Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Valley of the Moon and Salta

The Dutchman and I headed north to San Juan where we took a little side trip to Valle de la Luna. This place is loaded with fossils from the Triassic period , the beginning of the Age of Reptiles.

As you can see the weather was not up to par, the rain started pouring- destroying the roads and finally stopped us from completing our tour.

Interesting geological formations - the tour was in Spanish so can´t really explain what caused this

Me with Argentina´s very own natural Sphinx
Thousands of perfectly round rocks

Just wanted to see if a dinosaur could wrap its jaws around my big cabeza.

Our next stop was the capital of the Salta province, Salta.

Main 18th century cathedral of Salta lit up for the night

A real man´s steak - 2 inches thick for the slim tag of 6 bucks
Mark getting religious

The gondola ride up to the top of Cerro San Bernardo

Me at the top
Mark and I dining in style - I had the rabbit & he went for the bife de chorizo (New York Steak).
In Salta Mark and I rented a VW Golf and decided to follow the tracks of the famous Train to the Clouds. The roads weren´t paved most of the way, but the little car had a lotta juice and we paid extra for insurance - so we proceeded to fishtail 600km through the clouds.

One of thirteen bridges that the train crosses.

Fancy rock formations
Great landscape
More neato geology

The famous viaduct La Polvorilla, located 4,220 metres (13,850 ft) meters above sea level. The curved viaduct is 224 metres long and 70 metres high.
Standing on the Salinas Grandes salt flatsI hadn´t been behind the wheel for a while, and I´ve never owned anything that could go over the speed limit let alone rally, so I proceed to take our rental on a high speed cookie ridden joyride across the salt flats. There were no cars, people or buildings as far as the eye could see, hence nothing could go wrong......My bravado led to the car getting stuck, but minutes later in the horizon I saw a moving dot heading my way and after about a half an hour the dot, a man with a shovel, arrived and dug us out. I gave him a couple bucks and we promptly left the salt flats.

Puente del Inca and Aconcagua

Mark and I took a day trip out to Puente Del Inca and Aconcagua to break up the monotony of wining, dining, and clubbing.

We ran into these pups on the way - I think the one in the middle is a keeper.

Puente del Inca a naturally formed Inca bridge surrounded by famous geothermal waters. The ancient looking building in the picture actually use to be the spa in an old hotel, Hotel Puente del Inca, that made its name on the therapeutic properties of the local geothermal water.
At lunch time this beast kept begging for a bite.
A tourist bus that took a wrong turn a long long time ago.
Mark and I hanging out with Aconcagua in the background - the closest I´ll get to the highest mountain outside of Asia (22,841 ft).... this trip



Mendoza - Wine Country

Mendoza is by far my favorite town in Argentina, the entire town is shaded by massive oak trees, there is an entire street devoted to bars, the wine is cheap and tasty, and while its a fairly small city (100,000 people) there is a park, Parque San Martin (400 hectares), that is larger than New Yorks Central Park (340 hectares).

In Mendoza I met up with the Crazy Dutchman, whom I had previously shared a few caipirinhas with at Iguazu Falls. We proceeded to run our gas tanks dry - sight seeing in the daytime, hitting up the bars at night, followed by the boliches till the morning. Everything ran smoothly - mostly due to the Dutchman being fluent in Spanish.

Me in Parque de San Martin - we tried to walk the park and merely ended up scratching the surface.



The best way to sharpen a knife and prepare for the Tour de France.

Mr. Dog the most popular franchise in Mendoza - serving up hotdogs of unknown quality (why eat a hot dog when you can get a steak for 5 bucks).
The most expensive wine of my trip ($30 bucks!!) - that I paid for.
Hanging out in a local wine bar.

Bodega Luigi Bosca owned by the Arizu Family - Most local Argentinans believe Luigi Bosca wines to be some of the best in Argentina. Tour of Lagarde Winery - pic of one of their hoppers and our guide.
Big oak barrel of wine.

This guy hand corks and caps every bottle of sparkling wine for Lagarde.

Carmelo Patti is a very interesting winery in that its primarly a one man operation, and Mr. Patti uses very ancient techniques in making his wine - there is not much precision in his craft. The bottles look nice though. Here is Mr. Patti himself using a wine thief to steal us a taste of his work. It definitely was not as refined or flat out good as Lagarde, but Mr. Patti's charisma is why you come to his winery (and for the free tasting).

Patti's hydraulic press basic
Where Patti's wine ages - not only is it not pretty or clean the temperatures aren't regulated
My favorite winery Hacienda del Plata

Tasting Best Goods
The wine on the far right is the best sucker I´ve had on my S. American journey - be sure to introduce your palate to this one.