9th February...19:30...raining...We just fished a piece of garlic out of our keyboard that has been there for a week, Clare can blow up her hoodie and we are surrounded by 2 huge dogs...Lola & Bruno and sat in a mountain retreat lodge at the base of the Andes. It’s feels as if it might snow.
Quite a change from Buenos Aries where we have been for the last week...it’s hot and humid there.
Buenos Aires was exactly how we imagined it and more! If you take a dash of Paris, a seasoning of Rome, the cabs and streets from New York and abit of London style...now get everyone speaking Spanish...and Bam you have Buenos Aires!!!!
The porteños which are BA natives are really lovely, whenever we stopped and were lost...which happened the first few days, someone stopped to help us out everytime. Working out the subway is simple and cheap (30cents per trip) and planned out like the London underground, this is how the city opens up to you. San Telmo markets on a Sunday are brilliant selling antiques and handicrafts, stuff stuff and more stuff!!!!
The city is full of museums and art galleries which are fantastic if they’re your thing and if you can understand Spanish. We preferred to just walk around the streets and photograph buildings and street art, making sure to stop somewhere for empanadas at lunch time.
We did this also because our hostel was terrible! We should have suspected so from the pictures on hostel world but for some reason we decided to stay anyways. It was dirty & felt like a squat house/abandoned warehouse where raves are held. Parties most nights upstairs, no hot water...then no cold water...and it smelled of weed. Keep in consideration the humidity of the week....YUK!!!! (We made the fatal error of paying for 7 nights...so new rule...*book 2 nights only and take it from there...)
We did this also because our hostel was terrible! We should have suspected so from the pictures on hostel world but for some reason we decided to stay anyways. It was dirty & felt like a squat house/abandoned warehouse where raves are held. Parties most nights upstairs, no hot water...then no cold water...and it smelled of weed. Keep in consideration the humidity of the week....YUK!!!! (We made the fatal error of paying for 7 nights...so new rule...*book 2 nights only and take it from there...)
Have I mentioned the steak yet.....this picture says it all!!!!
Argentina is a beautiful country but unfortunately we couldn't see it all so we had to decide on 1 place to go and spend some time taking in this beautiful place. We narrowed it down to Foz do Iguazu, Patagonia, Antarctica (for shits and giggles...but apparently anyone under 50 years old is too young to go there....) & Mendoza.... now anyone who knows us will know what we picked... Mendoza, the Wine Country!!!!
It was a great bus trip, 15 hours, top and front seats, but when we arrived in Mendoza city is wasn’t exactly the picturesque vineyards and mountains and fresh air we were craving. Determined as ever we did some research and found a small hostel less than 2 hours away from the city, in the mountains, with no internet, no phone reception, no pollution and even less people.
El Puesto...is 9 kms up a mountain. Overlooking the hostel are the snow capped mountains and foothills of the Andes, you can see them when it’s not raining.
We had no idea we’d be in our thermals let alone sleeping under 3 big blankets...it’s a refreshing change and we love it here!!!
Being at the base of the Andes, adventure activities are big business here; also big business is ACONCAGUA.....It stands at 6,962 m (22,841 ft) making it the highest mountain in the Americas and the 2nd most prominent mountain in the world. So we being all adventurous now, we got up at 5am and caught 2 buses to Aconcagua national park in the middle of the mountain range and about ½ hour from the Chilean border. Aconcagua national park is stunning, and the mountains....well I think all we said the whole time was “WOW”. The photos don’t do it justice but you can see how magnificent they are.
There are many treks you can do while at the park. We were convinced to take the shorter route which is about an hour’s walk in. It’s good for beginners and will get you back in time for the last bus out. Note: there are few buses out of Aconcagua National Park and not much accommodation there either so time your trip carefully.
The whole trip up there was overwhelming; the amazing scenery is a photographers dream. Mother Nature never ceases to leave us speechless. So we sat for a while at the top of the lookout post in awe of it all. Of course not without our food stash that we prepared earlier in case we felt the slight feeling of hunger (this consisted of sandwiches with ham, vegemite , chimichurri, ketchup and avocado and a few pieces of fruit for the health!
Last Night In Our Beloved Buenos Aires
Knowing that we would be vegetarians for most of the rest of our trip, our good friends Martin and Daniel ( porteños that we met in a hostel in North East Brazil) offered to take us out to a proper Argentinian BBQ . We haven’t been this excited for food since breakfast!!!
Eager to make this a memorable dinner, they took us to one of the best places in town. We started off with sipping on some fine Argentine wine and trying really hard not to fill up on bread! The meal started off with our new favourite eats – The Parrillada – an assortment of cows organs which include brain, kidney, blood sausage, intestine, ribs, chorizo and blood sausage all charred to perfection...yummm.Then came -The Parrilla- and sizzling hot plate with an assortment of Steak, Lamb and Pork....utterly mouth watering cuts of Argentine meat!
As we slowed down and tried not go into a food coma, we ordered some more wine and laughed till we cried with anecdotes from our different countries, childhood memories, drunken stories and of course “things invented in Argentina” which include the pen and bypass surgery which are still under debate on our part!
One small cultural difference between Argentina and the rest of the world which moulds a child into the person they will one day become is their version of “The Tooth Fairy” .....”Raton Perez”, yes it’s a rat... Same occupation, same 50c under the pillow and he receives letters as well!!! Awesome....
This was one of the best nights on our trip so far which of course ended with a cigar and pact to meet up if not sooner, in 2031 for the ultimate trip at 50yrs old when we’ve finally earned the right to visit Antarctica! Thanks boys, we will miss you xxx
Oh! We forgot to mention the best dog ever! Signor Gomez has made a name for himself in his neighbourhood and he is a legend in his own right. French bulldog with the biggest attitude and the saddest face which will bribe you every time he eats your sofa...you can’t possibly hate him if you tried!!
After one hour’s sleep, we stumbled out of our hostel at 6am, caught a taxi to the wrong airport and then caught another one which beamed us to other airport on the other side of the city to catch our flight to our next adventure....Peru.
