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Published: February 20th 2009
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I got into Mendoza in the early morning without a solid plan. I had been here earlier in my trip, but spent the time in a fancy, binge drinking, stupor on a
Tour de Franzia. Instead, this time I wanted to head up to the small pueblo of Uspallata and enjoy the plethora of outdoor activities possible in the region. It is a few hours into the Andes where I would be able to go hiking immediately outside of town, without a guide, without needing to pay an entrence fee. However, there isnt an over abundant amount of information online about where to stay and what sort of tourist infrastructure exists so I was hesitant to buy a ticket without knowing of budget accommodations. Luckily I found a hostel (Hostel International Uspallata) just outside of town and was ready to go. The hostel was pretty amazing; it was five kilometers outside of town on a large piece of land. There was a small river running through the back of the property, a gorgeous view of the surrounding valley, a small pool, several dogs, and the friendliest people, of course none of whom spoke English. In other words, it was the hiking I had
hoped for and the forced intensive Spanish Ive been needing. Both worked out perfectly.
The first hike was the several kilometers into town to get supplies for the next few days. It was a gorgeous walk down a forgotten road through huge poplar trees. The city is a desert oasis, a green splash of trees in the middle of a desolate red mountainous area. For a pop culture and visual reference, watch "Seven Years in Tibet" as it was filmed in this tiny little Andean town. The village consists of a casino, a couple super markets, a few tourist agencies, and an army barracks. The one trip was enough for me.
The next day I went for a wander through the surrounding countryside. I meandered through the desolate plains, crossing through streams, making my own path through shrubbery, meandering across the rocky river beds, and just fumbling around in nature. I was in my element and it was glorious. My trek towards the mountains though was cut short as I ran into an unexpected river, and I was unable to cross. I decided to follow it up the valley to find a possible crossing but was eventually blocked
by an enormous cliff. No problem, as it had already been several hours of hiking in the hot sun and I was almost out of water. I weerily made it back to the hostel, sucked down a few liters of agua and crashed for the night.
The following day I headed for Mount Aconcagua, the largest mountain in the Americas, the largest mountain outside of the Himalayas. It is a few hours by bus up to the park entrance where foreigners have a nice little fee to pay to enter. Of course this led to a decision... I needed to get my moneys worth and wanted to make the three and half hour hike up to Confluencia Base Camp, and my Argentine friends, who didnt have to pay much at all, figured it was a bit more than they had bargained for. It ended up being a non-issue, as when we started walking about they realized it wasnt that difficult and came along for full length. The views were absolutely spectacular and sometimes you felt as though you had walked onto an impressionists canvas. The reds, browns, yellows, and greens simply blended from one into another and around each
ridge was an amazing valley. The hiking itself went from flat, to scrabbling up along the valley wall, to flat once again with the most challenging aspect being the never ceasing dust filled wind. We made it up to the top, enjoyed the view and I appreciated the fact that this was as close as I would be getting to the top of the Americas in the near future before we had to scoot down the hill to make the last bus back to Uspallata.
I headed back to Mendoza the next day for a few days of partying and chilling out in a town that I had run through fairly quickly my first time around. I really enjoyed it and am glad I gave it another go. There are many more beautiful plazas surrounding the stunning central plaza I had visited previously, and the enormous park on the west side of town is amazing. There are people jogging, kids playing in gorgeous fountains, dogs playing fetch in an enormous lake, rowers scooting about, and, as with every park in South America, young lovers sucking face. I stayed in a different part of town and was amazed by the
Walking home
Nice scenery on the walk to the grocery store hip bar scene there and loved the shady tree lined streets full of cafes and people sipping beers in cool afternoons. In those last few days there it quickly became my favorite Argentine city... well, top two (my next stop was Buenos Aires...).
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