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The prices for showers had also gone up in the last 4 months and so we paid 30 pesos each this time. Everything is getting more expensive in Argentina - not surprising seeing as the inflation rate is at 40%. At least the showers were nice and hot! Afterwards we drove south to Mendoza where the roads were extremely badly broken concrete so we were kangarooing along slowly!
Kirsten hopped out to go shopping at Jumbo supermarket and came back with a birthday cake for me tomorrow and some chicken for a birthday meal! We headed out of the city and towards the border and pass near Aconcagua but stopped at Lago Potrerillos for the night because it was going to be a cold night and we didn't want to go up too high.
Potrerillos Reservoir - 360° Panorama
(move mouse over panorama and click on the arrows)
It went down to minus 1 degrees overnight and we had frost on our windscreen the next morning but my birthday started with clear blue skies and a beautiful view of the surrounding snow-capped mountains. It was a nice drive up towards the pass but we had to watch out for bad spots from all the heavy traffic. This is a very busy route to and from Chile with a huge number of heavy trucks.
We stopped for a photo of another Difunta shrine - this one had a lot more plastic bottles on it and is obviously used by all the truck drivers who don't want to drive into Vallecito and off their route. At Puente Del Inca we went to see the very colourful petrified waterfall and natural bridge and then drove to the visitor centre for Parque Provincial Aconcagua where we had a view of the largest mountain outside of the Himalayas. It's 6,962m high and I'd like to climb it in about 6 months time. So we spent extra time at the centre asking about prices for a climbing permit and various other important information.
We also found out that it costs 300 pesos per person for a permit to hike to the Confluencia which is a day hike but it would only cost 20 pesos per person to hike to Laguna Horcones and a bridge across the river. It was very windy and too late to go on the hike that day so my birthday treat was a short (free) 5 minute hike to a lookout point near the visitor centre to see the next mountain I'd like to climb. It was already in the shade so we'd have to wait for the best view tomorrow.
Kirsten made us chicken with Jaeger sauce and mashed potatoes for our evening meal and she even cleaned up afterwards! Must be my birthday!! We also had birthday cake and then went out to see the full moon.
It froze overnight and we set the alarm for 8-30am. It was still 0 degrees when we got up and it probably went down to minus 6 overnight. We packed up, bought our tickets and drove 1.5 km up to the next car park where we had breakfast.
We walked for 2.5 hours, taking our time for photos and were rewarded with stunning views of Mount Aconcagua. It's the highest in the southern hemisphere but, surprisingly, it doesn't actually look that high! But it will mean an ascent of 4,132m not including any ups and downs along the route!! Nothing to sniff at! At least Kirsten got to see it so she won't worry too much when I climb it!
We got as far as the wooden slatted swing bridge across the river but that was as far as we were allowed to go with our 20 peso permits. So we had to turn around and walk back. We even saw some fossils on the other part of the loop walk around lake Horcones. In total we hiked only around 5km but we really enjoyed it.
We had coffee when we got back and then drove back down to the lower car park for the night. Kirsten went off to talk to a German couple whilst I spent hours writing reports for the website.
The next morning Kirsten went out for photos even though it was freezing - she came back to bed to warm up afterwards. We eventually got up at 9am and got our papers together to cross the border into Chile. It wasn't far to the border but the road was extremely busy and made of concrete that was badly broken and extremely dangerous for our tyres! Everyone else just races along so it seems we're the only ones who actually care about our vehicle.
We went through the 3.9km long tunnel which cost us 60 pesos ($4 US) and then hit a massive queue for the border crossing. It took us 3.5 hours to get through but only 20 minutes of that was for the formalities with passports and vehicle permit plus a dog searching our vehicle and leaving lots of moulted hair behind! The rest of the time was spent crawling slowly along or simply waiting in line.
Just after the border crossing we pulled on to Hotel Portillo car park at 3-45pm where we could stay for the night. We're up at 3,000m so we knew it would be cold. Our next problem was that we have very little food left. We had eaten all the things we wouldn't be allowed to bring across the border like fruit, vegetables and meat and only just had enough cheese for Kirsten to have a quesadilla and I finished off the last of our bread that was a bit stale! We definitely need to go shopping once we're down in the valley tomorrow!
It was still only plus 3 degrees both inside and outside at 9-30am the following morning! We had a cup of tea and then went for a walk down to the lake and inside the hotel. The lake freezes in winter with about 40cm of ice on it. Hotel Portillo was built in 1949 and held the World Ski Championships here in 1966. Since then Olympic teams from the US, Canada, Italy and Austria, (to name just a few!), come here for training.
There were photos everywhere of all the famous skiers who have been here and we wandered around the hallways and even up onto the other floors to see them. On one of the floor landings we also found a mirror and held in our stomachs to look fit in the photo!!
The US team no longer trains here but the hotel obviously gets very busy in the height of the season. I checked the summer prices which were quite reasonable at $149 for a double with breakfast and $89 for a single. Not bad for an historic hotel with all the facilities including indoor and outdoor pools, jacuzzi, gym etc.
We left at 11-30am and drove down 29 switchbacks and descended down into the valley.
Ruta National 7 & PP Aconcagua
We filled up with free drinking water at a Copec petrol station and then stopped at a Unimarc supermarket in Los Andes. The car park had a complicated payment system so if we spent between 5,000 and 40,000 pesos we would get 30 minutes free parking ($8 to $60 US for 30 minutes). The clock starts as soon as you pull onto the car park so Kirsten raced in to get a few things. Thank God the queue at the checkouts wasn't too bad!
Then we drove out to a Jumbo supermarket where the parking is free and we could eat the hot chicken Kirsten had just bought from the Unimarc!!! We were extremely hungry!! Afterwards we tried to find one of two overnight spots listed in iOverlander. The first wasn't reachable because the roads had flooded and were blocked off.
The second lead us over a very bumpy gravel road, across a rickety bridge where we held our breath as we drove over and then through farmland to a rubbish tip! We gave up, drove into the next town and pulled onto a Shell petrol station where we could stay. It was a surprisingly quiet night!
