On my second day in Mendoza, I took a bus tour into the Andes, to the Parque Nacional Aconcagua. When planning my time in Mendoza I had read that it’s possible to do a day hike to the Confluencia base camp, the first campsite for those who are climbing Aconcagua. I had seen photos of the route, which looks stunning, and had got quite excited about doing it – only to find, when I tried to buy a permit (you have to obtain a permit in advance of your arrival if you wish to do any hiking in the park) that the hiking season only starts in November and the trail is currently shut. So the bus tour, which would take us to the car park and allow us to do a short walk to a viewpoint, was my only option to see Aconcagua up close.

I found, unfortunately, that I was the only English-speaking customer on the tour, and the guide insisted that I sit up front, across the aisle from him, so he could translate to me. Which was very good of him, but what I had expected to be a long scenic bus journey where I could simply stare out of the window and admire the view, soon became rather annoying as he launched into a great long spiel in Spanish about the history of Mendoza, the river, the abandoned railway, local fauna and flora, for the benefit of everyone else, followed by the English translation delivered directly to me such that I had to turn my attention away from the scenery and to him instead. This wouldn’t have been too bad had it just been a single blurb at the start of the journey, but he literally spoke for the entire 3 hour journey – it felt like being in a remedial history and geography class as I got an in-depth explanation of the history of the abandoned railroad, the importance of the river to the city of Mendoza and various battles that took place in the area between the Argentinians and the Spanish. Definitely not what I’d signed up for – but he was such a lovely guy, and so keen to make sure I got the full translation of everything he was saying, that I didn’t have the heart to tell him I would have preferred to just stare at the views!

A few photos below that I did manage to snap in between the history and geography lessons:

Just before Aconcagua, we stopped at Puente del Inca, which is a fascinating natural bridge formed by colluvial sediments and salt deposits. There was once a luxury hotel above the bridge where people could stay and enjoy the natural thermal waters, but this was destroyed by an earthquake in 1965 and never rebuilt. There is now a small collection of shops selling food, drink and tourist trinkets to the bus loads of visitors who turn up each day to see the bridge.

It was a very short drive from Puente del Inca to the National park and we had a quick walk to the viewpoint.

From there we went for lunch in a restaurant in Las Cuevas, a tiny village just before the Chilean border – the guide explained that Las Cuevas has only 3 permanent residents! The restaurant clearly depends entirely on tour groups – our group occupied two large tables, and within minutes of our arrival the other tables had been filled by other tour groups.

Thankfully on the way back the guide remained silent and put some music on, so everyone was able to just relax and either snooze or chat. Our final stop on the way back was a quick photo stop at Potrerillos Dam.

It had been a very long day and I wasn’t particularly hungry so didn’t bother going out to eat, instead spending some time trying, unsuccessfully, to book a hire car for my upcoming time in Salta. It seems I’ve left it too late and all the hire companies I tried either have nothing available, or what they do have is astronomically expensive. After a bit more time spent on the Argentina travel tips Facebook page, though, I’ve established that public transport around Salta is pretty decent, so hoping I’ll get by without a car and without having to book guided tours. I don’t think I can face any more history and geography lessons!