Argentina 5


Got another car to drive out to the mountains and stayed in a dead hole called Uspallata which it seems Charles Darwin went through when ashore from The Beagle in 1830 something.  It was very windy in the open and we were reminded of the advice we were given in Patagonia by a local to always park facing the wind.  Otherwise, he said “Bye, bye doors”.
Without really thinking about it we’d both imagined the Andes as being snow capped and verdant.  Well, perhaps on the Chilian side they are but we’d forgotten about the rain shadow.  The Argentinian side has snowy tops but looks like bare, multi-coloured rock.  It’s desert and is really, really bare.  Naturally, close up there’s an interesting desert/alpine flora.  Well, we find it interesting.   This was on our day trip to walk the lower slopes of Aconcagua.  Lower is relative, we started at 10,000 feet and went up from there.  Stunning landscape and views and yes, interesting plants.  A party of 4 French Canadians passed us at the start of their 15 day (15 !) summit attempt.  Most of their gear had gone ahead by mule train earlier.
At one point when we’d stopped for a few minutes, we had about a dozen birds around us, presumably used to being fed even in the middle of nowhere.  It was a bit like being St Francis of Assisi, but without the religion of course.
As we finished our lunch at what I calculated later to be about 11,500 to 12,000 feet, Heather sat on the track and said “I feel a bit funny, I feel dizzy”.  She wasn’t to know that those were the exact words she said as she had her Transient Global Amnesia attack last year.  Naturally she didn’t know that but I certainly did.  As it happens it was just a bit of dizziness which we put down to the altitude.  Unfortunately, she even remembered whose turn it was to carry the backpack.   So we turned round but it was still a really good 5 hour walk.  We were both a bit disappointed because at the checkpoint a little further on, we would have had the compulsory Doctor check before being allowed to go further.  Hopefully the French Canadians all got through.
Just dropping our bags off at the Mendoza bus station and we had a real downpour.  Still to return the car, the storm drains were overflowing, cars were stalled in the middle of the road presumably having had their electrics drenched and some roads on slopes were just like rivers.  People just took off their shoes and waded through it.   Well, the rental company got a clean car back, and I like a bit of fun.  I’m writing this bit on the overnight bus to Salta, the longest so far.  About 1200kms, 19 hours.  Only excitement was  having to stop due to a protest blocking the main road with a tree and some fires.  All light hearted and after 20 minutes or so, the tree was dragged out of the way and off we went.  And so we arrived at Salta.

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