We took an overnight bus late on Friday from Santiago, Chile to Mendoza, Argentina. It takes over 7 hours to get there, including going through customs. The bus seats about 40 people, and all of the seats recline so that you are semi-laying down...We arrived at the border around 2 in the morning, and we all had to unload, get our passports stamped, pay the reciprocity fee, and then our luggage was checked by the customs guys. Mary Jeanne and I arrived in Mendoza around 5 in the morning on Saturday, and so we hung around the bus terminal until the sun rose and we could head to the hostel.
Mendoza is a wonderful small town, situated against the Andes in a high plains desert (so much like Colorado, I felt right at home!) It is known for its wine and olive oil, and is a bit of a tourist hub. The city is centered around Plaza Independencia, and then there are four other smaller plazas surrounding that main one. Our hostel was just a few blocks away from Plaza Independencia, so we spent the majority of the time walking around, window shopping, eating lunch, and hanging out in the shade of Parque San Martin. Parque San Martin is 393 hectares and has over 300 different types of plants and trees.
Parque San Martin entrance
In the afternoon, Mary Jeanne scheduled us for a horseback riding evening. The company picked us up from our hostel and took us to the site where all the horses were. Joining us was also a group of Australians, two Argentinian couples, a couple from New Zealand, and two ladies who were also from the USA. We got all loaded up on our horses, and were off with two gauchos (traditional Argentinian term for cowboys), named Diego and Nico (short for Nicolas).
Our horses underneath the beautiful sky
We took off, and headed back into the Andes, for about two hours. As you can see, it was a perfect day for a horseback ride! I quickly got the hang of saying "vamos" (let's go) and "pare" (stop), and very much enjoyed the incredible landscape surrounding us. The gauchos took us up to the top of a ridge where we could see into Chile but it was so windy that the horses got really restless and we were not able to be up there for more than 30 seconds. (I asked Nico later about the wind, and he explained that it is called "zonda" and it comes from Chile and builds up so much coming over the Andes that it is very strong coming into Mendoza. The winds can be very dangerous, and so we had to eat dinner inside.)
Vamos!
At the end of the ride, we came to a campsite tucked into the mountains where an asado was prepared for us. We were all happy to get off the horses and spent a few minutes stretching and walking around. Dinner (meat and potatoes grilled) and the wine were delicious. I sat next to the couple from New Zealand. They are making their way around the world, literally, they have travelled through Asia, Australia, and most of South America so far, and are headed next to Brazil, then Europe, and finally the USA. They both had such interesting stories and it was fun to get to know them. After dinner, a fire was made and Diego, one of the gauchos, took a bottle of wine and a guitar and began to sing us traditional Argentinian songs. After a while, (I think thanks to a little/lot of liquid courage) he began to take requests...One of his particular favorites was "Hotel California" but he insisted that when we all sing along that we change the words to "Hotel Patagonia". It was a wonderful evening, and the wind finally calmed down so I could go out and look at the stars and full moon.
Back at the hostel, I took a shower--which was desperately needed, since I was totally caked with dust, and headed to bed. We shared our room with three French guys (who all elected not to wear any clothes while sleeping...such a surprise in the morning!) We had breakfast, checked out, and headed to mass, then had a quick lunch before we had to catch the bus back to Santiago.
Leaving Mendoza
On the bus ride back, we encountered a little bit of a problem at the border of Chile and Argentina...you have to go up and through the Andes, the border station for Chile is called Los Libertadores and is about 11,000 feet above sea level. Well, so we left Mendoza and it was 80 degrees and at the pass it was freezing cold and snowing! Buses were not allowed to pass, so we had to wait for over three hours in the bus, on the border, until it stopped snowing and the winds died down. Three. Hours.
Springtime snow at Los Libertadores
But, the weather did clear and soon enough we were on our way. Mary Jeanne and I made it home in time to catch the metro home and then we both fell asleep immediately upon entering the house. It was a wonderful, very short, vacation. I hope to be able to spend a little more time next time I am there.
brazos!
