 |
| a sunrise flight to Mendoza |
Mendoza- Los Penitentes- Skiing adventure holiday!
SO yesterday morning we arrived home by bus (and this is not just a 'bus' but a full on business class style seats that recline and you sleep like a baby!) from Mendoza! We spent one week spontaneously frolicking over the west side of Argentina in the province of Mendoza. 2 days before we decided we needed to get out of Quilmes and start to see the country we had moved over the sea to live in!
 |
| Helados en Mendoza- muy rico! |
 |
| Plaza Independencia- Centro Mendoza |
We spent one night in a nice hotel in Mendoza city- which is not a big big city like Buenos Aires or Sydney.. it is more like a big big town- no high rises... residential with lots of small shops and tour companies trying to get you to fly or bus somewhere else. Well from what we saw anyway staying in the centre of Mendoza city, this is the impression we got. Lots of nice parks with big water fountains etc..
We had wicked meals of Parilla delights (steak.. oh the steak that melts in your mouth! hahaha)
Off we went on search of hiring ski/snow boarding gear and buying bus tickets out to Los Penitentes, which is a tiny town with ski slopes in the Argentine side of the Andes mountains. Situated about 20kms from the boarder of Chile. We paid $5 AUD equivalent each for our bus tickets- and the bus trip was honestly a highlight of this trip!
 |
| Leaving Mendoza- us trip out to Los Pentitentes |
It was 4 hours on the coach from Mendoza to Los Penitentes- and the views were absolutely spectacular!! the rugged mountains, the mountain river rushing- we went through this tiny tiny mountain town surrounded by mountains with the most beautiful pristine lake- crystal clear blue.. reflecting all these mountains.. beautiful!! photos don't do it justice... we want to come back and camp in this little town and go fishing and hiking! was superb!
 |
| Potrerillos- The Little Mountain Lake Town! Beautiful |
Anyways, so this bus was super comfy and the whole time our eyes were eating up this incredible country's beauty!
 |
| Los Penitentes- View from the ski slope above |
We arrived in Los Penitentes and was shocked at how little snow there was in this place... you will notice that rocks and grass are poking through... it is said that all the ash pumped up into the sky from Bariloche has ruined the snow season here in Argentina... there were two skiable slopes... which were fantastic! one took us at least 20-30mins to get down it was so long and hairy! very very fun!
the next day skiing wasn't very 'snow skiing' it was more 'ice skiing' a wind had picked up and blew all the snow off the mountain...
Now while this sounds totally sucky! haha... it was so much fun staying in a little hostel in the actual snow field- slipping in my gum boots (wellingtons) down the snowy streets looking for dinner at night and watching crazy people ski down the mountain at 9pm with fire torches putting on a magical display for all the tourists.. loved it!
Here are some photos of our adventures here:
 |
| Ready to go over the steep drop down! woooo!! |
 |
| gorgeous! |
 |
| Mountains- where is the snow? |
 |
| The same mountains after it had snowed a little- magic! |
 |
| The front slope.. the bigger better beast was up behind it.. |
Back to Mendoza on the bus, thinking that we are flying the next day, but no, the ash cloud is still hanging about over Buenos Aires and our flight was cancelled twice! We spent two extra nights in Mendoza in an awesome awesome hostel- clean, cosy and central! and then decided we just needed to get back to BA by Friday. so we booked out cama bus (bed bus) for the 14 hour bus trip back to BA. and we slept the whole way! felt more like a 2 hour drive!! perfect!
Buses in Argentina have a class of their own! amazing!
I'm wrapping this up pretty quick- but it was so nice to venture somewhere so different in Argentina! it makes us both so keen to hit the slopes again soon and see more of this amazing country!
Where to next? we don't know- so many options!
And now we are getting out little home in tip top shape for Chris' mama who is going to arrive tomorrow morning!! woohoooo =D can't wait to share this place with the people we love! awesome
signing out for now- hopefully will try and be a little more regular with updating this blog!
lovelove and besos,
Miki
