Hello,

I am presently setting up an nx 400 Falcon in Santiago for a tour South America. I plan to leave for the South ASAP an was looking for sugestions as for a route. My prefernce is to spend as much time as possible in the Andes. I enjoy crossing high passes and plan to trek in Torres del Paine and have all my camping gear with me.

What are your suggestions for the most scenic mountain routes. My initial impulse is to begin by crosssing to Mendoza the head south crossing the Andes as passes present themselves.

Suggestions

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India Himal, 3mo,2x; Kazak/Krygyz/Tajik, 3 mo; Kashi-Lhasa, China 219! 6 wk; Nepal, 4 days/trekked 55; Santiago-Ushuia-Cusco, 7 mo; Peru, 3 mo; Chile-Medellin 3 mo; Medillin-Arica, 3 mo

Heading south from mendoza down rt. 40 is definately better than taking the panamericana in chile the whole way down. Ideally, if you are returning to Santiago, you could go down 40 in argentina and back up the carratera austral in chile. The Carratera Austral starting at Chile Chico up to Chaiten is NOT TO BE MISSED. However, passing through Bariloche and the lakes districts on argentina's side is pretty amazing too. And El Chalten is not to be missed if you want to go hiking.

Here would be my input. Shoot over to Mendoza, head south all the way to el chalten, passing through san martin de los andes into bariloche. stick to the mountains as much as possible. The shoot over to puertos natales for Torres del Paine, then down to Ushuaia however possible. Punta Arenas in chile sucks, as does much of the chilean side of tierra del fuego. After ushuaia, if you don't want to backtrack, look for a boat that will take you to somewhere on the chilean side of the carratera austral. then head north.

Whatever, its pretty awesome any way you slice it and I feel like I am just rambling now. All I can say is do not miss the strip of road between chile chico and chaiten in chile, it is some of the best on that continent. Cheers

Couldn't agree more; way better than TdP IMHO and free!
Disagree. I think it's a fine town to spend a few days after roughing it under canvas for weeks. Porvenir, which is reached by ferry from Pta Arenas, is a lovely little town, how I imagine Ushuaia was 50 years ago before it became a hideous tourist trap (apart from Camping Rio Pipo, of course).

From Pto Natales, the Navimag boat to Pto Montt is a lot of fun. You can then explore Chiloe, Villarica, Pucon and Valdivia on your way back.

Enjoy.

Regards, Mick (in El Chalten, heading north)