South America in 10 days – part III

So let’s start with Mendoza, which was my last stop before the return flight to Europe. It’s the wine capital of Argentina. Despite the heat Mendoza is a nice town, for there are alleys of trees along all the major streets and roads, with a lot of other green areas in the city, giving a special charm to Mendoza.

Since I had some time for Mendoza only after my return from Chile I had the rental car until the next morning in my possession.

In the morning, before bringing the car back I made a larger circle around Mendoza, which was a good decision, for except for the center of the town, the city is too large to explore on foot.

After returning the car I went on to the essentials of Mendoza – some wine sampling. There are many wine producers around the city, who offer sampling and lunch, there are only a few wine cellars in the city that have high quality wines. Tasting is some 20 pesos, which is a little less than 4€ and you can taste over 10 samples, mostly of red wine.

And if the wine tasting was a good introduction, there’s only enough time left for the main course in Argentina. The owner of the wine cellar pointed me toward the residential part of the town, where only a few tourists go to. The restaurant was outside the center, so I had the opportunity to try the intensity of the hot Argentinean sun on my skin. I kept thinking if it’s worth it to walk in the blazing heat with the only shade being my own, for half an hour. The owner said it’s only 10 minutes away, but I guess he didn’t mean walking.

When they’ve served my I realized it was worth every step and drop of sweat I’ve made. And if we add the excellent wine and delicious desert, this was the most tasty meal I had in Argentina, much better than those in the renowned restaurants.

Enjoy the photos to get a better picture of Mendoza.

I had only two more hours left, before my bus left for Buenos Aires and there weren’t many taxis around, so I took the city bus that, to my luck, stopped right in front of my hostel Mendoza. I was only a night bus ride away from the airport and my return trip home, with some hours of daylight left to watch the countryside of Mendoza run by. I’ve realized Slovenian wine makers will never be able to compete with the quantities these vineyards can produce, but quality is still on our side.

See the Mendoza landscape photose from my way back to Buenos Aires in the gallery »Mendoza«.

Just a few days prior to what I’ve just described, I had arrived to Mendoza and headed straight to the car rental, to visit Chile the very same day, which I’ll describe in the next issue. And now allow me to tell you about the crossing of Andes pot – or better said, my way to the mountain pass that’s the borderline between Argentina and Chile. If anywhere in the world, than here you’ll realize that the way there is more important than the destination, for this is undoubtedly the most beautiful scenic road I’ve ever been on in my life.

From Mendoza to Santiago (the capital of Chile) the 350 km long road takes you over the second tallest mountain range in the world – the Andes. The Andes represent a border between Chile and Argentina and define the somewhat odd shape of Chile, which stretches some 5000 km from north to south, but is only some 200 km wide. If compared to Europe, this means it would stretch from the southernmost, to the northernmost point of the continent.

But back to the road, linking Argentina and Chile. Upon leaving Mendoza, we’re surrounded by vineyards and estates, where we can sample the wine, until the city is some 100 km behind us. Naturally, Mendoza is not lacking agencies, that offer wine tours (the Youth Hostel Mendoza even offers a cycling tour with wine sampling). And then you begin to ascend up the mountain. Mendoza is just a few hundred meters above sea level, while the tunnel here, just a few hundred below the peak of the pass, is above 3000 meters above sea level.

Our first stop is Lake Potrerillos, which reflects the surrounding mountains on clear calm days. You can see the lake in the gallery »Lake Potrerillos«

And right after that an abandoned railroad accompanies us all the way to the town of Uspallata. It reminded me of good old western movies. For a better understanding, I suggest you take a look at the photos from Mendoza and Chilean border.

But before we get to the border crossing, just before the final climb up the hill, we run into the gendarmerie. We only realized why there were there, when we were returning. Upon returning you get a certificate that’s stamped by both Chilean and Argentinean officials and is a sort of an entry pass for the Argentinean inland.

Below the very peak itself we make two more stops in »Punto del Inca« and in the national park »Aconcagua«. We can easily say that Punto del Inca represents a very interesting combination of nature and human heritage, but the 3000m above the sea level high park of »Aconcagua« is purely natural. More impressive, to me at least, than the national park itself, was the view of the mighty almost 7000 meters tall mountain of the same name (Aconcagua - 6962 m). And you can see both in my gallery »Punto del Inca Aconcagua«.

And the last contact with Argentina was, naturally, the border crossing, with a quick passport control and a bit more careful customs. The lady at the custom service did not seem to be too interested in my things, since I was European, still she controlled them, probably not to make too much of a difference between me and the local passengers. Such a control is not a pleasant thing, even though the doggies sniffing around your car are really cute. But the drug sniffing dogs were already on the Chilean side, so more about that in the next issue. book hostels in Argentina.