Blogs from San Juan, Argentina, South America - page 3

San Juan lies to the north of Mendosa and like Mendosa was created out of desert by the hard work of the immigrants from Italy, Spain and Chile and of course many other places. It is no small thing to make the desert bloom and to produce such world class wines. Its other claim to fame is that it where Juan Domingo Peron came to public notice for his efforts after a disasterous earthquake in 1944. We did not find any statues to him but one to his wife Evita herself is tucked away in a small park off the main drag. Having seen her grave in Buenos Aires it was nice to see her remembered here in San Juan. Apart from that I cant say that the city has much to recommend it. We arrived ... read more

Traditions Day at the top rigth corner of the province. Something unforgetable !!! ... read more

After dozing for three quarters of the journey to San Agustin, I woke up to find a landscape of rocky hills with a light covering of trees, and a welcome appearance of cacti. There was an unexpected selection of accommodation touts at the bus station in San Agustin, but I was soon in a pleasant pension that was half the price of anywhere else I've stayed in the country. San Agustin definitely warrants the use of the adjective "sleepy", its spacious main square tranquil and dotted with bird crap-peppered benches. The squawking of bright green parrots filled the quiet in between the infrequent passage of cars whose silencers had long since ceased to function. The nearby reservoir reflected the cloud-smeared blue sky and surrounding hills, and the temperature was back in the T-shirt range. The point ... read more

Jen - Hi guys. At the last update we were in Mendoza. Mendoza is a really cool city. I liked it much better than buenos aries, maybe because its smaller and more relaxed, maybe because its built with large squares to be earthquake proof, or maybe its just the wine!! On the first day there we just had abit of a chill out session, wandering around the city we checked out some art galleries and the 5 main squares all with a different theme. Plaza espana is the best with lots of spanish style tiled fountains and murals and walkways. The others were nice but less impressive, and one could have been named tramp square as it seemed to be the main hang ouy area. Mind you, in the warm mid morning sun there are worse ... read more

Fully laden with food, snacks, fuel and water, we set off early from Mendoza bound once again for Uspallata. No, we haven´t gone mad; Uspallata forms a natural crossroads where the road from Chile meets the two routes to Mendoza and the road northwards towards San Juan and beyond. Previously we had taken the fastest route to Mendoza, and now we were returning to Uspallata along the isolated and unmade road through the Villavicencio Natural Park. As we rode out of the city, the snow-capped Andes stood at our left shoulders, but soon mountains closed in all around us. Eagles circled above and guanacos peered down from ledges high above. The road, tarmac'ed at this point, crept steadily upwards. As we approached the Park Ranger's residence at Villavincencio, the Ranger himself offered us a lift which ... read more