Well I took a bus at 8 am from Viña del Mar and by around 2 pm we made it to the Chile-Argentina border, which conveniently sits nestled amidst the Andes Mountains. It was still pretty early in the day, and the views were gorgeous:
However, all turned awry when I presented my passport at the Chilean exit point. The police asked me for a Chilean ID card, which I told them I did not have. They then told me that within 30 days of entering Chile, I was supposed to go to the PDI (Chilean version of the FBI) and the Ministry of the Interior to register my Visa and get an ID card of some sort. Well I never did that, since neither the consulate, embassy, my Visa, the websites, nor the airport officials said anything about Visa registry. Then the police said that officially, I am an illegal alien and cannot be permitted to exit Chile until I go to the Ministry and the PDI.
It would not have been so bad if:
1. I were not 300 miles from Valparaíso
2. I were not at 2000 meters altitude in - 5 degrees Celsius weather in the Andes mountains
The Chilean police dumped me and another passenger who also couldn't get by to the Argentinian border patrol to take care of. He had no idea what to do, and told us to hitchhike a ride out of the mountains.
Well it took me and the other passenger (named Hector) about an hour to finally see a car approaching. They were headed to Los Andes and Santiago, so we hopped into the car.
After we passed the Chilean checkpoint, however, it started to snow heavily. A blizzard warning was issued, and we became the last batch of cars allowed in the mountain pass. They call the blizzard "viento blanco" in Chile because everything is white and windy and you can't see a meter in front of your face.
As I sat in a car, seeing nothing but white outside, I seriously wondered when I was going to die that day.
We started talking in the car, and the couple we hitchhiked with were nice, elderly Chileans who live a bit outside of Santiago. They asked us why we weren't allowed to pass, and I told them my story.
Hector, however, had a much more interesting story. You see, he is a convicted felon, and had a record with the Chilean PDI. When he presented his ID card and the border patrol looked him up, all his crimes showed up that were not resolved, and he was turned away.
Great. Not only was I stuck in a blizzard, I was stuck in a blizzard with a convicted felon.
It took us about 3 hours to get down the mountain pass. There were multiple heart-stopping curves and iciness along the way.
Here is a picture of how the roads were:
We finally hit Los Andes, a community closest to the Andes on the Chilean side, and me and Hector (who happened to be headed for Valparaíso as well...lucky me) took a bus home.
I sat back, and was happy that I would be home in 1 hour.
HOWEVER, another complication arose. The direct high way from Los Andes to Valpo was blocked, so the bus took an alternative route, and it took 4 hours to get home.
All in all, I got home at 1 am...at the exact same location I started off at 8 am the previous day.
It was a ridiculous adventure, and I am glad to be alive and not hacked to pieces.
I am also angry at the consulate for not telling me about registering my Visa. Shit is going to hit the fan this week when I try to resolve this issue with the bureacratic annoyance in Chile and Houston...
