greetings from mendoza and bariloche!

hola!

i had not intended to be online so soon but time flies and things seem to happen quickly when you're on holidays! i had a great time in mendoza seeing some ruins and visiting some wineries before i met up with a chick from france (i am not learning much spanish unfortunately) and we decided to see puenta del inca and mount aconcagua together.  mount aconcagua is the highest mountain in all of the americas at 6,962m in height!  we headed off by bus very early in the morning and hiked around a bit at the base before we dropped down to an altitude of around 3,100m above sea level.  there was snow everywhere and the view was absolutely amazing!  there was no one around except us. we took a picnic and enjoyed the natural beauty. 

we then walked down to puenta del inca which is a bridge made from salt deposits and other minerals.  once upon a time it was entirely naturally made but now the bridge is maintained by humans.  the bridge itself is yellow and a bit smelly of sulfur and underneath are hot springs to bathe in but we didn't bring our suits. 

after our wander, we hitch-hiked back (160km) to mendoza! not to worry mom, dad or gail, i was with someone else and we ended up with a lovely tractortrailer driver as our chauffeur!  he chatted the whole way and served us matte (a traditional tea they drink here which you drink out of special cups, using a metal straw (with a filter on the end) to filter out the loose leaves.  it's quite good with a bit of sugar :)  the ride back in the cab was fun as was the thrill of hitchhiking in general.  he dropped us off on the outskirts of town and we took a bus the rest of the way in. 

while at the bus station, we had a look at the schedule and discovered there was a night bus to bariloche that night (lucky but also completely unplanned!) we raced back to the hostel and had a half hour to get packed and get back to the bus station before the bus left...  it was quite the rush but in true south american style, the bus left late and we were actually left waiting around for its departure. 

we arrived in bariloche this morning (northern patagonia) and it's beautiful!  i think that i'll stay until sunday and then head over to chile.

missing you all!

sarah

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