Mendoza

After the scary incident that happened on my first evening in Mendoza, that I mentioned in my previous post, the rest of the trip went quite smoothly. I had three full days there in total, and I spent the first and the last of those days seeing the sights of the city on foot.

To be honest, I think one day is really enough to see all of the city's sights - Mendoza is not a place with a long list of iconic sights. Obviously it wouldn't have as many interesting places to visit as a huge capital city, but even compared to smaller cities I've visited, there's not so much to see there. 

That's not to say I don't like it though - it is just a city that is a nice place to visit if you want to relax in picturesque parks and squares, and enjoy good (and cheap!) food and wine, rather than a place you'd visit to spend days packed full of sightseeing. Actually, I quite liked the fact that this was a destination where I could take things slowly and just soak in the atmosphere of the place. On most of my trips, I find that I fill each day to the max with sightseeing and various experiences, and while I love those kinds of trips, they can also be tiring, so it's nice to take things slowly from time to time.

On my first day, I walked a tonne around the city centre and got my bearings of the place. The centre is designed with one big square in the middle, and four smaller squares in each corner.

The first one of these squares that I visited was Plaza Chile! The decoration of the square is actually based on Chile, and the history of the fight for independence. Aptly, the sign with the name of the square has graffiti on it, just like many of the signs and buildings here in Chile, whereas the rest of the city is very clean and well-maintained!

On my way to the next square, I saw what I think is the most beautiful building in the entire city: this cultural centre. It's so grand and elaborate, and reminds me of the buildings in Buenos Aires.

The second of the squares I visited was Plaza España. This one was my favourite! The fountains, walls and benches are all covered with mosaics inspired by Spain, and it even has a mural about the history of the Spanish in Argentina.

Next, I walked down a boulevard filled with cafés and restaurants, where I saw this interesting pink fountain. I think I prefer fountains with clear water, but this is certainly something different!

The third of the four corner squares that I visited was Plaza Italia. This one was originally called Plaza Perú, but was changed to Plaza Italia because of the large amount of Italian immigrants who came to Argentina. It has many statues inspired by the classical art of Italy, and another pink fountain! I spent some time sitting in the shade here, enjoying the view and catching up on emails.

The other corner square is the only one that is not inspired by a country; it is called Plaza San Martín and has a statue of General San Martín, one of the leaders of the fight for independence. But apart from the statue, it is quite plain compared to the other squares, so I passed through without stopping to take photos there.

In the mid afternoon, I had some food at a vegetarian buffet restaurant called Govinda's, where I had a plate full of food and a bottle of soft drink, which came to a total of less than 3 pounds! (Argentina is incredibly cheap compared to Chile!)

Afterwards, I went back to the hotel to charge my phone, have a shower, and rest my feet a bit before going out again. I picked up some drinks and snacks for the evening and the next day from a big supermarket, and again was amazed by the prices! I also explored the train station, which is quite an attractive place and a sort of museum with an old train and an old station building. I've always really liked train travel, so I enjoyed seeing this place, which makes you feel a bit like you've walked into a train station from the past.

The following day, I was out of the city from 9am to 8pm, but the day after that I did some more sightseeing.

I chose to mainly focus this day on spending time in Parque General San Martín. This is an absolutely huge park on the outskirts of the city - in fact, it's even bigger than Central Park in New York! During my previous visit to Mendoza, we visited Cerro de la Gloria on the far edge of the park, and then we drove round to the other side to visit the gates at the entrance, but we didn't really explore inside the park. So I decided to use this second visit to see some more of the place!

The walk to the park from the city centre is a couple of kilometres, but there are some nice views to take in of historic buildings along the way.

The gates at the entrance to the park are very grand.

Not far from the entrance, you can find Fuente de los Continentes (Fountain of the continents), a huge, classical fountain with statues representing America, Europe, Asia and Africa. This was my favourite monument in the city, because not only is it beautiful, but it also celebrates the whole world.

Next I walked to the park's lake, which is really picturesque, and a perfect place to walk around on a summer's day.

There's a beautiful rose garden next to the lake, which really reminds me of being in parks and gardens in Europe.

At the far side of the lake, there's a little island that you can get to by crossing over a bridge. It's a very charming place with classical statues and a fountain.

