Mendoza

We landed in Mendoza at around 2:30pm and there was a long lineup for the taxis, but no taxis were in sight. It's the first day of the year and apparently everything shuts down during the day. We were able to hop on a bus to the bus station in downtown Mendoza and take a short taxi ride (after waiting about 30 minutes for a taxi) to our hotel.

Everything seemed closed and there was no one on the streets. We ordered room service and rested a bit. Around 5:00pm, we left the hotel and headed to park San Martin. The streets were still empty, but some restaurants were preparing to open for the night. We walked for about 2 hours getting to the park and within the park and then got some ice cream.

We went back to the hotel to shower and rest a bit. At night we went for a late dinner with beer and wine.

Biking in Mapui

The next morning, we took a taxi to Mr. Hugo in Mapui to rent bicycles and visit some wineries. The bikes were in bad shape, so we decided to make it more fun by renting a tandem bike. The bike ride was really fun even though it felt like the bike might come apart at any minute. We visited 3 vineyards, tasting wine and having lunch in one of them.

At around 4pm, we took a bus back to Mendoza, and went to the hotel to pick up our stuff. Boudi took an Uber to the airport to fly to Chile and then France, and I went to the hostel I booked for an extended stay in Mendoza.

Back to being solo

I checked in to the hostel and went grocery shopping to make some vegetarian food. I've been eating meat for the last 2 weeks and was craving some lentils. At the hostel, I ran into Hugo (my roommate from Vicuna whom I also ran into in Perito Moreno) and we hung out quite a bit during my stay there.

On Friday, I did some work and went to inquire about hiking in Mendoza. I was previously told that hiking to the base camp of Aconcagua required a guide, but it turned out to be false. There are buses that go directly to the start of the trail and the hike could be done unaccompanied.

I decided to do the hike on Saturday and the information office told me there is no need to book a bus ticket in advance.

The next morning, I was at the bus station at 6:30am to take the 7:00am bus to Aconcagua, but... The bus was full. So I bought a ticket for Sunday. Saturday was super hot in Mendoza, so I mostly stayed in to do some work.

Hiking in Aconcagua

Sunday morning, I headed again to the bus station to catch the 7:00am bus. The bus ride is really scenic, but is 4 hours long as the bus keeps on stopping in random places. The map says that it takes about 3-4 hours to reach the base camp, 2 hours to come back. There is also an Inca sight (Puente del Inca) about 2km from the trail head that could be worth a visit.

I started hiking at around 11:15am and it was sunny and windy. But as I kept hiking, it became cloudier and started snowing with a mix of freezing rain. The mountain was never fully visible but it was still a nice hiking day. I reached the base camp (at 3400m from sea level) in 2.5 hours, had lunch, and was back at the trail head by 3:50pm. I made my way to the Puente del Inca quickly and toured the sights in 15 minutes.

I originally had bought a return ticket at 8pm, but there was a bus leaving Puenta del Inca at 4:45pm. I decided to take that one, even though the ticket was not transferable. On the way back, we seemed to have stopped even more than on the way there. I was in Mendoza at 9:20pm.

Even though the hike was really nice, it was a long day of commuting (5.5 hours of hiking and 8.5 hours of travel). Renting a car would have been a better option.

Chilling in Mendoza

The next few days were spent chilling in Mendoza, mostly doing work and going for short hikes.

On Wednesday, I woke up early to beat the heat and hike up the Cerro de la Gloria to have a panoramic view of Mendoza. The majority of the streets in Mendoza are covered by trees on both sides and there are hardly any tall buildings. It is a nice city, but too hot for my liking :).

I came back to the hostel to shower and check out. My next stop is Salta.