*AT THE BOTTOM underneath the big picture are links to a few other pictures from the trip…more will hopefully come soon!

26/7 through 30/7 2007

TRIP TO MENDOZA/PENITENTES!!!

This past weekend could have been one of the best yet. We decided to take a trip to Mendoza Argentina, which is in the region of Cuyo, (west of Cordoba). It started the night of Thursday the 26^th…..

We all got together at my house, Russ, Peter, Mary Marshall, Tamara, and Amelia. We got some take out since we still had about 2 ½ hours before our 10:15pm bus ride from Cordoba to Mendoza.

We took cabs to the bus station, and got on the bus for our all night bus ride. Peter and I had awesome seats up in the front of the bus on the second level, so I fell asleep to my Jack Johnson/Ben Harper mix and a view out the second floor windshield. It was awesome. On our bus there was also a large group of students from Texas who study at Cordoba University. They had all had a lot to drink before, so it made the first 6 hours of the bus ride pretty hard to fall asleep and stay asleep.

We arrived in Mendoza the next morning (Friday) about 7:30 or 8am. We went first directly to the hostel to drop off our packs, and then we began our day of exploring. Little did we know we would be jumping off a cliff that day…

First we found a nice little restaurant to sit down and had a great breakfast. The owner of the restaurant was also our waiter, and so we got to sit with him and talk a lot. He was a really nice and interesting person. He taught us a lot about how Mendoza works and helped us with ideas of things to do. After we ate the breakfast, we went across the street to a place called Campo Base, where they work with our hostel, and a few others, to help make arrangements for tourism type things. The first idea the guys had to do was go skydiving…ill be honest, that was not so high on my priority list, I was ready to rent some four-wheelers or bikes and explore the desert (because Mendoza is a desert, the only water they get is the melting snow from the Andes). But after finding out that we could only jump out of a plane from 9,000 feet and not 15,000 (apparently that is not high enough…) we decided to look into some other options. We found something on Parapente, which is basically hang gliding, definitely more my style.

So we made the reservations, and had about 4 hours of down time, so we thought about just laying out the rest of our weekend while we could. We decided we would take a bus early the next morning to Penitentes, which is about 3 hours away from Mendoza, and very well known for their skiing. So we rented our equipment and made the reservations. I decided to snowboard, and the rest skied.

At 3:00pm we were picked up for our parapente-ing. We drove out in a sweet old Land cruiser (late 70’s to early 80’s I think…) and went out into the desert. We had to split up into two groups to jump, so Russ and Amelia went in the first group along with a Dutch couple we met, and peter, Mary Marshall Tamara and I waited for the next. When we sat on the ground, we watched them float what seemed to be miles up in the sky, and they were doing spins, and acrobats, things I wouldn’t ever think would be possible with a parachute. I was now getting a little nervous; we were really going to do it…

They landed, and got us hyped up and more nervous. We helped load up our huge packs that had the parachutes in them, and then got in the truck again, for a ride up a windy, narrow dirt road that brought us upto to an altitude of about 1640 meters. It was beautiful up there. You could see for miles. Then it came time to strap up. I wasn’t as nervous at this point, so I quickly got geared up and got ready. Then it came time to jump. What happens is they start to lift the parachute, and catch the wind, while you (and the professional guy strapped to you) start to sprint as hard as you can towards the edge of the cliff. That was probably my favorite part. it was such a rush. We jumped, and the parachute caught the air (whew!). it was amazing. We floated for about 40 minutes, and we could see everything. The guide asked me about 20 minutes in, “do you want to drive?” and so I got to drive/steer the parachute by myself. That was so cool. It was really cold up there, but it was easy to forget about the cold when looking at the mountains. Then he asked if I was interested in trying the acrobatics, and I figured, “hey, I just jumped off a cliff. I’m untouchable. Bring it.” So we started to spin, and it was such a rush. I couldn’t believe that I was actually doing it. We spun so fast, and he got us to the point where we were higher than the parachute, and parallel to the ground. Then we landed smooth, and rode back. It was awesome.

We went back to the hostel, rested a while, showered (the only time of the weekend) and then went out to find some dinner. We found a really great restaurant called Aileen. We sat down for an amazing 5 course meal. The best part of it two, with the 5 courses, 4 bottles of wine and 7 bottled waters, and we spent 70 dollars American money for 6 people. I love exchange rates. After wards we went back again to the hostel and just hung out and talked and made it an early night. Being in the hostel with all 6 of us in the same room and in bunk beds felt like being at summer camp. We laughed so much and had so many great talks both nights while just lying in bed. I loved it. I have not laughed so much this entire trip as I did this weekend.

The next morning we got up at 7am to catch what we thought was our reserved bus at 730. At 9 o’clock when it had not yet arrived we called multiple times and finally the hostel worker got a hold of them and they said they never had reservations for us. It was terrible. But then the other part of our group from CCCS, that didn’t skip Friday just arrived so we caught up with them for a minute, and brought along 2 more kids on our adventure to Penitentes. We went to the bus station and caught the first bus we could, which was only 16 pesos (a little over 5$ American) and rode up there. After the stressful morning, waking up in the middle of the snow covered Andes Mountains was real treat. It was worth the agony of the morning’s travels. It was such a breath taking sight. We immediately went to the next hostel, dropped off our things and it was off to the slopes. The lower half was pretty icy, but the upper levels were amazing. All powder. We skied/snowboarded until 6 o’clock then the lifts closed.

