The most spectacular mountain road in Latin America — Los Caracoles
What I love most about traveling is beautiful roads. The most epic mountain pass is Los Caracoles, on the border of Argentina and Chile.
Total inspection at the border — not even apples get through
It's also the longest border crossing in Latin America: guards unload absolutely everything from the car and bring in dogs to sniff out contraband. A huge German shepherd sniffed around the car and suddenly started barking happily. Want to know what they confiscated from me? A truly heinous offense, never to be repeated: two apples and a handful of raisins. But if you want to get through borders faster, there are some life hacks.
Why you can't bring fruit into Chile from Argentina
Here's how it was explained to me: Chile is sealed off from the rest of Latin America by the towering Andes — so high that not even a fly can get through. Chileans are fiercely proud of this (the fly-free part; the Andes too, for that matter), which is why they don't let fruit in from Argentina — what if it turns out to be rotten or full of bugs?