Blogs from Mendoza, Argentina, South America - page 98

10.10.05 We left San Augustin today, the 3 guys, Luchio, Chris and Marcos were as gutted as we were when we left. We all had a photo taken together and they stood outside and waved us off. We were sad. We got a bus to San Juan and then another bus to Mendoza, near the Andes and 6 hrs. from Chile. Mendoza is a nice city with lots of plazas and tree lined streets, quite pretty. It´s known for the wine that is made there. On the journey there we passed lots of vinyards. We arrived at our hostel about 9pm, our room is a little box with 3 beds and no window! This confused us in the morning when we woke up it was dark and we had no idea what time of day it ... read more

This past weekend we took a break from Spanish lessons and spent two and a half days in Uspallata. This quiet and dusty town is 110 kilometers from Mendoza and is the main staging base for trucks and buses to cross the snowbound pass into Chile. The mountain and desert scenery here is stunning. Our cameras were pointed in all directions the entire time. We were all eager to explore and covered roughly 12 kilometers on our hikes on Friday and Saturday. On Friday, Julio first got us in the spirit by preparing an early asado. He was delighted to introduce us to the delicacy known here as "los chinchulines", which is grilled cow intestine. After eating too much, Julio guided us across the desert which had numerous channels and rivulets from the Rio Blanco, ... read more

Since our last posting, we have settled in and have been adjusting to life in Mendoza! We have been taking Spanish lessons with our private tutor, Caroline, which has helped everyone get a better grasp of the Spanish language. Next week we will be taking classes at The Intercultural Institute! We have been exploring Mendoza and it's surroundings. Everyday after school, we have been taking long walks through the city and the parks. Last weekend Julio took Alex, Mike, and Louis to the high desert town of Potrerillos. Tomorrow, Thursday, we´re heading to the mountain town Uspallata, which is half way to the Argentinian border with Chile. Uspallata is where the film Seven Years In Tibet was made. We plan on taking some high desert hikes which should provide us some great photo opprtunities. All of ... read more

I left Cusco and headed for Puno (the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca). We arrived in Puno after a really bumpy 6 hour bus ride. The town of Puno itself was really dumpy, poor and dirty. We went down to see Lake Titicaca which was pretty anticlimactic as well. I was expecting some beautiful bright blue lake with mountains shooting up behind it… instead I saw a regular lake (although I do have to note it's the highest navigable lake in the world which was cool) with touristy boats that can take you for a trip to some manmade floating islands, but not much else really to do. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but oh well. Instead of staying overnight we decided to get something to eat and then continue bussing it south. The ... read more

I am sure i dont have the dates correct but it doesnt matter. Menoza is a nice quiet town, about a 2 or 3 hour bus ride to chile and the western ... read more