We then went back rested a little, warmed up (because it was freeeeeezing there. Especially when the sun went down) and then went out to find some food. We met up with some of our group for a bit, but then they decided to go back to Mendoza that night, because we found out there was no Cajeros (ATM’s) in the entire town, and no where accepted our credit cards (“visa, everywhere you want to be!” NOT.) so we sat down with our group (8 of us at this point) and checked in with the cash. We figured we’d have enough to get by, but 2 decided to still leave. They hadn’t had that extra night in Mendoza, and if they left, they could get back by 10 and catch up with the rest for dinner. So we pooled our money, and made it through the rest of the weekend.

We went out to a hotel first and had some snacks and drinks by the fire which was one of the best feelings after not having any feeling for about 5 hours. Then we went back to our hostel for a dinner. We stayed in the rest of the night and talked with the other travelers in the hostel. There were people for Spain, England, Ireland, the US, and all over South America. It was a really fun night.

Sunday morning we decided to sleep in after a long night, and planned to get up to catch an 11am bus to the mountain Aconcagua. It is the highest point in the Western Hemisphere. The altitude was 6,959m. We missed the bus by 5 minutes, so we thought we were out of luck. We started to panic also because our “ride” back to Mendoza had just bailed, and we were not having luck finding another that would get back in time for our 10pm bus back to Cordoba. Part of the group thought they would try and catch a 2pm bus back while Russ peter Tamara and I would stay until the 5pm and hopefully get on. So Mary Marshall and Roger went back to the hostel and hung out for a while since there was not a lot of time in between (we had also just had some lunch). We thought we would hitch hike to the mountain (which is really a lot safer than in the US and was only about 7 miles away from us) but then we got the recommendation to try and see if there were any private drivers (drivers who drive up people from Mendoza for the day and wait until they are done skiing and then return that same night) who were just hanging out and see if we could pay them for the ride. We lucked out, because the first van we came to said it would be 10 pesos a piece to go, hang out for half an hour, and then come back. So we decided to take them up on it. After the 10 minute bus ride, we came to one of the coolest places I’ve ever seen. There were not a lot of people there, and we could hike for that whole half hour. We did. it was so cool running in the snow, climbing the rocks and seeing the highest point in the Western hemisphere. The cool breeze and warm sun complemented the perfectly clear day and we just were able to sit on a tall rock, away from all the other tourists and just take it in.

It was amazing. It was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. I wish could find the words to describe it. We then rode back and caught up with Mary Marshall and Roger who informed us that there was no 2pm bus and we had to get on that 5pm. So we went back to the hostel and decided to just rest. Mary Marshall and I got some homework done while Peter journaled, Russ slept and the rest had Mate while watching some Spanish animal planet. It came time to go to the bus, and we ran into our friend Alvaro from the night before, and he was going for the same bus, and so we tagged along with him; probably the best decision of the day. We got to the stop and it was packed. It is never for sure how many busses will come, but that day it was rumored to have been three. There was no way to buy tickets before, so it was a fight to get to the front and get some. It was really nerve wrecking because we HAD to catch this bus. Our other ticket was already paid for. Thanks to Alvaro, we got on the last bus, and had to sit in the isle for the first hour and a half, but it was ok because we made it back. We parted ways in Mendoza with Alvaro, and then rushed to return our skis and find the next bus. Peter and I went to the rental place while Russ and Mary Marshall stayed with the luggage near the next bus stop. (Roger and Tamara went to another rental place where they had gotten their gear).

Peter and I went to get some cabs with our equipment for skiing and snowboarding for 6 people. No cabs wanted to take us because the ski’s had to go out the window. We had to split it up into two cabs, each us in one cab. We were rushing because the line was huge for cabs. Then, as soon as Pete got in his cab they left. I didn’t think anything of it. Then I loaded up mine and got in. What did I forget? Oh yeah, where we were going! The driver asked, and I had no idea, so we drove around for 20 minutes trying to find it. Finally I remembered where our hostel from Friday night was, so we went there. I knew how to get there from the hostel. So after 25 minutes in the cab, we found Peter and returned everything.

My cab driver was really patient and waited for us to return the stuff and then took us back to the bus terminal. Then we met up with the others, and got loaded up on yet another bus. It was with the same group of Texans as the other ride, so we were ready for the worst. We had our head phones charged and ready to cut out drunken obnoxious-ness from the back half of the bus, but when we sat down it was calm and quiet. It was a nice relief. We stayed up and talked a little more before we settled down, and just talked about the weekend- amazed at how much we did and saw, and still wanted to do! We figured out more or less the money situation as well and pretty much evened everyone out, then crashed for the ride home.

We pulled into Cordoba this morning a little after 7am. 4 of the group went in a cab home, Russ and I didn’t get enough of packed smelly busses so we just took the bus home. Now it is 11:10 am, and I have showered cleaned my room, unpacked and wrote most the major occurances of the weekend. All in all it was an amazing weekend. So much fun, so many things seen and done, fears conquered, risks taken, and lessons learned. I love traveling like that, with no real plans of what’s next, it kept it exciting (and stressful but that’s where we learned a lot). I can’t wait for Wednesday, because then it’s the next adventure, this time to the city of 37 million- Buenos Aires!

 

ps- sorry its so long. i had made some awesome videos too of jumping and the trip, and just realized i lost them all. they didnt transfer…:( biggest bummer of the weekend by far. hopefully they are on my computer somewhere and i just cant find them, i will try and post them somewhere if i find them, they are amazing….at Aconcaguaat the foot of Aconcaguasaturday nights amazing sunset