After leaving Patagonia behind me after almost 3 months, it was now time to travel further north. My next destination was the city of Mendoza in the province of the same name in Argentina. The province of Mendoza is the main wine-growing region in South America, producing most of the country’s wines at around 70 percent. Some types of wine, such as Malbec, may be familiar to some readers.
In addition to wine, the area is also a well-known name among mountaineers. The Aconcagua, which at 6,961 meters is not only the highest mountain in South America, but also the highest mountain outside of Asia and therefore the entire southern hemisphere, is located just under 100 kilometers from the city and is a popular peak for ambitious mountaineers. Unfortunately, since I don’t have the right equipment or one of the expensive permits (approx. $1,300), I won’t be able to tackle the 14-20 day climb to the mighty peak and will have to make peace with the slightly lower mountains in the surrounding area.
Arrival in Mendoza – Sunday 04.02.2024
After I landed in Mendoza last night and stayed in my hotel, today’s plan was to sleep in. Afterwards I went to breakfast and found out about possible excursion destinations in the area.
Since it is currently midsummer here and around 40 degrees, the weather forecast for the next few days is unfortunately not particularly good. I still have 2-3 days of nice or hot weather, but after that summer thunderstorms keep coming, which makes longer tours in the mountains dangerous and therefore impossible. In order to escape the hot temperatures in the city, I would still like to go to Aconcagua Park in the next few days to at least see the highest mountain in the southern hemisphere from a distance.
After that, I’ll continue to see whether a short multi-day tour in the mountains is possible or whether I should go and visit the various wine regions in the region.
After a few hours of research, I couldn’t stand it in my small room any longer and then at least went for a short walk through the area to get a first impression of the city. Without further ado, I planned a small route along a few parks in the area and then set off in the midday sun at 35 degrees.
My first stop was at Plaza San Martin.
From there, I walked on to Plaza Espana, which was decorated with beautiful tiles and made a great impression. A noticeable number of people were lying around in the shade of the trees in the park.
Then I continued to Plaza Italia. In addition to a statue of Romulus and Remus, there were other typical Italian sculptures to look at.
The Plaza Independencia, which was much larger than the other squares, was my next destination. Since it was siesta, the square was relatively quiet and I was even able to take a picture of the Mendoza lettering without taking photos of other people.
Unfortunately the fountains were still out at lunchtime and were therefore a bit boring.
The last thing I did was take a detour to Plaza Chile before arriving back at the hotel after about an hour.
Here, I took a little rest from the heat. Later that evening, I went to eat at a restaurant in Plaza Independencia. At this time there was a lot of activity in the square and in some places market stalls were set up and music was being played. From my seat, I watched the many different activities going on around the square while I ate, which was quite entertaining.
After my meal, I went back to my room and soon went to sleep.
Waiting – Monday 05.02.2024
After a quick breakfast, I left the hotel and headed to the bus terminal to buy a ticket to Aconcagua Park.
I was actually hoping to be able to drive to the park today and spend the night at a campsite there. Unfortunately, there were no seats available for today and so I could only buy a ticket for the 4-hour journey the next day. Since the permits for several days in the national park were too expensive for me ($210 for 3 days), I bought a bus ticket with a return trip on the same day.
Since I was scheduled to leave the bus station at 5:50 a.m. the next day and wouldn’t arrive again until 11 p.m., I looked around for accommodation near here. I actually wanted to switch back to a cheaper hostel today, but after a few minutes of searching, I found a very cheap hotel right next to the bus station that was even cheaper than most hostels. I quickly book a room there so that I can travel a short distance tomorrow.
Then I looked again for a Western Union location to increase my cash reserves. After walking there for 30 minutes and waiting for 15 minutes, I was unfortunately informed again that they didn’t have that much cash anymore and that I should come back in the afternoon.
So I made my way back to my current accommodation to check in. Surprisingly, the man at reception actually pronounced my last name correctly and it turned out that he had lived in Denmark for a few years and had taken German lessons for a year. Since it was no longer much better than my Spanish, we preferred to clarify the remaining details in English.
Afterwards, I went to my air-conditioned room and immediately packed my backpack for my trip tomorrow so that I could travel around the park with less weight and therefore be able to travel easily despite the unusual height.
In the afternoon, I went to the Western Union location again, only to be put off until tomorrow. Since the next location was too far away for me and I still had enough cash for the next day, I then bought a few groceries in a supermarket, had a quick lunch in a restaurant and then walked back to the hotel.
There I washed my clothes and took a siesta. Afterwards, I used the time to write on my blog and look for further tours before I went to bed early in the evening to be fit for the next day.
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