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Las Flores

310 bytes added, 04:27, 7 January 2017
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=== West towards [[La Serena]] in [[Chile]] ===
'''This border is not only open year roundbetween December and April, and will close when weather doesn't allow for safe crossing. Check before you go. On normal days, it is open between 7:00 in the morning and 17:00 in the afternoon.'''
This is the (in)famous '''''Paso Agua Negra''''' border crossing between Argentina and Chile. More than 100 km of it is dirt track (''ripios'') and there's a total distance of 180 km between border checks. The pass and highest point on the road lies at 4.780 meters above sea level. Depending on your history with mountains, you might get altitude (''altura'') sickness. There's many glaciers in between and some impressive ice formations. They are going to blast a long tunnel through the mountain, so they can keep the border open year round and lighten the traffic load of the '''''Paso Internacional Los Libertadores''''' south of this one in [[Mendoza]] province. As long as Chile doesn't give it's OK for the tunnel, it will remain the beautifully brutal road it is now.
Be proactive with asking for rides, as the stream of cars thins out towards the afternoon. Just driving the crossing will take three hours, not counting the myriad hours lost waiting for slow border people to check everything. [[User:MOAH|Mind of a Hitchhiker]] spent three hours at the Chilean side of the border (named Juntas del Toro) and only got picked up again by her original drivers who went through customs 3 hours later. This was during the height of the summer holidays in early January 2017.
 
At immigration and customs in Las Flores, your drivers will receive a little form with how many passengers there are in the car. Make sure you're on that form, as there's some military dudes 50 km from the border check whose only job it is to check this paper and match the number of people.
A backup plan for the Chilean side of the border crossing is asking the staff to give you a lift. The Chilean border complex Juntas del Toro has loads of people working there in shifts, so there's both people coming in and leaving who don't have their cars packed full. Even when they stole all your veggies, being nice to them pays off.

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