Soaking up the Mendoza Sun

I spent this past weekend in Mendoza, Argentina with Hilary, Sophie, and Evie (Hilary's friend from high school who is also in Santiago with her program from Stanford). After class on Thursday, I took a bus from Santiago to Mendoza - a nice 6 hour ride. We left the station around 11pm, hit the border at 1:30am and had to get out of the bus to go through customs. Three other buses arrived at the same time as us, so we spent almost 2 hours at the border and it was FREEZING! There were little bits of snow falling outside. (The border crossing is in the mountain pass).
After the getting back on the bus, I couldn´t fall back asleep so I looked out the window for a while. Seeing the stars while driving through the Andes was absolutely magical. They were so bright and the mountains were so beautiful and covered in snow. I couldn´t have been happier.
I finally made it Mendoza at 6:30am and slept for a couple hours at the hostel before waking up again to go to the spa/thermal spings tucked in the Andes.



Termas de Cacheuta


We got there around 10 and stayed til 6. And for only $60 we got massages, ate lunch, went in all the hot tubs/pools, caked ourselves in mud, and soaked up the Argentinian sun. I also squeezed in some time to do some reading... schoolwork always follows me somewhere.. can´t escape it.

Hilary, Sophie, and me caked in mud

The pool and the hotel

Hanging out in the hot springs

That night, we made our own dinner in the hostel and found some new friends from England, Holland, and the U.S. We spent the night getting to know everyone and eating Argentian empanadas.

The next morning, we went on a wine tour on bikes! So great and so much red wine...
We went to three wineries (one was organic). The second one - Carmello Patti - was by far the best. Had a really great Cabernet Savignon (look at me :D... jaja).

Hilary, Me, and Maria at the organic winery

Hanging out with the barrels

The Argentinian Cordillera and the vineyards.. from our bikes. So beautiful. Santiago is on the other side of these mountains.

Our favorite wine of the day

The third winery - Clos de Chacras

The next day, I decided to go paragliding. No one else really wanted to go. So with the help of our amazing hostel, I went with a guide. It was one of the most amazing experiences. A beautiful, cloudless morning. 20 minutes just floating through the sky. About halfway through, my guide asked me if I wanted to do acrobatics - of course! So we spun around with our chute, doing corkscrew-like turns. Felt like a rollercoaster in the sky. So much fun.

I was also super proud of myself because I communicated with him in spanish the whole time, even as he gave me my directions to get ready to run off the mountain.

Ready to go!

The road up to the top. Off roading in a Jeep Grand Cherokee made me miss my car..

The Andes

Mendoza

After I got back, we all walked around Mendoza for a while, said goodbye to our wonderful hostel and the people we met, and hopped on the 2pm bus to go back to Santiago. Taking the bus during the day was so much better than the night. The mountain pass from Mendoza to Santiago is the most beautiful drive I have ever been on in the life. Hands down.

Our hostel - Hostel Lao

The bluest lake.. with the Andes in the background

Once we reached the border at the top, we drove straight into a blizzard. We weren´t really prepared for this, as I was still wearing my flip flops..Oops.

Snow!

That night, we made it back to Santiago and then had a slight complication. Evie´s was robbed in the metro - it was only her second day in Chile! So that was tough. But she made it to the embassy yesterday and figured everything out with her credit cards and passport.

But all in all, the weekend was amazing - without the minor snag.

Tonight, I´m off to the south of Chile for Fiestas Patrias (the Independence Day celebration). Since it´s the 200 year anniversary, all of Chile will be celebrating for the whole week. Pretty crazy. Looking forward to experiencing the southern culture of Chile. I´ve heard wonderful things. 

Be back on Monday! Off to my 9 hour bus ride!