Blogs from Mendoza, Mendoza, Argentina, South America

Last day of the trip so we thought we’d go out with a blast! Another hotel breakfast (we’ve really had enough of ham and cheese!) and headed to Potrerillos - about an hour away from Mendoza and past a huge reservoir, one of the bluest bodies of water we’d ever seen - stark contrast to the dusty red surrounds and the ‘chocolate’ river that was feeding it…the one we were about to raft in! Everything sorted (uncharacteristically efficiently!) and got kitted up before we were put onto a bus and driven to our starting point. We were given ‘special’ treatment as we were the only English speakers but they went out of their way to make sure we were comfortable and everything was understood. The heat was starting to build up in our layers of heat ... read more

Mendoza 12-17 januar Vi trodde vi ville komme fram i mørket og hadde derfor bestilt henting på flyplassen denne gangen også. Men nei da, her skinte sola og varmen slo mot oss da vi gikk ut av flyet (23-32 grader gjennom døgnet). Hotellet, Urban Hostel, var en stor skuffelse og kan ikke anbefales. Malingen flasset av veggene og badet var under enhver kritikk. Alt virket skittent og nedslitt og skuffelsen var stor. Vi hadde håpet på å treffe andre ryggsekkturister som kunne gitt oss noen tips på veien videre. Dagen etter «rømte» vi over til et trestjerners hotell som heter Carollo Gold, http://www.hotelesgold.com.ar/index.php/es/inicio/hotel/1 . Det ligger sentralt til i et trygt område og er veldig bra. Prisforskjellen, fra 260 kr til 470 kr pr natt, er absolutt verdt det. Frokost er også inkludert. Den første ... read more

As we approached ‘El Chalet’ the ferocious dog, commonly found in almost every Argentine household, came out to meet us barking loudly. Jane gripped my hand tightly, “Are you sure this is a restaurant?”. I could see the front door of the house was just open a crack so I pushed it open. “Hola”, I shouted. Inside were some laid-up tables in a plain room with no one present. “Hola, hola?”. I could hear some noise in the back so I continued on through the room to a back corridor where I could see a kitchen to the left. “Hoolla?”. This time ‘Juan’ heard me and came bustling out to greet us. Yes, he could serve lunch. We told him through google translate that we ‘eat anything’ and sat down and waited. There was no menu. ... read more

This trip was with four of the staff from Federal Hocking High School as we are exploring a partnership with DAD, a secondary school in Mendoza. Last year at this time one of the teachers from DAD, Paola Diaz, spent three weeks at FH on a Fulbright program. Then, last March, I visited DAD. From there the teachers have been developing and teaching programs together and we wanted to visit the school to see if we might do more. When we arrived in Mendoza on Monday we were quickly gathered up and taken to an Asado (bar-b-que) at the home of the assistant school director. As they only do here, we spent three hours at the table with the fire crackling away nearby and feasted on a variety of salads, beef, and wines! Three hours here ... read more

There was a sad farewell to Denmark (despite almost falling out the previous night over a game of the 500 cardgame) prior to hopping in a taxi to the huge bus station Terminal Santiago. I’d booked a ticket online a few days before with Andesmar and after validating my online ticket and checking in it was a short wait for the right bus to turn up before boarding it and settling in for the day (South American buses really did have the most comfy seats some of them were like 1st class plane seats). I‘d heard that the views across the Andes during the journey were spectacular so I made sure I booked a window seat and had my little music MP3 player fully charged. It was also going to be a border crossing (my last ... read more