Mendoza, Argentina, South America

I had a pretty good day seeing the landscape around Mendoza today. The tour company picked me up at 7:30am by my guide Herman. We headed out to the mountains between Argentina and Chile to check out a few spots worth seeing. Our first stop was at a reservoir that provides all the water for the city of Mendoza. It was a pretty spot.

We continued driving for another hour and a half and it gave us all a chance to get to know each other in the van. Our group consisted of two french girls, two argentinian girls, an american/argentinian couple, an italian guy, a dutch couple, and a belgian guy. Everyone was nice enough to spend a day with, but not anyone who I’m going to stay in touch with after today. The belgian guy was particularly annoying. Every time we stopped, he would take off on his own to take pictures and we were all left waiting for him to come back. You would think that after the first time it happened he would be a bit more careful, but no. He was rude the whole day.

On our way to the next stop, Herman spotted some condors, and we were able to get out and take some pictures. It was pretty cool to see them, seeing as I didn’t get to see any in Peru. They were pretty far away, but you could still tell how big these birds are.

Our next stop was at a ski resort, which is closed now of course. The chair lift was still operating, and Herman recommended that we pay the 100 pesos ($12) to go up and see the “amazing” panoramic view. What a waste of money. I took the chair lift ride to the top, which was freezing cold and really windy, only to see the same view that we could see from the parking lot I thought it was going to open up and show this amazing mountain view, but it didn’t. I walked around up there for about ten minutes and then went back down. Herman asked what I thought and I told him how disappointed I was with the view. He said that he really just liked the silence up there and getting away from the road. What a major disappointment.

We moved on from there to an entrance to Aconcagua park where we could see the tallest mountain in South America. It was a nice view, but nothing spectacular. We walked around the park for about an hour and saw a couple of lakes. The wind was just incredible down there. It was really strong, and a few people in our group forgot to bring jackets, so we headed back to the van a little earlier than we had anticipated.

Our next stop was for lunch at a road that continues on to the Chilean border. The restaurant was nothing special, but the food was actually pretty good. They had a buffet set up of traditional Argentinian foods and we could eat as much as we wanted. It was a little expensive (120 pesos), but it was good, so that was okay. After lunch we lost the Belgian guy again, and we were just about ready to leave without him when he walked out into the road about a kilometer away from where we were. He was away taking pictures of an old rail station, and then he was pissed off at US for almost leaving him. What a jerk!

Our last stop for the day was at the Inca Bridge, which is a naturally formed bridge made of minerals. It was pretty cool looking, but you’re no longer allowed to walk on or near the bridge. After the bridge, we started heading back to Mendoza. It was a really long day, and most of the day was spent just sitting in the van, so it was a little boring. All in all, the tour was expensive and I didn’t feel like I got to see that much amazing stuff. I guess it was good to get out and see something though, and on this strict schedule I have, it was good to get out and see more of this area.

I went out for dinner at Kingo, which is an Argentinian fast food place. It was recommended by Herman as a good burger place that uses argentinian beef to make their burgers. I was pretty excited about it, because I love a good burger, but he was wrong again. It tasted just like a McDonald’s burger. Nothing special about it at all, except for ridiculously slow service. I was really tired after dinner from such a long day, so now I’m back at the hostel and going to try to have an early night. This is my last night in a single room for a couple of weeks, so if I can’t get a good night’s sleep tonight, it could be a while before I do!