Once we’d completed the ordeal of crossing the Andes into Argentina, we set about actually exploring the city of Mendoza for a
few days. It must be said that we knew relatively little about the place before
we arrived; many of the things we noticed about Mendoza had as much to do with
being in a new country as with being in Mendoza specifically.
One of the first things we noticed was the dramatic increase
in prices. In Chile, we had been able to eat, drink and get around without much
thought for our budgets; in Argentina, we quickly realized we were paying what
we might pay back home. That led us to do a bit more cooking in hostel
kitchens, and as it happened, our accommodation in Mendoza was quite nice and
filled with friendly, chatty people. In fact, Mendoza itself was also slightly
nicer, in many ways, than anywhere we’d been in Chile. There were fewer stray
dogs and public spaces were generally cleaner and less cramped. I would hazard a guess that as Mendoza is
primarily known for its wine, high-end tourism has played a role in creating
those “nice” characteristics we noticed (and driving up the cost of living).
We managed to get our feet dusty, taking a city
bus out to the edge of town for a day hike in the Andean foothills. It was a
workout for us two East Coasters. We suffered the indignity of watching two
local men in their 60s (or older), one using a cane, stroll past us as we took
our umpteenth break of the ascent. We tossed potential excuses back and forth
for the remainder of the climb, but youth was no substitute for experience, it
seemed. The views were excellent, in any case.
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| The tourist with no name. |
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| The two guys who passed us on the way up. |
Two final points on Mendoza: because of some strange
policies regarding sidewalk ownership and the irrigation system that was
apparently built by the indigenous inhabitants of the area, sidewalks in
Mendoza are almost comically unsafe. It appears individual property owners are
responsible for maintenance – and some take pride in their cleanliness – but no
one is responsible for making sure the sidewalk is flat or for building
barriers along the irrigation ditches.
And finally, Mendoza has a tram system that we just had to
try. Coincidentally, its terminus is in a suburb called – I did not make this up – Maipú. That is pronounced exactly as the most immature part of your brain
thinks it is. When you’ve finished laughing about that, meet me at the next
paragraph.
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| There's a tram in Maipú! |
Given our memorably unpleasant experience on the bus over
the Andes, we decided to splurge on our next journey to Buenos Aires. The range
of bus services available in South America is remarkable, but perhaps even more
noteworthy is how affordable they all are from a middle-class North American’s
perspective. The trip from Mendoza to Buenos Aires is about 13 hours depending
on stops; the prices for one-way fares ranged from about $75 to $150.
Our $150 fare bought us a trip that was as memorably
positive as the previous one had been negative. In addition to seats that
reclined to be completely flat, privacy curtains and a reasonably clean toilet, a trip attendant served us dinner,
breakfast and champagne. She even spoke English, a non-essential but welcome
surprise. As we arrived in Buenos Aires the following morning, we almost didn’t
want to leave the bus.
At this rate, I'll probably write about Buenos Aires in another year, but...stay tuned!
