Photos from my trip to Mendoza, Argentina

My excursion to Mendoza, Feb 8-11 2008. (comments are ABOVE the respective photos).

The Andesmar bus from Santiago to Mendoza, docked at our arrival portal in Mendoza.


The bus station in Mendoza. Amazingly less crowded than the one in Santiago.

The layout of the city of Mendoza.

The streets of Mendoza are interesting because of (at least) three things: large leafy trees, flowing irrigation canals, and trash baskets.


Decorations in the street in front of Hostel Lao.

The city center of Mendoza has five plazas, arranged like the five points on a dice-roll 5. Plaza Independencia is in the middle.


Plaza Espana is known as the artisans' plaza, with lots of tiled mosaics.





The main plaza in Mendoza.




What would a South American city be without a pedestrian-only street?

And what would Argentina be without sidewalk cafes full of coffee drinkers and smokers?

And what would a Saturday be without live music, free food, and dancing?





Not to be outdone by the official festival of melon and watermelon, these guys (literally just across the street) are giving their own concert.


A reminder of home.

My lunch picnic spot. Mmm, ham sandwich, Lay's potato chips, coca cola, and watermelon.



Of course, tango and wine.... Argentine classics!

Wouldn't you, too, love a great room at the "Ritz"?




A store where you can get "most" everything. They don't bother promising it all.

Inside Hostel Lao in Mendoza. Two photos of the reception area and one of the garden.



Sunday Feb. 10. Several amazing views of the incredibly high and snow-covered Andes Cordillera, taken from inside the bus we took to the refuge ("base camp") for my day hike.





Our bus (ok, maybe it's more like a van) to the trailhead. I hired a guide from the group Cerro del Plata, based in Mendoza.

Can you see the face in the mountain? This particular rock cropping was called the "indian man".


Our route was simple: follow the small creek up and up and around, into the clouds behind the mountain in the distance, and then break off to the summit.

3,400 meters (11,220 feet).

Yes it was snowing lightly (and yes that is snow around my feet).

My guide, Enesa.

A bit warmer on the way down. I borrowed the cap from one of the waitstaff at the refuge.

Looking upward toward the summit (not visible because of all the clouds), from the refuge at the trailhead.

Sunday morning, Feb. 11. At the "Los Libertadores" frontera crossing.

Yay, only ~2 hrs after arriving, we were granted permission to enter Chile!!

And my bus provided us with a small sandwich lunch. Que bueno!

I was refreshed and ready to get to Santiago....

But our bus had other plans... namely, it was tired and needed to stop for a few days.


So, about an hour outside Santiago, in the desert, we broke down. It was (partially) amusing to watch the drivers and the male passengers crowd around the engine and try to do something). But actually, less than 90 mins after breaking down, another bus came and we continued onward to Santiago.

Some passengers were not so amused by the breakdown and were ready to go to Santiago, not Cuesta de Chacabuco.

The Asistencia de Ruta came for a few mins. And they deployed some orange cones to alert other drivers of our breakdown (as if they couldn't see a giant bus, 30 passengers, and all our luggage sprawled along the side of the road...) This guy really didn't do much of anything else, but I guess it's reassuring to know that there is a road-side assistance program available.


Yay, Santiago, and my street (Vergara)! My apartment building is 4 blocks ahead (not really visible in this pic).