Part 1: Mendoza

The first lesson we learned on our trip was: maybe don't book a bus ticket the night before one of the most popular travel-breaks of the year. Other people might have the same idea.

Leaving Buenos Aires was.. hectic. But after only three hours of waiting in the terminal we finally made it aboard and headed West :]

Mendoza is in Western Argentina--almost to Chile, and is nestled up next to the Andes.

MENDOZA!

 Mendoza was a cute little town--I guess anything seems little after living in Buenos Aires though! It was a nice change to get away from the city. Since we arrived during the Holy Week holiday, it was a ghost town, hardly anyone anywhere, with almost all businesses closed!

Before Sydney lost tandem bike privileges. 

One of the classic things to do in Mendoza is to visit las bodegas, or vineyards! Mendoza is known for it's wine cultivation, and you can spend a day (or more) wandering around and tasting wine. They have tours/events (and prices to match) to appease the fanciest winos... but they also have simple tastings for people like us, who, let's be honest, haven't the faintest idea about wine. We rented bikes for about $6 and headed out!

Wine and liquer and chocolate sampling. We also got to try different olive oils--yum!

The vineyards were beautiful, and numerous! We didn't get to nearly half of them, but we had a great time!

We ended up eating lunch with two Brits, two Australians, and two Danes (sounds like the beginning of a joke, right?), who were traveling through South America. We had the most hilarious lunch--with their lorries and trousers and "lemonade" (Sprite).

We were just a bit saddle-sore after biking so many miles, but it was worth it! We had such a fun day--and learned so much! We got to go on some tours about how the wine was made, stored, etc. Didn't help too much... we continued to sip the wine, twist our mouths around and say "ah yes this one was aged in oak. And is that.. is that cinnamon I detect?   

Uspallata, Argentina

We took a bus tour through Western Argentina the next day--we wanted to be able to see as much as possible in the short time we had! It was completely worth every penny (which really weren't very many to begin with)--the countryside was beautiful!
We stopped in Uspallata, a small mountain town between Mendoza and the Chilean border. The Andes provided a great backdrop!






Something was mentioned about a skilift (well, an aerosilla) and we said, yes, we're all about that life. So up we went for a view of the mountains. It was a bit chilly up there... I guess that happens with altitude, huh.

We stopped at the Puente del Inca (Incan's Bridge). So cool! It's a natural arch formed by the nearby hot springs and ice over the years... it used to be a hotel but was abandoned some time ago.

Left: Puente del Inca. Right: Andes and aerosillas!

     The next adventure was to find Cristo Redentor de Los Andes, a statue of the Christ right on the Argentine/Chilean border. Turns out that involves getting into a small van and going up rickety roads for nearly 45 minutes to get to the summit! (So fun on a full bladder, let me tell you). 

     When we got to the top the driver said we had 15 to take pictures, which I thought was awfully short.. until we got out of the van. Turns out it's COOOLD and WINDY 12,500 ft above sea level! ...we were all back in the van in about 4 minutes. 

Guardrails? What for? 

And here you see us with el Cristo Redentor, from warmth of the van... 

Remember that time we hadn't had lunch, and it was 6pm, and we wandered into a tiny town, only to be told at one restaurant that they didn't have food (which is weird, because people were clearly eating food at the tables.....), and then told at the next restaurant that they only served two things: ham and cheese sandwich or ham and cheese sandwich? So we had ham and cheese sandwiches? 

Above you see Las Cuevas. I have never related so well to the cowboy in the Westerns walking into a one-horse town... I looked it up on Wikipedia.... it has a population of 7. Yes. Seven.

When we left Mendoza it was bright and early on Easter morning. Sydney's aunt had given her chocolate bunnies to share, so we celebrated Easter in the bus terminal!