Not far from here, you can find Museo de Ciencias Naturales y Antropológicas Juan Cornelio Moyano. This science museum is totally free to enter, and is a really great place to spend an hour or two. It covers the history of the earth, animals and humans, and has lots of interesting exhibits. A lot of the information focuses on the Mendoza province and the rest of Argentina, but it also has information and exhibits from across the world, including objects from the Inca period in Peru and the Aztec period in Mexico! I really enjoyed my visit there, and I think it's especially great that it's free.

Afterwards I walked back towards the entrance of the park, going round the other side of the lake and taking in the views of the many trees.

It would have been nice to see some more of the park, but it is so huge, and by this stage I wanted to get some food! So I went back to the city centre again to find somewhere to eat lunch.

After lunch, I was full in my "savoury stomach" but I still had space in my "sweet stomach" for some ice cream! Interestingly, in South America, Argentina has a real reputation for being the best country at producing desserts and confectionery, including chocolate, medialunas (which are similar to croissants), and ice cream.

I went to Alma de Helado (Soul of Ice Cream), which had lots of unusual flavours, including many vegan ones to choose from. I opted for coconut and watermelon & basil, and both were delicious! It was really nice to sit outside with my ice cream enjoying the sunshine. In fact, throughout Mendoza, there were always plenty of people eating and drinking outside cafés and restaurants, which reminded me of the café culture in France and Italy, and was something I liked a lot about the city.

The final place I visited was Plaza Independencia, which is the main square in the city centre. I remember that we had to spend about two hours here on my previous trip to Mendoza, which is crazy when you think about it, as it's not really that big of a place! But it is a nice place to walk around, relax and take photos.

Overall, despite the bad start to my stay in Mendoza, I quite enjoyed the days I spent in the city. It is much smaller and more laid-back than Santiago, so it felt like a nice break from the relative chaos of the Chilean capital! I visited plenty of places that I hadn't been to during my previous trip to the city, and generally had a much nicer time.

Next up I'll be writing about my day white-water rafting - a brand new experience for me!

The Journey Between Santiago and Mendoza (200th Post!)

Since the start of this year, I seem to have had a bit of a theme going on of revisiting places from my Year Abroad, starting with Valparaíso, then Algarrobo, and now Mendoza.

My previous trip there was not one of my favourite travel memories, I have to say! I went on a big group coach tour, which involved two nights of sleeping on the coach, one night of sleeping in the most horrible hostel, and a lot of time standing around in the cold May weather while the group took endless photos. Admittedly, I was very worried about a situation in my personal life during the trip, and the day after I got back, I found out that everything I'd been worried about was actually happening. The days that followed were incredibly tough, and I suppose I really linked Mendoza to that awful time when thinking back on the trip later. (But as it happens, I did learn some important lessons from that bad situation, and I was lucky that new and lasting happiness came into my life very shortly afterwards.)

So, even though I did enjoy spending time at Cacheuta Spa, visiting a vineyard, and attending a chocolate tasting session during that long weekend in Mendoza, I didn't really envisage myself going back to this part of the world in the future.

Why did I go back, then?

Well, as my Chilean visa ran out last month, I had to leave the country at least for a couple of days in order to be able to stay here in Chile for another 90 days. I was previously thinking of going to visit some new places in Peru, but there has been a lot of political unrest there in recent months, so I needed to change my plan. Mendoza was always going to be the cheapest and most convenient option, and as I'm currently trying to save money and also fly less, I decided to go there and to travel by bus.

I wanted to use the opportunity to try white-water rafting for the first time (I'll be writing about that soon!) and to make some more positive memories of Mendoza.

In addition, I wanted to travel there and back by day in order to see some of the amazing sights along the route from Santiago!

I chose to travel in a salón cama bus (a bus with huge seats that recline almost completely) run by the operator Tas-Choapa, which was actually around the same price as standard tickets from other operators. On both journeys, the bus was half-empty, and I had a whole row to myself, meaning I could use the seat next to mine as a table for my things, and I could also jump across to the seat on the other side of the aisle to look at interesting views! There were also TVs showing movies throughout the journeys. All in all, it felt like a really comfortable first-class travel experience that I've certainly never had on a plane!

To be honest, I would even say that the journey there and back was the best part of the trip! Not only because of the nice bus, but mainly because it's just such a spectacular route, taking you through the very highest part of the entire Andes mountain range. It gives you amazing views of beautiful scenery, as well as important landmarks. I took lots of photos, though it goes without saying that they are far from perfect, having been taken through a bus window!

