Since Becky's still shaking some bug, which may be due to sleep depreviation since we never eat until 10 o'clock or so and often finish afer midnight, we decided to go with another low-adrenaline tour. We took a bus ride to the high Andes, all the way to the border with Chile. Some amazing views of the mountains, took lots and lots of photos, which the idea that yes, this time I will stitch together a shot of all these mountains, print and frame it, and hang it proudly.
But as I look at the photos, I realize again why Ansel Adams was a great photographer and that even with a wide-angle lens you can't just point a camera at a mountain and capture its grandeur.
As part of the trip, we took a ski lift up one mountain, got a bunch of shots from there as well. The border with Chile was quite high, there was some snow and a lot of wind.
We met a very nice Canadian couple, Matt and Emma on the trip, and afterwards went out for a drink and shared travel stories in Latin America and other places. She's a writer/photographer, he's a helicopter pilot, and they travel quite a bit. A nice way to end the tour.
Becky and I then went to the lovely Azafran restaurant, but more about that in the next post.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Mud Bath and Spa
We spent our last full day in South America similar to the first: absolutely certain we were on vacation, basically in the lap of luxury. We went to a small spa located in the foothills of the Andes, glorious views, naturual hot springs, friendy staff. We treated ourselves to a massage, 2 mud baths, and dips in all the pools (varying temperatures). Lunch was a feast (alas, of mostly meats, but Becky enjoyed the other stuff, too). It's hard to imagine doing less. We brought books and postcards and journals, but none of them even got opened.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Mendoza: Trekking and Rapelling
Our first adventure tour was to the foothills of the Andes, for a day of trekking, rapelling and canopying (I like the Spanish word better, "Tiroleza", attaching yourself to a wire and gliding down it at a pretty good speed.
Depending on how this story is told, it will either be a day of fun and adventure, or a day that didn't quite live up to expectations. Becky's version will be the first, since she has largely an pleasant outlook on life, and Tac's will be the latter, since he's demanding and expects a lot from life and every adventure it offers.
But since it's my blog, I'll go with my view. We arrived at a rafting place, and everyone else went over to get their rafting gear. I asked if the bus was continuing on to another place for the other activities, and was told no, this was the adventure base. It turns out that the tour we booked through the agent was really a rafting tour that offered a few side activities, a small rapelling wall and short tiroleza across the river, and a 1/2 hour hike, but basically it was a Class 3 and 4 white water river rafting place. So while everyone else went off, we took a hike (longer than 1/2 hour, gratefully) in the desert. It was quite nice and somewhat interesting, but not the adrenaline rush that rafting would have offered.
When the rafting group returned, 7 of us went to the rapelling wall, and waited patiently for our turn to descend, then over to the tiroleza.
So, each activity was okay in it's own right, but it was like eating appetizers at a steak house, I felt like we missed the main course.
Becky, on the other hand, quite enjoyed all the activities, they were of sufficient length and adrenaline for her, so it was still a good day.
Depending on how this story is told, it will either be a day of fun and adventure, or a day that didn't quite live up to expectations. Becky's version will be the first, since she has largely an pleasant outlook on life, and Tac's will be the latter, since he's demanding and expects a lot from life and every adventure it offers.
But since it's my blog, I'll go with my view. We arrived at a rafting place, and everyone else went over to get their rafting gear. I asked if the bus was continuing on to another place for the other activities, and was told no, this was the adventure base. It turns out that the tour we booked through the agent was really a rafting tour that offered a few side activities, a small rapelling wall and short tiroleza across the river, and a 1/2 hour hike, but basically it was a Class 3 and 4 white water river rafting place. So while everyone else went off, we took a hike (longer than 1/2 hour, gratefully) in the desert. It was quite nice and somewhat interesting, but not the adrenaline rush that rafting would have offered.
When the rafting group returned, 7 of us went to the rapelling wall, and waited patiently for our turn to descend, then over to the tiroleza.
So, each activity was okay in it's own right, but it was like eating appetizers at a steak house, I felt like we missed the main course.
Becky, on the other hand, quite enjoyed all the activities, they were of sufficient length and adrenaline for her, so it was still a good day.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Biking around Mendoza
I thought of Bike and Brunch when I saw this sign (Bike and Wines, which sounds even better than brunch!). Alas, since it was Sunday the wineries were closed, and I had to settle for the zoo and park. Still, it was a nice afternoon to be out while Becky slept and tried to get rid of this bug.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Mendoza: The Wine Capital of Argentina
Mendoza is a lovely city, with a large plaza in the middle that is bustling with life from the early evening until about 1AM. There are 4 smaller plazas, arranged around the main one like the 5 on a die.
