Long weekend in Mendoza - Playa de Lujan de Cuyo

Just an Hour away from the city of Mendoza you´ll find the "Playa de Lujan de cuyo" a cute riverside Beach with a beautiful view.

Right across the "Entre Dos" alfajores and the Junk yard. This rocky beach might be packed on a hot summer weekend or empty on a weekday.

It has a sand beech with parasols and a campground or some big rocks from where to dive in the chilly mountain river water.

Long weekend in Mendoza - The Junkyard Find

When visiting the Alfajor factory in "Playa de Lujan" y devised some wrecked cars in a field, so I went to check it out and find some semi striped Argentine built cars that belonged to a gentlemen that was selling grilled chicken at the roadside.

So after asking permission I captured some great HDR shots of his collection and also purchased a whole grilled chicken which I ate with the help of a stray puppy that was nearby,

Some more shots can be vied at my 500px page.

https://500px.com/darioricardo

Long weekend in Mendoza - Alfajores "Entre Dos"

When visiting Mendoza you will probably see ads for Alfajores "Entre Dos" which seems to be the latest rage. I will not explain what an alfajor is, but these recently launched variety are quite good.

I went to check out the place where they make and sell these treats. Located at the Lujan de cuyo beach around an hour from the city, it can be accessed by car or inter urban bus.
at the spot you can buy all sorts of sweet treats like dulce de leche,chocolates and of course their premium alfajores with fillings that include Cognac and whisky as well as the orange-dark chocolate one.

The location is also worth while visiting cuz just across the road sits the river and beach with a great scenery.

Long weekend in Mendoza - Nightlife in Aristides

Like most cities in Argentina, Mendoza has a night life district called Aristides, an adjacent neighbourhood walking distance from the downtown core.

Basically this is the place to go dine at fancy restos and find everyone, cuz Mendoza at night can be very empty streeted.

Long weekend in Mendoza - Christ the redeemer Monument

Last but not least we went to the Christ the Redeemer monument that stands at one of the border crossings between Argentina and Chile.

Built as a sing of peace and friendship among the two nations it is located at one of the natural paths used to cross the Andes. It has beautiful views of the surrounding mountains.

Long weekend in Mendoza - Aconcagua provincial Park

The Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas standing at nearly 7000 meters, that´s 22.000 feet. Short of climbing it you definitely want to see it when in Mendoza.

About an hour from the city stands the Aconcagua provincial park which can be hiked or biked, at which you have several vantage points to see the mountain in all its magnificence.

















I did it as part of the puente del Inca Tour.

Long weekend in Mendoza - Day tour to Puente del Inca

Even though there are many places to check out in the city of Mendoza, its surrounding areas offer a wide variety of places to visit, even outside the typical winery tours.

I decided to take the day tour to Puente del Inca and Cristo Redentor monument.
the Puente del inca is a natural rock formation that serves a a bridge over the River caves, 2700 metres above sea level and 180 clics from the capital city, right at the main entrance to the Aconcagua provincial park.

Its main feature are the sulphur sediments that cote the bridge and surrounding area, called puente del Inca due to a legend that tells that Inca warriors formed a bridge for the Inca to cross the river and became petrified due to the sulphurous waters.

Long weekend in Mendoza - Argentina´s Wine capital

Now in Mendoza they will call themselves the wine capital of the world, a bit exaggerated by the Argentines high self esteem, but I would definitely call it argentina´s wine capital, if you go there you will and you must drink wine.

I happened to go there at the beginning of "La fiesta de la vendimia", Mendoza's yearly wine festival, so i stopped by an event at which they were giving samples of all the wines produced in Mendoza.

For a small fee you could taste several wines from each "Bodega" or winery.
Mind you the samples were very generous so I had to stop before getting too tipsy.

Long weekend in Mendoza - San Francisco Basilica

One of the churches you will probably bump into in Mendoza is the San Francisco Basilica located at the intersection of Necochea and España streets in Mendoza, right across Plaza San Martin.

The Image at the main Altar is Our Lady of Mount Carmel, patroness of Chile and of the Andes Army led by General San Martin, Argentina's liberation hero.
At this church lie the remains of his daughter Mercedes.

The church has many relics of the and plaques of people and institutions honouring the memory of General San Martin.

Long weekend in Mendoza - Parque General San Martin

Taking advantage of the many long weekends available in Argentina and of the newly arrived low cost airlines I decided to do some short trips this year and visit its provinces.
For the Carnival weekend I went to Mendoza.
The "General San Martin is the oldest and largest park in the city of Mendoza, with 306 hectares and 17 km. of road. The main entry is through a iron gate made in Glasgow and purchased in Paris.

It has a lake and several beautiful fountains and ornamental statues most brought from Europe at the beginning of the 20th century.

Since Mendoza has a dry climate the many trees planted there serve as refuge to birds and other fauna.

the Park is crowned by the monument to the Andes army that crossed over to Chile lead by general San Martin. you can either drive or walk to the top of the hill where the monument is placed.

From there you have a magnificent view of the surrounding area.

The trip to Bolivia - Peru - Day stop in Mendoza - The wineries bus tour

As I mentioned previously, there is a city tour bus that tours the whole city of Mendoza, now in one of its stops you can hook up with the wineries tour bus, that stops at 7 wineries in the lujan de cuyo area.

I had´nt much time so i asked the guide which winery had vines at sight cuz I wanted to take some pics.

I was told that haciendas del plata had some so I got off there. Since at that time I was the only visitor I wandered in and started taking some pics. There is a wine tasting tour given by the wine yard owners which were very kind and also took me to visit the grape plantations.

Hacienda del plata is an Estate winery with a small plot of land in which they produce a limited quantity of bottles. I do recommend the visit for the quality of their wines and for its picturesque winery.

The trip to Bolivia - Peru - Day stop in Mendoza

After a late night border crossing I arived back in Argentina to the city of Mendoza, this was at 6am, so after buying my bus ticket to Buenos Aires which departed only at 6pm I was left with a whole day in my hands.

It was a Monday and it seems that most museums and tourist atractions aere closed so I opted for the city guide Bus run by the city of Mendoza.
The first departure is at 11am and it takes you around the city of mendoza and Godoy Cruz, also to Lujan de Cuyo where u can catch another bus that brings you to wineries.

You can get on and off and basically spend the whole day visiting the city. I highly recommend the tour bus.

Exploring Patagonia - Ruta 40 - Malargue

Last stop in the Mendoza province was the City of Malargue which is a renowned winter Ski resort.

It is worth while visiting in the summer time and has wonderful surroundings with mountains and lakes

Exploring Patagonia - Ruta 40 - Driving on the 40

Undoubtedly  Patagonia is one of the most beautiful and Mystic regions on earth, driving along is another story. I have to say that most of the Ruta 40 has a reasonably good paving with areas that have just been renewed. But there are other that are very nasty gravel roads that will shake your ride for hundreds of kilometres.

On the southern part of Mendoza we encountered several strips that were being renewed with signs of detour, but no worker in sight. There are also many jay walking donkeys and Guanaco´s, without mentioning thousands of jack rabbits that constantly cross the road, providing the majority of road kill casualties.

Exploring Patagonia - Ruta 40 - Embalse Agua del Toro

The Presa Agua del Toro located 84 kms west of San Rafael in Central Mendoza province, is one of Argentina's largest Hydroelectric Dams, and an obligatory stop of the Ruta 40.

it is one of those large bodies of water located in an mostly arid area which congregates local fauna and human visitors.

It is also surrounded by one of the worst segments of the ruta 40, mainly gravel stone in bad conditions.