Ruta 40 runs from northern Argentina all the way south to Patagonia along the Andes mountains. It has it all - the desert, mountains, lakes, rivers and most of all so many kilometers of nothing but nature.

From Jeff’s farm, we decided to take the less travelled road and hitchhike to San Martin de los Andes along the ruta 40. We took a cheap bus to the last town in Mendoza province, Malargüe, from which it was some 400km to the next town along the ruta 40. There were no buses doing this segment, we had to hitchhike.

Part 1: Chos Malal

Thankfully, it was really easy as in less than 20min, a guy with a trolley pulled over and told us he’s going all the way to Chos Malal! The asphalt soon ended, now we understood why no buses take this road - it’s 400km of dirt road. Our driver told us this road was supposed to be paved since 15 years ago and he complained about how expensive it is to build infrastructure in Argentina. Most money gets eaten up by corruption - “they have a budget for 100km, but the company builds only 20km and leaves”. We were discussing mainly corrupted politics, problems with agriculture or some cultural differences. All Argentinians complain a lot about their government, even though it has improved.

While the conversation was interesting, the sceneries were absolutely incredible. Ruta 40 carved its way along Rio Grande, under and around the Andes mountains, through green valleys or through the desert. In my head, I was thinking about kayaking and cycling this bit of the road, it would be such an adventure! We crossed only a few villages or rather settlements. There was no cell signal nor was it easy to find help in case of a car breakdown. In the opposite direction, there was a broken down Ford waiting for some help, which could only come from those who pass along, you had no means of calling SOS.. They were lucky as our driver knew how to fix the engine and soon the Ford was back on the road! The sun was setting down, tinting mountains and valleys orange, before the moon took over and let the mountains shine white. We arrived to Chos Malal at 11pm, and camped by the river. It wasn’t such a calm night, there were some cars passing by all the time..

Part 2: The Bus

We started the next morning with some shit coffee and fruits. At 9am, we were by the side of the road again and got super lucky because a camper bus pulled over - the dream ride. Pablo and Sylvia were both teachers and each summer they went down to Patagonia with the bus with their family, taking some travelers along.. We first drove through the desert, with the highlight being a huge Chinese satellite. Eventually, the road led us to Zapala, where we were invited to have lunch with the family and we had really tasty pasta with cheese, so nice from them!

In Zapala, Pablo pulled over for a group of three hitchhikers and only let them in under the condition they were vegetarian as he didn’t want to share his chicken with any more people. It was full house, 9 people, and Pablo drove the bus to the ruta 46, showing us some even more spectacular landscapes. We learned our 3 new friends are going to volunteer in NP Lanín for a month of their summer holidays, they were all really nice and studied Earth Sciences in Mendoza. Meanwhile, we went through green valleys, mountains, endemic trees from the age of dinosaurs and as we made it over the hill, the spectacular Volcán Lanín appeared in our sight.

We spent the night by a river, swimming and canoeing before Pablo made fire to cook chicken, potatoes and onions together in a big saucepan. It was heaven for our taste buds,but what really made this night special was sitting around the fire with Argentinian travellers, sharing our culture, experiences and stories. This is why I like to travel, it’s the amazing people you meet along who make the trip so much better and unforgettable.