Vineyards and Garlic with views of the Cordillera de Ansilta - Time in the village of Barreal

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We spent a couple of days in Mendosa, the main wine growing region in the country. We enjoyed tasting wine at a few of the Bodigas around Mendosa, as well as time spent strolling in the park.
Unfortunately whilst in an internet cafe our small rucksack was stolen with two cameras and Angus' passport. Don't worry, we still have one camera to entertain you with photos. We did get to have a ride in a police car and met a laughing policewoman.
We then spent a very enjoyable week in the small village of Barreal, in San Juan province. The bus to get there takes hours as it goes along a steep mountain road and then drops everyone off individually at their houses. We stayed in a quaint adobe hotel with friendly staff. The village is in a beautiful setting. It is mainly farms but has some shops and two schools. Everyone gets around by bike, horse or horse and cart. The snow topped Andes make a fantastic backdrop. The local produce is lots of garlic, onions and wine which we made sure to try.
The day after we arrived, we set off to explore the mountains. Diego, who works for a mountaineering company drove us in a landrover down a long dirt track to where our four day trek would start. The trek was along the length of the Rio Colorado to take us to the base camp to Cerro Mercedario (6770m), the second hightest peak in South America. It is very isolated, and the only people who normally go that route are moutaineers who go on to climb Cerro Mercedario, very few trekkers. So much so there are no maps of the area. As we did'nt have a guide our plan was simply to follow the river. The whole four days we met one mountaineering party with guides and mules, and another mule party taking two geologists up the mountain to sample the rocks.
The first day we walked in baking heat along a desert like area through some canyons. We saw amazing birdlife including condors very close up and green parroquets. The second day we neared the snow topped mountains, and ended at a cirque of the six highest mountains in the area. (A cirque is where a glacier once filled the area, but has since melted.) We got stunning views, and were the only ones camping by it. The last night there was a thunder and lightening storm which kept us awake most of the night with lightening flashes every couple of minutes. The hardest parts of the trek were the frequent river crossings. We started crossing them in bare feet, but I (Emily) soon got sick of the freezing cold melted glacier water, so Angus saved the day by carrying me and our backpacks across each crossing. At the end of our trek, whilst waiting for Diego to pick us up, we were invited in for tea at the Gendarmerie/Mountain rescue station. We met a wonderful seargant and an officer. We managed to have a great conversation even with our limited Spanish.
The next day we visited a dry lake bed where all the locals do land sailing (they have the world record). It stretches on as far as the eye can see. Nearby we visited a National Park with one of Argentinas astrological observatories.

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Photos

Vino Tinto
About the amount of alcohol the average London medical student drinks in a year

No Vampyres Here
Whats that lovely smell thought we? Twas garlic - and lots of it

Diego And His Muleteers
Diego puts up with yet another bad football joke

No Hair Cut for 3 Months
Does it show?

Another Great Sunset
Sorry but couldn´t resist

Probably the Best Trekking Food in the World
Instant mash, sausages, ketchup and fresh garlic - tastes better than it looks

Probably the Best Campsite in the World
Well maybe not quite (no bar or toilet) but we did have the whole place to ourselves

Possably Called Pico Polaco
The Downsode of not having a map, looks good though

Pampa El Leoncito
A dry lakebed thats a prime destination for both landsailors and joyriders

Comments

[dan]

pico polaco
you are correct, that is pico polaco which im planning to return and climb in november 2006. The VDC is a great place isnt it!