Arco De Las Cuevas Mendoza

Up at 5am for a 4 hour bus journey to go and see this natural stone bridge at the top of the pass over the andies into Chile..... It was good but it was closed as it was a bit unstable. Got an 8 hour bus rinde back to Mendoza only to come passed again 10 hours later going back to Santiago! Mmmmmmmm

... we&#8217;d heard that the quality of ski instructors at Portillo was excellent, and Robert didn&#8217;t disappoint - he was the best ski instructor we&#8217;ve had, and was an encyclopaedia of ski info, from what waist width we should look for on our skis to which Canadian ski resorts would be best on a road trip. <br><br> We were also lucky enough to witness the Austrian downhill skiing team training for the 2010 winter Olympics ...

... the presentation and went to bed.<br><br>Our 10 minute presentation went well on Friday. After my classes on Friday, I returned home, packed for skiing, and took a quick nap. I met up with several Chileans and other Americans for my program around 5:30 PM. We walked to the supermarket, bought ingredients for a meal, and went to Fernanda's house to cook! (Well, I actually didn't cook, but several of the girls did!) They made mexican food, apple pie ...

... Dulce de Leche is like carmel sauce but with milk and eaten on everything here even at breakfast. On a banana could cure cancer) and Salsa Golf (Salsa Golf is just ketchup already mixed with mayonaise, named salsa golf because 2 guys thought of the idea while golfing and made MILLIONS) 4. Carlos y Jose 5. Cafayate 6. Speaking spanish 7. beer in 1L bottles 8. walking 20 kms a day 9. The mountains 10. pesos

... out bikes and took the 60Km (the first half by bus!) Citcuito Chico route exploring Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapis gorgeous lakes and surrounding mountains. The views were breathtaking...building up to one of the higher viewpoints towards the end of our hard days cycle - the panaromic view at the top has to be one of the most beautiful sights I have ever, ever seen. Truly stunning. Having worked up a good appetite, I headed out for dinner ...

With a mild hangover (read "Hugo´s revenge") we set off on a double decker bus over the Andes into Valparaiso. The scenery was incrediable, but Latin Americans drive double deckers like they´re in a go kart. Scary stuff if you´re in the front seats of the top deck!

... and no sign of my bus I started to feel I was in for another ride. I quickly made it up to my bus company's ticket office and asked them to tell me where it was and they said go to platform 43! I sprinted down and made it to a bus and the guy looked at my ticket and said this isn't your bus, but get on it and we will take you about 1.5 hours out to another terminal where you will get your bus. I was ready to get off at the other bus terminal later on but was told to ...

Nous repartons de nouveau vers la nature, direction Puente del Inca a cote de la frontiere chilienne. La route est superbe. Nous sommes dans la vallee et nous entamons la traversee des Andes. A cote de la route les rails de l'ancien transandin subsistent traversant des gares desafectees. Aujourd'hui, tout le fret se fait en camion et la route en est pleine. Une fois arrives nous decouvrons un petit village, passage oblige de tous les tours operateurs. On y trouve un pont naturel en ...

... the Andes and the border with Chile. It was nearly 12 hours travelling around, but a great way to see some of the sights (and easier than walking!), including getting up to an altitude of 4,200m in the minibus. We have now checked into Casa Luis and Marcela, and are thorougly enjoying Mendozan hospitality - back to Santiago tomorrow lunchtime.

... Utd supporters must meet at to watch their games (note the name!)... <br><br> <br><br>...and admired the leafy avenue, which is typical of Mendoza. <br><br> <br><br>We needed to buy a knife to cut our bread &amp; tomatoes and after looking in every shop that we passed finally found a general store which looked promising. <br><br>When we ...