The longest bus ride I took was from beautiful Salta to Mendoza. I survived and found myself in Mendoza. This city is a bit bigger than Salta, and it was a bit hard to find the coziness that was all surrounding the Plaza 9 de Julio in Salta.

One thing that amazed me was the dual currency rate after learning that at one time the Argentinian Peso was pegged 1:1 to the United States dollar. The official rate (at the time of writing) was 150 Pesos to USD 1. However, if you manage to wire yourself some money with Western Union, the rate drops to 300 Pesos to USD 1. No wonder everybody wants to be paid in USD.

I also found guys that want to buy United States dollars. Exchange range was not too bad, about 280-290 pesos to the dollar. But, that rate is only valid if you have some $100 notes. A $20 note is apparently worth a lot less, the exchange rate drops down to the low 200’s. As if 5 $20 notes are less than a $100 note. Weird.

The plan was to rent a car and drive up RN-7 and get as close to the Chilean border as possible. The thought of having to drive another seven to eight hours followed by three days of travel back home, made me look for an organized day trip.

On the way, we stopped at Puente de Picheuta, a stone and mortar bridge that was build in the colonial era. It was used in 1817 by General San Martín as one of the routes to cross the Andes mountains.

Many stops along the way with plenty of opportunity to take photos of the beautiful landscapes in the Andes mountains.

What caught my eye during this trip was the old railroad track that once carried trains from Mendoza to Santiago de Chile. Services stopped in the early 1980ies due to heightened tensions between Argentina and Chile. Service was never resumed. Such a shame.

It would have been amazing to travel on this trains. The tour guide incorrectly stated that the profile (the space taken by the train) is smaller with narrow gauge. The correct reason is that tighter curves can be made with narrow gauge, which, of course, is very handy when navigating through tough mountain ranges.

The day tour made it as far as Las Cuevas, four kilometers from the border with Chile. It was cold, thanks to the attitude of 3000 meters (that spells 10.500ft for you Americans) above sea level. Breathing was a bit more difficult after some moderate activity.

Back in Mendoza, I visited the remains of the railway station from which the trains to Santiago departed. Nothing much remains, all has been converted to a station for the city’s lightrail system. The turn table, used to point engines in the right direction, is all what remains.

On my last day I got the hang of Mendoza. It is a nice city, although bigger. The people are super friendly here. Never felt unsafe here — as for that matter, I did never felt unsafe anywhere in Argentina, spare for some tiny moments. One involved being in downtown Buenos Aires close to midnight (where is my Uber?) and departing the El Retiro bus station (where is my Uber?).

Epilogue:
Time flies. It has been more than a month when I embarked on my very short trip to Argentina. It has been a great trip. It motivated me to learn Spanish again. So… I will come back. It could be on two wheels called a motor cycle. It would be fun to ride it in La Boca and make it unsafe. Oh wait… it already is.
In Italy they say ‘Vedi Napoli e poi muori‘. Visit Naples first before you die. Well, I’d like to see Argentina again before that happens, who cares about Naples:)
Last, but not least: many thanks to mis amigos Julio, Analia, Dario, Julian and Enrique who helped made my stay unforgettable and very unique. I’d love to see you on my next trip to your beautiful country!