So Mendoza. Mendoza, Mendoza.... It´s a great city. I warmed to it much quicker than I did to Cordoba actually. It has a lovely laid back atmosphere with a huge park that everyone seems to go to for their sporting fixes - roller blading, football and jogging. There is a huge lake that people sit around for drinks and stroll around the rose gardens on the south side. The city was demolished in 18ahembrrruhaaa by an earthquake that devastated everything, and so the design of the city is reasonably space with a huge central plaza and 4 smaller ones symetrically placed around it. Not long after arrival, we went on an excursion of the wine rowing regions around Mendoza. This took us on a bike ride that allowed us to go and visit a number of wineries in the region and see their plantations and taste the goods. tastings varied though from wine to olive oils, chocolate and even absinthe produced on site. The hot day went on and the cycling started swaying a little and then we made it back to the hostel to rest with our new Danish friends in our dorm.
We took the second day there as a time out to rest and re-gather ourselves for how we were going to tackle the next few legs of the journey. This included posting letters, talking to banks, booking the flight to Colombia, and just chilling and getting to know the city. The next day however, we took an excursion to "the highest mountain outside of Asia", also known as Aconcagua, part of the Andes mountain range. We got to have a walk arounf the national park that overlooks the mountain, the initial trek routes of San Martin who revolted against the Spanish during colonial times, and to the Puente del Inca - a natural arch that forms a bridge over the Mendoza river and a natural hot spring where visitors used to bath and stay.
The next part of our trip took us over to Santiago, Chile - a journey to be remembered...or forgotten, whichever way you look at it. It wasnt too bad a journey over the mountains to be honest - pitch back with good reclining chairs....but i found myself at 2am staring at this hut from the top deck of the bus, three buses in front of us going through customs, two stinky travellers to my left that wreaked havoc with my sinus (seriously), the ipod had run out of juice, and the man behind me was snorring so hard that I was essentially being sucked in and blown out again on every half breath. But, after having everyting checked for fresh food, we made it in and got to see Santiago, a busy city with lots of life and people going about their working day around the central plazas. One of our primary aims was to get a new camera - we had been told they were cheaper there and both needed one so went searching the city. On the recommedation of a friend, we made our way to Parque Arauco in the north east side of the city, a big shopping mall that covered most desires. Success. We got one. After another tour of the city and a good nights sleep, we made our way back to Mendoza (Arg - 7hrs) which took us on an amazing scenic route up and through the mountains back into Argentina.
From there (after spending a few hours walking and having lunch), we took a bus that brought us up here, to Salta, a lovely city in the north of Argentina and approaching the frontier with Bolivia. Again, the city is dotted with old colonial churches, monastries and squares, but with their own modern touch. You can start to see the change in demographic of the people and the slight change in accent when speaking to people. The city is surrounded by a range of mountains, which we took a fenicular up to today to look down on the city and it´s layout. Tonight we head for the Bolivian border. Destination is a town called Villazon on the Bolivian side of the border, and from there up into Tupiza to sort out the tour of Bolivias great salt flats in Uyuni and the lakes further south. Things get a bit cheaper here, but equally as spectacular. I can´t wait! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment