We left Santiago at 0630 hrs heading for Mendoza. The road was full of twists and turns and the weather warm. Near the Chile/Argentina border we had to go up a switchback with 29 bends, each one numbered at the side of the road. It was aid that the bends were numbered so that anyone breaking down could call the breakdown truck and say exactly where they were. Leading up to the border was the Los Libertadores Tunnel There were no actual formalities at the Chile border but on reaching the Argentine border immigration formalities were carried out for both countries by one immigration officer making things much easier. Even though there was a large queue of trucks, buses and cars at the border we were called through quickly and getting through took about 90 minutes.
Once across the border we stopped to see an Inca Bridge though I found it difficult to make it out From near the border and to Mendoza there were still railway lines for a narrow gauge railway, now not used. This was built by the Brazilian brothers in 1987 but has been out of ususe since 1984 because of the terrain and weather (lots of landslides, blocked tunnels and bridges washed away). It looked as if it would have been too expensive to keep the line operational. There was also a number of hydro-electric power stations and two chairlifts for grass skiing seen along the way.
Driving through Mendoza at 1800hrs it looked to be a very green city with lots of large sycamore trees on the side of the roads and a number of green spaces. Mendoza itself is only 100 kilometers from the Andes and is actually built in a desert, perhaps that is why it is the centre of the wine growing district here. In 1861 the city was destroyed by an earthquake and later rebuilt with earthquake prof houses and buildings (the buildings I agreed with a local had no ‘presence’ and looked like square boxes with no form or colour. When rebuilt the city was moved slightly and large drains were made in the streets so that water from the mountains could flow freely through them and at the same time water the trees and green areas to make the original desert seem to bloom. When I first saw the water in the drains I thought that there was a lot of leaking pipes about the place! We stayed in the Hostel Lagares, in six bunk bedded (or six bedded bunk) dorms.
While the some of the others went rock climbing or cycling to vineyards I went into the city to take the ‘free walk,’ again a student being a tour guide for tips only. This time there was only a young French girl and myself going round with the guide for just over two hours. Mendoza has a number of plazas to visit including the Plaza Espana which is the monument of Spain’s discovery of South America with Andalucian tilework depicting Christopher Columbus’s sighting of South America and a scene from a book by Don Quixote amongst others.
The Plaza Independencia is the physical and cultural centre of the city and is set in a park.
The Park General San Martin celebrated the first spaniard to cross the Andes to Chile with an army to liberate the southern part of South America from the Spanish, As this is the 200th year of that anniversary the Police Band were playing in one of the pedestrian precincts in the city.
I took the following photograph as is depicted real recycling in a way with the men sweeping the park with palm leaves that had fallen off the tree.
There was an original shopping arcade in the centre of the city with glass windows and roof which I thought we quite pretty.
By the time I had walked roud, listened to other bands and buskers in the street shops were beginning to close. This was a friday afternoon and I would have thought to be a very busy time for shopping but it was not so as in Mendoza shops close from 1400 to 1700 hrs for a siesta. It was also very warm, 36C I believe, so I went back to the hostel buying a melon on the way; couldn’t get wine in the bottle shops as they had closed as well so bought one in the hostel (at near supermarket price) watched a film, ate some of the melon and shared the bottle of wine with others who had given up because of the heat.
 |
| The switchback |
 |
| View from inside the Los Libertadores Tunnel |
Once across the border we stopped to see an Inca Bridge though I found it difficult to make it out From near the border and to Mendoza there were still railway lines for a narrow gauge railway, now not used. This was built by the Brazilian brothers in 1987 but has been out of ususe since 1984 because of the terrain and weather (lots of landslides, blocked tunnels and bridges washed away). It looked as if it would have been too expensive to keep the line operational. There was also a number of hydro-electric power stations and two chairlifts for grass skiing seen along the way.
 |
| Part of the old railway |
 |
| The Inca Bridge (I could not make it out before taking the photo) |
 |
| Views on the way to Mendoza |
Driving through Mendoza at 1800hrs it looked to be a very green city with lots of large sycamore trees on the side of the roads and a number of green spaces. Mendoza itself is only 100 kilometers from the Andes and is actually built in a desert, perhaps that is why it is the centre of the wine growing district here. In 1861 the city was destroyed by an earthquake and later rebuilt with earthquake prof houses and buildings (the buildings I agreed with a local had no ‘presence’ and looked like square boxes with no form or colour. When rebuilt the city was moved slightly and large drains were made in the streets so that water from the mountains could flow freely through them and at the same time water the trees and green areas to make the original desert seem to bloom. When I first saw the water in the drains I thought that there was a lot of leaking pipes about the place! We stayed in the Hostel Lagares, in six bunk bedded (or six bedded bunk) dorms.While the some of the others went rock climbing or cycling to vineyards I went into the city to take the ‘free walk,’ again a student being a tour guide for tips only. This time there was only a young French girl and myself going round with the guide for just over two hours. Mendoza has a number of plazas to visit including the Plaza Espana which is the monument of Spain’s discovery of South America with Andalucian tilework depicting Christopher Columbus’s sighting of South America and a scene from a book by Don Quixote amongst others.
 |
| Views of the Plaza Espana |
 |
| Don Quixote |
 |
| Christopher Columbus’s sighting of South America |
 |
| A wall tile mosaic |
The Plaza Independencia is the physical and cultural centre of the city and is set in a park.
 |
| The Plaza Independencia |
 |
The Park General San Martin celebrated the first spaniard to cross the Andes to Chile with an army to liberate the southern part of South America from the Spanish, As this is the 200th year of that anniversary the Police Band were playing in one of the pedestrian precincts in the city.
 |
| Full uniform |
 |
| The Police Band |
 |
| (Not sure if the palm leaf can be made out properly) |
 |
| An old bank building, now an arts centre. |
 |
 |
| Stained glass windows |
 |
 |
There was an original shopping arcade in the centre of the city with glass windows and roof which I thought we quite pretty.
By the time I had walked roud, listened to other bands and buskers in the street shops were beginning to close. This was a friday afternoon and I would have thought to be a very busy time for shopping but it was not so as in Mendoza shops close from 1400 to 1700 hrs for a siesta. It was also very warm, 36C I believe, so I went back to the hostel buying a melon on the way; couldn’t get wine in the bottle shops as they had closed as well so bought one in the hostel (at near supermarket price) watched a film, ate some of the melon and shared the bottle of wine with others who had given up because of the heat.
No comments:
Post a Comment