Blogs from San Juan, Argentina, South America

Our last full day in San Juan was spent wandering the central city watching as folks just lived their lives...and of course visiting some vineyards! It took us a while to figure out all the roads and the parking system, but once we did we left the car for three hours while we window shopped and Argentine watched in the central part of San Juan. Like Mendoza, the city has blocked off several main streets in the center part of town and made them into pedestrian malls. They are full of restaurants, artisans, musicians, and shops....a delightful way to hail your neighbor, meet a friend, sit and enjoy a coffee or wine. We had lunch at a grill where we could sit and watch the cook manage all sorts of meats and sausages over hot coals ... read more

We left Barreal after the best breakfast we have had in Argentina, fresh baked bread and pastry (with apples from the trees in the yard), coffee, cereal, meat, cheese and at least four types of home made preserves. We were continuing on north, and had a hard time making any time as it seemed that every five or ten miles we needed to stop and take another picture of the mountains showing yet another side of their beauty. We had pretty good roads as far as Calligasta and then we were in for a treat...some 30K of roads that barely held on to the hillside, and were often covered with shale or mud from the heavy rains the day before. It seemed there was heavy equipment everywhere, whose main job was to shovel the debris from ... read more

The Argentina Bum Snake and more Adventures... Our stay in La Rioja meant different things for different folks this year, with Bob and Mary visiting a cultural Museum and finding that absolutely fascinating, they had a woman guide who spoke reasonable English and was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the museum. In the mean time, I was disappointed about the outcome of my negotiations over a late 60's VW Double cab ute, while both D Duke and Bones were caught by the infamous 'Argentine Bum Snake' it gets in some how when you least expect it and proceeds to make your life a misery....so not wanting to venture far from the hotel, they just rested, lucky D Duke had D Nurse and Bones had me!! We had planned a reasonably early start the next day, but ... read more

Pirmu autobusu iš Mendozos keliauju iki San Juan, ten netrukus persėdu į kitą autobusą kuris mane nugabena iki miestelio San Augustin iš kurio jau galima būtų pasiekti "Mėnulio slėnį". Šita paprasta kelionė trunka apie 8 valandas. Apie 6 vakaro jau būnu miestelyje, autobusų stotyje iškart man siūlo hostelį, kuris čia greičiausiai vienintelis. Vos atėjus iki hostelio mane pradeda įkalbinėti kelionei į vieną iš dviejų čia esančių parkų. Vienas iš variantų jau šinakt, o tiksliau už valandos, važiuoti pažiūrėti "Menulio slėnį". Mat naktinės ekskursijos organizuojamos tik naktimis kai yra pilnatis, o šiandien kaiptik paskutinė naktis su pilnu mėnuliu. Kitas variantas 7 ryto važiuoti į "Talampaya" parką. Ir trečias variantas ryt 3 dienos važiuoti į tą patį "Mėnulio slėnį", tik ekskursija vyktų dieną. Pats parkas yra už beveik 100 km, o jokie vietiniai autobusai ten nevažiuoja, tad savarankiška ... read more

1 november ’11 Rustig ochtendje in San Juan, naar de winkel geweest voor onze picknick. Heel veel mensen hier zijn heel nieuwsgierig van waar we komen (als ze ons tegen elkaar horen praten). Soms vragen er gewoon mensen op straat van waar we komen  We moeten toch wel een heel raar taaltje hebben é! ’s Middags fietsen gehuurd om naar een wijn- en champagnehuis te gaan. Het ritje was toch drukker dan verwacht (qua auto’s) en bijna geen druivelaars gezien… We wisten ook niet exact hoeveel kilometer het zou zijn, dus dat was wel spannend want er stonden nergens borden. Uiteindelijk na 2u gefietst te hebben in de felle zon, een picknick-stop gehouden. De broodjes met kaas smaakten overheerlijk! En dan terug de fiets op, na in totaal in kleine 20km arriveerden we bij ‘cava ... read more