1980 and given the height it is somewhat of an engineering mastering.  Pre 1980 you could still drive to cross the border here, however there was additional hassle of a further 65 crossback, hairpin bands to negotiate.

One frustration is that it is very difficult to get good photos and capture the sheer enormity and scale of the surrounding landscape. There is a train of thought, why bother, just sit back and enjoy. 

This is not that easy though, Cerro Aconcagua is the highest mountain outside Asia and rises to a height of 6961 metres.  It is ginormous. 

To put its size into perspective it is over 27 times the height of Arthur's Seat or over 17 laps of running tracks, if you prefer you stats to have a sporting twist.

After about 4hrs of travel we finally reached the border.

First impressions was, shit, it is really really busy, how long is this going to take? 

The answer was about 3hrs.

The views were stunning though and for the first twenty minutes, I really appreciated them and all the hanging around.

We were allowed to get off the bus though and  Jessica and Edith headed off on a mission to find the toilets. 

Ten minutes later they were back.

Mission unsuccessful, at the time I didn't really understand how they couldn't find it.  I did ask.  There's just too many people, not sure where they are, can you go for a look? was the reply.

Off I went, I did find them, through the huge queues of cars, buses, lorries and people.  I even took the opportunity to use the said facilties.  They were actually pretty rank, however that that is not particularly relevant at this point.

On the way back I got a further insight into why they didn't find them.

I wasn't walking fast, in fact I was pretty much doddling, there was no rush, we were going to be here for ages. 

When I got back to the bus I was out of breath, dizzy and totally knackered.

Altitiude Sickness.

This is pretty unpleasant stuff and something we will need to be aware of in the future.  

It totally floors you, feels you have been doing some serious cardiovascular exercise, in reality, all you have done is saunter across a car park.

We did eventually make it through, all pretty easy, if boring and we were heading down the other side of the mountain.

For a second time Mendoza beconned.

The journey was great, the vivid colours in the peaks stood out.  Some orange, some grey, nice waterfalls, that sort of thing.

Something that stood out for me was conflux of two rivers.  One was distinctly orange in colour, one was white.  I tracked them down mountain and at the point they finally met, I attempted a photo. 

Will need to check and see if by, some sort of miracle the photo does the scene justice - I very much doubt it will though.

At around 7pm, after 9hrs on the road we finally reached Mendoza.

It is a beautiful city, it is good to be back, however this is a fleeting visit.

We are really just here for supplies.

First up SIM cards.

In Chile the purchasing of SIM cards was one of the hardest transactions I have ever been involved in, it took forever.  We could have bought a car back home in the same time.

Thankfully this time, it was easy, the staff were brilliant.  My niece works in a mobile phone shop back home and when she was over at Christmas she said that they always have people coming in, poor English, not sure what they want etc.

She says they have them in and out in no time.  Give them a card with a bit of data and a special facebook/social media option and send them on their way.

This is what we wanted and exactly what we got.  Ten minutes is all it took, happy days.

We also needed some new clothing.

The heat here is really ramping up.  It was time for me to take the bold step and wear a 'wife beater' esq vest.  

Not an easy decision, but what am I supposed to do.  It is absolutely roasting.

So, other than sandles for the kids (the crocs were raising complaints of itchy feet) and a wee visit to a pavement cafe restaurant that we had been to before. 

We were ready to go.

A cheeky 13hr overnight bus ride and we would be in Tucuman. Lorne