After my adventures in Salta, I was pretty sure I´d seen the best Argentina had to offer in terms of mountain terrain and adventure. Unfortunately, it had cost me three extra days, but it was worth it. I sacrificed a two day trip to visit an ancient lake where they found the oldest dinosaur in South America and a lake circled by the highest volcanoes in the world. It sounded like a great trip, but it wasn´t certain to be running due to rain, and the weather further south is getting colder by the day, so I´m trying to hurry. Unfortunately, I made this decision halfway to the little town where I was going to book my excursion, and once I arrived I was once again stranded in a town with very little to do for about 13 hours. I´m starting to get good at spending time but not money.

Instead of heading off to the volcanic lakes, I shot south to Mendoza, Argentina, a base for trekking Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in this hemisphere, and a center for Argentenian wines. Because my bus from La Rioja (the town with nothing to do) was an overnighter, I arrived in Mendoza around 10:00 AM, just in time to catch a bus to Puente del Inca, the town closest to Aconcagua. I was pretty tired, as I don´t sleep well on the overnight buses, but I figured the 4 hour ride out would give me a chance to snooze a bit. I stashed my large pack in a locker, intending to return to Mendoza for the night, and headed out with my daypack to catch a glimpse of Aconcagua.

Exhaustion brings out the idiot in me, and instead of buying a ticket for Puente del Inca, I bought one for Uspallata, only 3/4 the distance I needed. This wouldn´t be a problem, except with only a small daypack, I would either have to spend an evening somewhere with nothing, or return to Mendoza with no photos and try again the following day. Stinky sleep it is. With about eight hours to spend in Uspallata, I looked around all the streets, twice, and tried to figure out what to do with the next 7.5 hours. Upon walking into the "Tibet Bar", I was informed that this was the site from which the shot certain portions of "Seven Years in Tibet". That should convey an idea of the type of scenery this town had to offer.

I walked into the surrounding countryside just to soak up the environment. I ended up taking a full panorama shot of the area, which I´ll try to stitch together and get posted. No idea if it will work, though.

Around 8:00, I managed to catch the bus on to Puente del Inca. As the town closest to Aconcagua, I sort of expected a bit of touristy kitsch and profit-mongering. It turns out that Mendoza insulates the town from that by handling most of the big money expeditions, and only the lowly people who set out alone do so through Puente del Inca. As a result, the hostel I found (one of three places that offered accomodation) was relatively empty. This was a relief as I was dog tired and didn´t really have a lot of options left to me.

My guidebook said that some stellar photos of the mountain could be taken in the morning by hiking out the 2 miles or so to the nearby provincial park. My goal, then, was to try and grab some shots in the morning before the first bus back to Mendoza. I managed to get up before the sun and covered about three miles on the road before realizing I was headed the wrong direction. Brilliant. I turned around, hoofed it back in time for breakfast at the hostel (two pieces of bread with butter and a cup of coffee vaguely reminiscent of muddy water). Luckily it was still only 9:00AM, so I still had time (theoretically) to get to the park, grab photos, and make it back for my 11:40 bus. Since I hadn´t had a shower in two or three days (they all run together at some stage), I was a bit hesitant to go running about at 3,000 meters elevation for fear of the stench it would form on me for the ride back. I took a whiff of my shirt, though, realized it wasn´t going to get much worse, and off I went.

The countryside surrounding Puente del Inca was more stunning than the trip to San Antonio simply because it was literally at the base of snow-capped peaks. Both the early morning walk, and my jaunt to the park were simply jaw-dropping.

Since I was worried about time, and still a bit put off by my wrong turn earlier in the day, I was anxious to cover some distance quickly, without missing the trail to the park. As a result, I jumped on the first footpath I saw headed in the right direction. It turned out to be a horsepath through the "wilderness" of the park. I didn´t see another living creature, save for one rabbit and some rather nasty plants, for the walk up to the park office.

While the views on the walk up allowed me some peeks at the peak, I got some really gorgeous shots of the mountain inside the park itself.

Of course, I took the requisite set shot of me and the mountain, though it didn´t come out very well. At least it´s proof I was there.

There were also some nice glacial lakes in the park that I managed to glimpse as I jogged by on my way back to town.

I decided to head back the same way I came, as opposed to the "official trail" to the park, which turned out to be a gravel road. Somehow I made it back to town with about 8 minutes to spare. No sweat. I grabbed a bus back to Mendoza and spent the first 20 minutes or so trying to believe I´d actually just been walking at the base of a 21,000 foot peak. Definitely an awesome morning.

I spent that evening in Mendoza. While I paid way to much for my room, I wasn´t in the mood to argue. I was covered in sand and dirt from walking about in the arid environs around Aconcagua and I had only been wearing sandals for the past three days, so my feet were disgusting. I showered and washed my poor clothing and headed to bed early.

The following day, I booked a ticket back to Buenos Aires (en route to Iguaçu Falls) and spent a ton of money in Mendoza. I finally broke down and went shopping. I bought a pocket watch, which I´d been wanting for ages, and a leather hat which may go down in the annals of stupid travel purchases. It´s a bit bulky for my type of travel and may be completely useless to me. I´ll snag a photo when I get the chance to entertain all with my stupidity.

For now, I get to spend a day in Buenos Aires. It´s almost like going home again.