High Andes Tour

Doc and I decided to go on a tour of the high Andes, which took us from Mendoza to the border with Chile. It was so cool starting out with a view of the mountains in the distance and slowly ascending the mountains as the day passed. We had a great, funny guide who took us on an unexpected hike through the Parque Provincial Aconcagua (to see a suspension bridge) and an awesome driver, who narrowly averted what could have been an awful accident in the mountains when a crazy driver in a slow, old, rickety car decided to overtake our minivan and a coach bus but somehow failed to notice the semi in oncoming traffic quickly heading his way. Kudos to them both for a great day!

After leaving Mendoza our first stop of the morning was in an areas called Potrerillos. From here we saw the precursors to the Andes and a dam on the Mendoza River. This river begins in the Andes and eventually irrigates the grapevines throughout the Mendoza region.





The next stop was in a small town called Uspallata (claim to fame being that Seven Years in Tibet was filmed around here).



We then continued along the road taking us in the direction of the border. We passed some really cool land formations, which our guide explained were formed by glaciers. Would you believe that the cliffs in the pictures below average 80 meters and in some places the cliffs are 120 meters?!?





Our next stop was a nineteenth century bridge used by the army, which crossed a stream. Right near the bridge, I saw this small shrine and thought it was quite beautiful.





From the old army bridge we continued further into the mountains and stopped next at the Puenta del Inca, or Inca's Bridge. The bridge was formed naturally, but due to an avalanche the old spa you see in the photo has been left for ruins.



Our next stop of the day was at the Parque Provincial Aconcagua. This is the access point to the tallest mountain in the Andes, Aconcagua. We walked to the Laguna de los Horcones, where we had some great views of Aconcagua. Our tour guide also took us on a further walk into the park. The differences in the weather over such a short distance surprised me. Sometimes I felt like I would be blown away by the strong, chilly wind and at other times the wind was perfectly calm and it was warm.













Before heading back to Mendoza, we stopped for lunch at a small place right before the Chilean border. The sign for the bathroom there gave me a good laugh.



All in all, an awesome day!