Becky's still fighting some bug, so she caught up on sleep while I tooled around the plazas, investing options for what to do while we're here. Dozens of tour agencies offer day trips and longer, this is also an adventure spot, with lots of young people wandering around with backpacks and middle-aged people in business suits discussing wine. (We're middle aged but still carry backpacks.)
As luck would have it, we arrived while the wine festival was going on, and I ran across the contestants for the "Miss Mendoza" or some such thing, all the beauty pageant contestants parading around the plaza and pedestrian zone. Lots of good photo ops. In the evening, I saw a play at at tiny theater, in part to see if my Spanish was sufficient to handle it. I got most of it, but didn't get most of the jokes. Still, I'm feeling pretty confident in my language ability
We also had fresh pure grape juice, which Becky likes quite a bit more than the wine.
Becky's still fighting some bug, so she caught up on sleep while I tooled around the plazas, investing options for what to do while we're here. Dozens of tour agencies offer day trips and longer, this is also an adventure spot, with lots of young people wandering around with backpacks and middle-aged people in business suits discussing wine. (We're middle aged but still carry backpacks.)
As luck would have it, we arrived while the wine festival was going on, and I ran across the contestants for the "Miss Mendoza" or some such thing, all the beauty pageant contestants parading around the plaza and pedestrian zone. Lots of good photo ops. In the evening, I saw a play at at tiny theater, in part to see if my Spanish was sufficient to handle it. I got most of it, but didn't get most of the jokes. Still, I'm feeling pretty confident in my language ability
We also had fresh pure grape juice, which Becky likes quite a bit more than the wine.
Friday, February 16, 2007
BA to Mendoza
Rain. Packed. Walked around and did some shopping, had a lovely (but fast) lunch at Cluny's. I doubt I'll ever get a such a great value again, the combination of wonderful food, great service and a strong dollar made this probably the best $20 meal of my life.
Went to airport to go to Mendoza. Flight delayed due to rain. Captioned photos and chatted with other travellers about their adventures, and eventually arrived in Mendoza, the wine capital of Argentina (think Napa Valley, but affordable).
Went to airport to go to Mendoza. Flight delayed due to rain. Captioned photos and chatted with other travellers about their adventures, and eventually arrived in Mendoza, the wine capital of Argentina (think Napa Valley, but affordable).
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Milonga: A night of Dancing with the locals
Tonight was a real treat: Milonga is a style of tango that's relatively easy, and we went to a dance hall that included a lesson. Lots of fun, not at all touristy (unlike the Tango of last night), fun to participate and to watch.
Alas, I can't dance to save myself. No matter how much my Spanish accent improves, no one will ever mistake me for an Argentine. Still, I danced some, which made Becky happy, although I was actually more content watching. It reminded me of a high school dance, will the gals on one side and the guys on the other. But everyone danced with everyone else, in rapid succession and nice manners -- I can see why people really like this style of dance and getting together.
Dinner afterwards at the very chic "Casa Cruz" was ruined by cigarette smoke -- evidently the owner doesn't agree with the law and has just told people it's okay to smoke after midnight. I spoke with a waiter there who agreed it was illegal, but that the owner decided it was okay. I loved the atmosphere, because I'm easily impressed by fancy, stylish environments. Becky was less impressed (and very tired), but we both agreed the food was quite good.
Alas, I can't dance to save myself. No matter how much my Spanish accent improves, no one will ever mistake me for an Argentine. Still, I danced some, which made Becky happy, although I was actually more content watching. It reminded me of a high school dance, will the gals on one side and the guys on the other. But everyone danced with everyone else, in rapid succession and nice manners -- I can see why people really like this style of dance and getting together.
Dinner afterwards at the very chic "Casa Cruz" was ruined by cigarette smoke -- evidently the owner doesn't agree with the law and has just told people it's okay to smoke after midnight. I spoke with a waiter there who agreed it was illegal, but that the owner decided it was okay. I loved the atmosphere, because I'm easily impressed by fancy, stylish environments. Becky was less impressed (and very tired), but we both agreed the food was quite good.
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