Back to the Andes
23rd of March, puente del Inka
We hung around Mendosa for the day, sitting in parks and getting a 10 peso all you can eat lunch, mmm.
We got a bus in the evening to a place called puente del Inka which is about half way along the road to Santiago in the middle of the Andes.
The name comes from the remarkable natural bridge crossing the river which was used in the past by the inkas as part of their trail network.
There are a handfull of houses, mainly for military since we are so close to the border.
There is a hostel though, in the old train station run by a lively young little buinsess man who seems to own most of the buisnesses in the town.
24th March, Aconcagua
It feels really good to be back in the Andes.
The scenery is absolutely spectacular, oh how I've missed the mountains.
From puente del Inka we walked into the Aconcagua national park.
Here we could see mount Aconcagua which is the highest mountain in the world outside of the Himalayas at just under 7000 meters. We walked as far as the first base camp and then back which took 8 hours.
Then in the evening there was an asado (bbq) and socialising with the other hostel guests.
25th of March
Today I parted ways with Stuart who I had been traveling with since Buinos Aires.
Fortunately for me two girls who were staying in puente del Inka, had arranged for one of the passing busses to Santiago to stop and pick them up so I was able to travel with them to Santiago.
The border crossing involved alot of form filling, dogs sniffing and bag searches while we stood around for about an hour.
On the road, at the top of the mountain pass, we saw an overturned truck inches from the shear drop. We decended the switchback road nice and slowly.
The busses here are top quality, loads of room, food served and quality films.
Then a last night out in Santiago,
we met loads of crazy Chillians.
I ended up back at a house explaining Irish language, history and geography to a bunch of them till 7am.
We hung around Mendosa for the day, sitting in parks and getting a 10 peso all you can eat lunch, mmm.
We got a bus in the evening to a place called puente del Inka which is about half way along the road to Santiago in the middle of the Andes.
The name comes from the remarkable natural bridge crossing the river which was used in the past by the inkas as part of their trail network.
There are a handfull of houses, mainly for military since we are so close to the border.
There is a hostel though, in the old train station run by a lively young little buinsess man who seems to own most of the buisnesses in the town.
24th March, Aconcagua
It feels really good to be back in the Andes.
The scenery is absolutely spectacular, oh how I've missed the mountains.
From puente del Inka we walked into the Aconcagua national park.
Here we could see mount Aconcagua which is the highest mountain in the world outside of the Himalayas at just under 7000 meters. We walked as far as the first base camp and then back which took 8 hours.
Then in the evening there was an asado (bbq) and socialising with the other hostel guests.
25th of March
Today I parted ways with Stuart who I had been traveling with since Buinos Aires.
Fortunately for me two girls who were staying in puente del Inka, had arranged for one of the passing busses to Santiago to stop and pick them up so I was able to travel with them to Santiago.
The border crossing involved alot of form filling, dogs sniffing and bag searches while we stood around for about an hour.
On the road, at the top of the mountain pass, we saw an overturned truck inches from the shear drop. We decended the switchback road nice and slowly.
The busses here are top quality, loads of room, food served and quality films.
Then a last night out in Santiago,
we met loads of crazy Chillians.
I ended up back at a house explaining Irish language, history and geography to a bunch of them till 7am.
posted by conor at 12:23 AM
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