The first couple of hours of the journey from Santiago involve driving through the countryside of central Chile, first north to the city of Los Andes, and then east to the border with Argentina. It was fun to spot these people skydiving (I think?) towards the start of my first bus journey!

Things get exciting once you start going up the mountain! There is a road called Los Caracoles (The Snails), which takes you right up into the Andes, and yes, it does kind of look like the shell of a snail! From what I'd read about the journey online, this is meant to be quite scary, as the road has no barrier. However, the edge of the land is quite far from the edge of the actual road itself, and the vehicles move very slowly, so I was able to relax and just enjoy the views.

Right before crossing the border, you pass through the ski resort of Portillo, though of course there's no snow there at the moment, as it's summer. However it's a tourist destination all year round, because of Laguna del Inca (Lagoon of the Inca), which is a really picturesque place, where you can kayak. But I was only able to catch a small glimpse of it on the way back from Mendoza!

Next it's time to cross the border! I was hoping to go past Cristo Redentor de los Andes, a big statue of Jesus that is located right on the border, but unfortunately the bus just passed through a tunnel both times. 

Crossing the border takes about 30 minutes to an hour, and consists of passport control and then a baggage check. It's not a bad opportunity to stretch your legs and get some fresh air, and it breaks up the journey a bit.

And then just across the border into Argentina, you can see one of the most important sights in the entire American continent: Mount Aconcagua. This is the highest mountain in the world outside of the Himalayas, though it's hard to believe it from my photo! It doesn't look very big through the bus window, but the amount of snow on it shows you just how high it really is. I would have loved to have stopped at the viewpoint at the side of the road, but unfortunately that's not an option when you're taking public transport!

About a minute further down the road, you're treated to another amazing sight: Puente del Inca (Bridge of the Inca). Although its name suggests it was built by the Incas, this is in fact a natural arch with many interesting colours, thanks to the minerals from nearby hot springs. I believe that both Puente del Inca and Laguna del Inca are located along Qhapaq Ñan (the Inca road system), and that's how they got their names. 

Again, there were people parked next to the bridge taking in the sight, but I made the most of my few seconds each way enjoying the view!

After this point, there's a couple of hours before the next important sight, but plenty of scenery to soak up. It starts off mountainous...

...and then turns into green countryside. There's a definite difference between Argentina and Chile in this respect; the countryside of central Chile is quite dry, with lots of cacti and palm trees, whereas Argentina is much greener, with willow trees and other types of trees that are similar to those we have in England. It was great to see lots of horses in the fields too - very typically Argentinian scenes!

Finally, about an hour before reaching Mendoza, we passed Potrerillos Dam, a huge reservoir of beautiful blue water. I could see people relaxing next to the water, as well as others kayaking. This is definitely another place where I'd like to spend more time in the future.

It was almost a bit disappointing to arrive in the city of Mendoza later in the afternoon - the city itself has some interesting things to see, but I think the surrounding mountains and countryside are the real attraction of the province.

My time in the city got off to a bad start, as I had a bit of a scary experience in my hotel during my first evening there. What happened to me could have been a lot worse, but it left me quite shaken up, and it has made me feel less confident about travelling solo in the future. Fortunately, the problem was resolved by the following morning, and I enjoyed the rest of my stay in the hotel (which was very nice actually - a million times better than the horrible hostel I stayed in the previous time!). I also enjoyed the rest of my time in Mendoza, which consisted of two days sightseeing in the city, and one day of white-water rafting in the countryside.

But overall, the journey there and back was a real highlight of the trip, and I hope to repeat it again, whether that's soon or sometime further in the future. Next time, I plan to go with Claudio in the car, so that we can stop at all of the interesting places along the way!

Before signing off from this post, I want to celebrate the fact that this is my 200th post on Charlotte's Travel Adventures! Since writing my 100th post in January 2021, I've achieved some big dreams both in travel and in life in general - most importantly, I moved back to Chile a year ago, and Claudio and I moved into our first apartment together. In addition, I've been lucky enough to visit some of the places that were at the very top of my bucket list, including Machu Picchu and Rio de Janeiro.

So I'm excited to find out what adventures we'll have between now and post number 300... 😃