Our day in the Andes

Hello family, friends and fetuses (Gordon & Hedgeland shout out right there!),

Lance and I are currently staying at an estancia, or farm/ranch, near Cordoba. We thought we would update you all on how we spent our last day in Mendoza. We were lucky enough to take a tour with Juan Cruz and his Land Rover Defender through the Andes on a 10 hour tour. He took us through the foothills of the Andes followed by the second and third ranges of the Andes. We ended up at a lookout point of the highest peak in the Western and Southern hemispheres - Aconcagua at 6961 meters. After viewing Aconcagua, we ate a delicious lunch. We had an assortment of meat cooked on a grill with red wine and coca cola classic - classic. I had blood sausage for the first time ever. While I didn't really like it, I was glad I had tried it. On the way back to Mendoza we followed the Camino del Ano which is a path originally constructed by the Inca with 365 turns - one turn for each day of the calendar year. Juan was an excellent guide as he and his family have lived in the area for several generations. He pointed out lots of points of interest, local flaura and fauna and also treated us to the national beverage of Argentina - Mate (a tea like drink served hot). The Mate made my bladder very angry and I peed about 365 times during the trip. After a while, I stopped bothering trying to find a bush to hide behind and just squatted behind the Defender. It was quite intimate really.

This is a shot from the beginning of our tour as we entered the Andean foothills

 A pit stop to have some Mate, coffee and orange juice.

Juan taught us the rules of drinking Mate. For example, the Mate always gets passed to the right BUT ONLY AFTER the Mate maker has drank first. If the Mate maker gives you the drink first, he is basically saying "I think your an asshole". Hah! Also, you only say "thank you" once you are finished. The Mate typically gets passed in a circle at least two times. Sip sip pass. Hmmmmmm....

 

 Oh yes! Lance's bladder was also caught off guard by the Mate. Can you spot him below?

Behind us is a herd of  vicuna. According to Juan, it is not too common for the vicuna to be so close to the road. We were lucky and saw several herds that day.

We made it to the lookout point for Aconcagua!

 

On our way to lunch, Juan pointed out this memorial to Charles Darwin and the work he had done in the area.

Our lunch spot. 

Mmmmm meat.....

 We ran into some local gauchos having a fabulous time sharing beers and bottles of wine. This was also one of the locations where Seven Years in Tibet was filmed with Brad Pitt. Lance swoons as that is his man crush. Juan had actually worked on the movie supplying horses and other animals for the set.

The below shot was the last leg of our tour - the road of 365 turns. It was stunning.

 Me about to do a bad thing to the back end of the Defender. I didn't even buy her dinner.

We also came across two foxes on the last bit our our journey. This was the adult fox.

Baby fox!

This was our favourite day in Mendoza. I dont think the pictures do it justice, but I think you all get the idea.

We are off to Iguazu falls tomorrow. Cant wait :)

Lots of love,
Lamy

Mendozahhhhhhhh!

Hi everyone,

What a difference a couple of days make. Lance-o and I are feeling much better and have started to relax again. We are still waiting for our credit card and hopefully it will arrive today. Mendoza has been an excellent spot to spend a couple of extra days and unwind. It is a beautiful city with a backdrop of the Andes and a huge wine industry nearby. Everyday we have been enjoying some excellent local Malbec and the park like surroundings. Pictures below.

Here is a shot of one of the views from our apartment - Andes in the A.M.

And Andes in the Afternoon

 This is the south facing view from our apartment at night. On the bottom right you can see the beginning of Plaza Chile.

Me! Last night before dinner. People eat super late here. We didn't show up until 10pm or so to Anna Bistro (yum!) and many many many tables followed after us. I have found that a big steak and a bottle of wine allow me to sleep for 8 hours straight. zzzzzzzzzzzz.....

Here are some pics from San Martin park. It is a huge beautiful park on the westside of Mendoza with a little lake in the middle of it, many biking trails and a museum or two. Lance and I spent an afternoon there relaxing in the shade of a palm tree reading books.

Plaza Chile which is just across the street from us:

Plaza Italia about four blocks away from our apartment. Apparently there are so many plaza's and parks in response to a terrible earthquake 100+ years ago that killed much of the population. During the quake, most people ran outside and were crushed by falling buildings. The city imposed architectural controls and zoning requirements so that there were many parks dispersed throughout the city for people to escape to in the event of another earthquake.

Lance-o at an underground museum at Plaza Independencia.

Cherries and cheese...not what I was expecting :)

Yesterday Lance and I went on a wine tour though a company called Trout and Wine. Our group was very small for tour standards - only 7. 2 Aussies, 1 American and 2 Dutch tourists joined us and we had a great time! These first set of pictures are from the first winery we visited: Alta Vista. I think this was one of our favourite stops on the wine tour. It was in a beautiful setting, the lady who showed us around was super knowledgeable and fun and the wine was excellent.

Achaval Ferrer was our second stop on the tour. Also a very beautiful location. By this point, Lance was starting to get a bit hammered. I kept giving him my extras because I didnt want to have to pee my pants on the bus. Luckily lunch was the next stop on the tour :)

 

Next stop was the lovely and apparently pricey Club Tapiz where we also sampled some olive oil. The green machine below is the old school olive oil press. 

Fancy.

 Lunch with the gang. Finally! Everyone was starting to get a bit tipsy. We actually had a really great 2 hour lunch. Lots of stories and laughs.

Check out the look on Taco's face below :) Taco was one of the Dutch tourists and it was his birthday. I gave him a birthday dance. Happy Birthday Taco.

Carinae was the last stop of the day. We purchased a special gift for Dawn and Isaac for looking after our house while we are away. Thanks Dawnsac!

That is it for now. Today we will wait for Mr. Mastercard. I do hope he makes an appearance.

Lamy OUT!