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Published: July 26th 2009
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After all the fun in Mendoza it was time to head to Malargue, a small town about six hours south of Mendoza. On my last trip down here I had heard the Malargue area was very beautiful but because it is so far out of the way I did not go. But again, the main point of this trip was to explore areas off the beaten path. Guadalupe, whom Hernan and I met in Mendoza, also wanted to go to Malargue so she accompanied us on the 6 hour bus ride. We arrived in the late evening but were disappointed to find out that there were no tours leaving the following morning. The town itself is nothing special but there is an amazing natural park that we wanted to see (description coming in Part IV). Malargue is also near Las Lenas, probably the ritziest ski resort in all of South America. Of course, there are only a few ski resorts in all of South America, so go figure. With nothing better to do, the three of us decided to go to Las Lenas the following morning.
We took a shuttle early the next morning to Las Lenas, about an hour
away. As we got close to the resort the scenery was spectacular and jolted me wide awake. Park me in front of snowy mountains and I can be entertained for hours. As we arrived at the parking lot the views got even better. The base resort is in a small valley, which afforded great views of the mountains. Las Lenas is a very posh resort, and to stay at one of the hotels in the base area costs at least $1000 US per person for a full week (lift tickets and two meals per day included), or probably more. While that may seem like not much for US standards, the price is astronomical for a country where the average salary is about $5000 US per year. All in all, with lift ticket and rental, the day would turn out to be very costly for me indeed. Let´s just say that to store my shoes in a locker cost $10 US! That should give you an idea.
After buying my ticket I went to go rent my snowboard. When I entered the shop they told me they would need a credit card for the security deposit. Oops. I never travel
with my credit card for safety purposes and this time it got me into trouble. I couldn´t believe I´d forgotten about the security deposit. Maldita sea! Guadalupe and Hernan weren´t skiing so I had no idea where to find them. I needed their help, and fast. I called Hernan several times and walked around the whole resort looking for them to no avail. Finally I found them sitting in the lodge restaurant, drinking coffee. After explaining my situation to Hernan, he happily came with me and forked over his credit card. What a guy. After losing about an hour due to the delay I was ready to hit the powder. The snow was crisp if a bit icy but overall the runs were great. The mountain itself doesn´t have that many trails, but it is about 13,000 feet at its highest point which gave me a few really nice long runs. And the views from up top were stunning. I snapped a lot of pictures but of course my camera´s battery ran out around midday. Luckily I met a guy from Buenos Aires who agreed to take some pictures of me riding down the mountain. Unfortunately I´m still waiting for
him to send them to me.
After meeting Hernan and Guadalupe for lunch I headed out onto the slopes again. I wanted to get to the far side of the mountain to do some out-of-bounds skiing, but in the late afternoon the lift that took you up to the top got stuck, with tons of people still on. Poor things. Off to the side of one trail I found a sign for out-of-bounds skiing. Success! To access the area I had to sign my life away, saying I wouldn´t sue the resort if I got hurt etc etc. This was exactly what I was looking for. The drop was very very steep but I managed to make it down without any trouble. For the last run of the day I took an easy trail. I was adjusting my hood and, distracted, fell hard on my left shoulder and tumbled down the mountain for what seemed an eternity. I felt a searing pain but was able to continue after a few minutes. I already have a bad shoulder but the fall only made it worse. Two weeks later it still hurts and I´ll have to get it checked it out
when I get back to the US in early August. So it goes. Except for the expense and the injured shoulder, it was one of the best days of my whole trip so far.
The next day the three of us visited the Volcan Malacara (it literally means ¨bad face¨) for a half day tour. Exploring the depths of the Volcano and its lava flows was truly impressive. Definitely worth it. Hernan left later that day to go back to Cordoba. Since we couldn´t get a tour to Payunia Park he decided to head home. Needless to say he later regretted that decision. Guadalupe and I had a trip to Payunia planned for the next day. Suddenly we found out that the rest of the people booked on our tour couldn´t make it in time. Their car had broken down so they wouldn´t be able to make it. At this point I hoped we would get on a tour soon because we already lost a couple days by waiting. Luckily Guadalupe and I were able to arrange a tour for Thursday so we decided to hang around for another day. On Wednesday we went to a trout hatchery for
lunch. The views around the area were amazing, and along with the great meal at the winery in Mendoza, it was another gastronomical highlight. There was smoked salmon and bread, empanadas stuffed with trout and a freshly grilled trout that was absolutely phenomenal. Trout had never tasted this good. After eating and drinking so much we couldn´t move, we managed to make our way back to Malargue and go to the planetarium. On the tour we learned about some of the astronomical and geological highlights of the area, including a sun clock which was pretty cool. We also saw a film about the planets in a small IMAX theater but after such a heavy lunch I fell asleep halfway through.
That night Guadalupe and I went to bed at a reasonable hour (read: before midnight) for once before our tour to Payunia Park the next mornin. Hanging out with Hernan was a blast but it meant many nights of little sleep, and by this point it had taken its toll on me.
Part IV coming soon
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Blake Beckwith
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Checking In!
Hey Bernie, Looks like you are having an amazing time. You look like a natural down there and perhaps maybe you should look into your own place and make it your home. Really though, it looks like one of those once in a life time experiences in which you are taking full enjoyment of. Keep it up, I'm living vicariously through you in this moment. Today is the last day of my one week lakeside vacation, so I'm feeling a little bit envious at this point to be seeing those sights through your eyes. Don't worry, it's all good. Take care and see you soon...so I hope. -B