I've decided to stay a day more than I had planned in Mendoza. I'd really like to get a view of Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Americas at 6959 metres, so I`ve booked myself onto tour which takes us through the foothills of the Andes close to the Chilean border.
Leaving Mendoza we pass through semi-desert landscape of scrubby bushes but soon we`re climbing steeply into the mountains. It's a 17 km drive with 365 bends from the famous Villavicencio Hotel to the first viewpoint of Aconcagua at Cruz del Paramillo at 3000 metres. The route through deeply scarred valleys and colourful terrain reminds me of the Tizi N Tichka pass in the Atlas Mountains. The shades vary from reds and browns to green, yellow, white and black. It truly is stunning landscape and though I take a number of photos it doesn`t come close to capturing the colours of the mountains.
Our first viewpoint of Aconcagua (meaning 'Sentinel of Stone') is at 3100 metres. We have a better view later on. We pass through Uspallata, a small town of 4000 people in a fertile valley between two ranges of mountains known as the 'Cordon de Plata' (Silver Chain), named because in strong sunlight the snowy peaks resemble silver, and the 'Cordon de Tigre' (Tiger Chain), names as such because as the snow melts it resembles tiger stripes. Uspallata means 'quiet and silent' and it's here where Brad Pitt filmed 'Seven Years in Tibet'.
We reach a viewpoint that's 24km from Aconcagua and it looks truly majestic with its permanently snow-capped peak. I'm told only a handful of people have climbed the south face as it's almost vertical. We then stop at 'Puente del Inca' a completely natural bridge over the Mendoza River believed to have been formed 15,000 years ago. No one knows exactly how it was formed but one of the theories is that an avalanche covered the fast flowing river, which eventually carved a route through the rocks. The mythical version is that when the Incas arrived at the river and were unable to cross, they lay down to form a bridge so that the king and his son could walk across. When the king looked back, they had turned to stone. The bridge is bright yellow due to sulphur seeping through the ground.
(Photo - foothills of the Andes)
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