After a short rest at La Chimba to do some washing and recharge our batteries, we were off on our next adventure. This time the destination was Mendoza, Argentina. We took another night bus and crossed the border into our 5th country. Unfortunately we arrived at 2am at the border, so we were all a bit sleepy by the time we arrived. Mendoza is a pretty city with tree lined streets and lots of parks. It is also a very hot place so you need the shade. We found a hostel very near to the main park - Plaza Independencia. The place was called Campo Base and according to our guide book full of hikers and climbers. We renamed it Guitar Hostel because we met no climbers and were kept awake half the night by someone playing their guitar very loudly, right next to our dorm room. Fortunately we were only there for one night before we escaped to the mountains that surround Mendoza.
We caught a minibus to Refugio San Antonio, Vallecitos and enjoyed a scenic tour through the mountains on the way there. This was our first time back at high altitude for a couple of weeks, so we did a short warm up hike on the first day. Our hike took us past a ski centre, up a rocky slope and onto the summit of Cerro Lomas Blancas (between 3600m and 3900m depending on the map/guidebook). The summit gives you great views of the surrounding snow capped mountains.
After a slightly cold meal of spaghetti bolognaise, served by our friendly but slightly dizzy host, we headed for bed in our chilly dorm room. The next day it was time for our expedition into the mountains, so we set off with our tent and 4 days worth of food (mainly pasta, chirizo and cup-a-soup). Our 10km route on day 1 took us from 2500 metres to 4215 metres. We passed through grassland and up loose scree slopes, until we reached a waterfall and the campsite called Salta del Agua. It was hard, hot work but worth it for the views. The campsite was full other climbers.
We moved on to a higher camp the next day - La Hoyda, 4556 metres. The snow and wind made this a less popular campsite, infact we were the only people there. The advantage was we had a couple of kilometres fewer to walk when we made our summit attempt the next day.
Our target was Cerro Vallecitos, a 5500 metre mountain. We set off about 8am and climbed carefully up the snow slopes, which were steep in places. Then we headed up onto the ridge where strong,cold winds nearly blew us over. A quick rest in our portable shelter and we were ready to plod on to the top.
The 3 hour climb was worth the effort because from the top we had amazing views of Aconcagua - the highest mountain in South America. We even managed to find a spot sheltered from the wind. The journey down was much quicker with the wind behind us.
Although the wind wasn't so welcome that night when it tried to blow our tent down, fortunately our tent was designed for mountain weather. The next day we headed back down the valley for a calmer campsite.
We celebrated our success back in Mendoza with a picnic in the main park and reading our books under the shade of the trees. Thankfully no one was playing their guitar that night but the hot weather made our room very stuffy - though for £6.50 a night what can you expect! Then it was back to Santiago again, but this time by day and in a minibus with a group of jolly Chilean ladies. They gave us some of their picnic and were very excited by the 29 switchbacks that our minibus had to drive round. We got back in record time because our driver was going very fast and over taking everything!
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