Blogs from Malargüe, Mendoza, Argentina, South America

Leslie and Tiffany have jumped from their Summer Holidays to their Winter Holidays in less than 2 days.... To recap a little....we did Saigon-Hong Kong-Chicago....2 nights in Chicago...than Chicago-Miami-Santiago-Buenos Aires....and 2 nights in Buenos Aires... During the total of 54 hours in Buenos Aires...we confirmed and visited the school....we found and reserved a nice flat....we had great food...and even icecream! We even managed to tour the city...and I nearly forgot to point...we even have tickets for the concert of Juanes in October...cool! So what's next...well...you know it...you've seen the pictures...it's time to hit the slopes as the locals do...and for us, it's Las Lenas....some of the best snow I ever skied! Not many outside Argentina will know about Las Lenas. The place is 1200km away from Buenos Aires...and it's a ski p... read more

It was an interesting night last night. We got invited to the Snow Festival at Malargue and we were "VIP" people there. We ended up meeting the governor of the province, and we talked again with the mayor and some of his deputies. The event started around 930 and we didnt leave till 445am! When we were leaving, there was still another band that was just starting to perform at the time. During the 7 hours we were there, we got served a 5 course meal consisting of 2 appetizers, a small pastry with marinated vegetables inside, beef and chicken in a super rich sauce with vegetables, and desert of a chocolate mouse cake with a tangy sauce. The food was really good and there was a ton of it! One of the mayor's assistants tried ... read more

It was quite the first day that we had in country. We arrived in Malargue at 2am in the morning and our first meet was at 9 with the mayor. The mayor was wanting the meeting to be a small and private affair but the other officials got word that we were in the office and kept barging in and then somebody called the media. Needless to say the mayor was not pleased; however it was kind of funny to watch. We had a blast talking to the mayor and we were able to emphasize the project in Bartas Blancas as our top priority. For distinguished guests they have them sign a "gold book" and we signed and wrote a little message of thanks within it. We really felt like we had a great welcome. I ... read more

We took an early morning minibus to Marlgue. It was cramped as we had been given four seats at the back of the bus. The woman in front of me had subsequently decided to lounge in her chair which meant mine and Blakes knees were pinned to the back of her seat 6 hours or so. thinking how ridiculous to recline in a minivan, blake and I made it difficult for her and proceed to shove our knees deeper into the back of her chair, making it difficult for her to sleep. The town was tiny and baron upon first impressions. reading up on it, it was supposedly a tourist town in teh winter, but in Spring it was very quiet indeed. After grabbing a few essentials from the supermarket, we hopped in a ute taxi ... read more

While the buses in Argentina are plush, their routes tend to dictate your travel path. We decided to rent a car and get off the beaten track for a few days. I enjoyed the freedom and flexibility having our own car allowed us. As we sped south from Mendoza to Malargue I marveled at the beauty of the desert and the tangibility of the landscape from the passenger seat. Malargue has a lot to offer and is famous for having a multitude of volcanoes and other natural wonders. The first night we wanted to get as close to our destination as possible and take advantage of our wheels. We slept on a riverbank under a sweeping tree canopy at the foot of bridge. The view of the river was lovely and we were sheltered from the ... read more