Mendoza, Argentina

This weekend I got another stamp in my passport. Monday was Dia de la Raza and we took the long weekend to cross the Andes into Argentina. Thursday night, after going to the wrong bus station, asking for directions several times, and walking to the right one, we took an overnight bus from Santiago to Mendoza. At 2am the bus reached the border and we all had to get up and stand outside for an hour. It was freezing. We were in the middle of the Andes after all. But in my dazed 2am stupor I managed to get all my documents in order but not to bring pants and a jacket. After freezing for an hour we got back on the bus and slept until sunrise.

Day 1 in Mendoza we walked all around the city. Mendoza is one of the calmest cities I have ever visited (that doesn't say that much though because I tend to visit chaotic places). The city is full of plazas, fountains, and trees. We kept a Chile vs Argentina tally while we explored.

Chile: creatively hideous hair styles, hotdogs, money.

Argentina: trees, pretty people, variety of cow parts served at nice restaurants.

On 2 we rode bikes from winery to winery and learned how to properly taste wines. We visited 3 bodegas and 1 distillery and chocolate factory. It was all in good fun until Katy crashed her bike and ended up with a bloody knee. When we got back we met up with my Tufts friend who is studying in Mendoza and my Camp Reed friend who is studying in southern Chile and went to a classy Italian dinner. Afterwards we went to a less than classy gas station patio to enjoy more Argentine wines.

Day 3 we headed out to Rio Mendoza to go rafting. I was so so excited to go rafting for the first time. Unfortunately we had to wait a long time, the water was freezing, and the rapids were not very intense. I remembered to bring my positive attitude though and I had a great time! The highlight was definitely the 80s-style wetsuits we all got to wear.

On Monday morning we went to the bus station for the ride back to Chile. We got on the bus and after 20 minutes they announced that we would be waiting another 25 minutes for some people who were late. An hour into the ride we hit a line of parked traffic. There was a demonstration against logging and in favor of tourism that had closed the only road across the pass. After sitting for an hour we started moving again. The demonstration ensured that we all arrived at the border at the same time and we had to sit for nearly 3 hours before entering customs. After customs we slowly made our way down the switchbacks and got stopped at several police check points. The 7 hr bus ride ended up taking 12 long, long hours. At least we had spectacular views of Mt. Aconcagua and really bad movies dubbed in Spanish to entertain us!