Country number 2! A quick jaunt over the Andes mountains, and we are now in Argentina. The trip here was actually quite fascinating. In addition to being beautiful (we passed by the highest peak in this hemisphere, Aconcagua, which clocks in at 22,841 feet), it showed me without a doubt that Toto and I are not in Perú any more. Santiago is a beautiful and modern city, no doubt, but so are most parts of Lima. The real test for me came once we left the city. In Perú the wealth and the services quickly fade, especially as you venture into the Andes, until you get to the likes of Pomabamba and the other places that PCVs serve. In Chile/Argentina, the quality of life did not seem to decline much. The road was beautiful- wide, paved lanes with ample shoulders and guardrails- the whole way. The towns we passed weren´t quite like Santiago, but they all had electricity and water and cars parked outside. We definitely didn´t see anything worse that many towns in the mountains of Colorado. The border crossing was official and decently efficient, and then nothing changes much once we were in Argentina. Despite a different currency, a different national beer, and a different way of pronouncing the ¨ll¨, Chile and Argentina strike me as much more similar to each other than either is to Perú.

Mendoza is lovely. It is surprising how much it reminds me of Colorado. It too is mostly desert and at the base of a beautiful mountain range. It´s just that Mendoza´s mountains are several thousand feet taller than Boulder´s. Also, there is wine. Lots of it. Yesterday we went of the famous Bike and Wine tour. Yes, that means that we biked between vineyards as we were invited to sample glass after glass. It was beautiful, and resulted in no lasting injury, so it was a good day all around. Douglas and I are far from wine connoisseurs, but we are doing are best to distinguish the flavors and textures of the many wines we´ve encountered here. I can definitively say that wine here is much cheaper and much, much better than Gato .

Tonight we leave the fields of grapes to travel to a land of amazing lakes- Bariloche. Can´t wait to see what´s in store for us there.

P.S. This blog won´t let me publish an entry without a photo. I´m working on getting my own photos uploaded, but until then the picture is just a stock photo and has nothing to do with my travels.