alta montañas

probably the best part of mendoza was going into the andes.



the open road!

first stop

blue rock between the lake and puente del inca

puente del inca. i was blown away by how strange this was. imagine being the first to come across it. apparently all the iron in the water makes the rock yellow, and the water below is bathwater temperature. the whole thing smells of sulfur.

there are a bunch of artisans who set up booths near the river. some of their wares are naturally dyed--figurines and things are left in the water for 30 days to soak up the color, and end up with iron deposits on the outside.

puente del inca is a strange little town. mostly vendors and a couple of little food carts like this one. again, a bit surreal to come across way up high in the mountains.

also for sale were a number of different types of rocks, each with their own purpose. serpentina removes bad energy.

i do not have to climb aconcagua to be satisfied. being in a picture with it is enough! this hair, by the way, is not a new style--it was damn WINDY up there!

part of seven years in tibet was filmed here. much cheaper than filming in actual tibet.

the border with chile!

this is a monument commemorating peace between argentina and chile. the wind is biting, the air is thin even by a colorado girl's standards and it is so high up that more than a couple quick steps makes your heart skip.

this is the road we drove to get there. on a bulky bus! but our driver was quite talented and i never felt as though we'd careen off the edge, even though we were sure to greet passing cars with the argentine hand gesture for "i'm terrified!"

the landscape looked like another planet to me. honestly, why do we need to explore space when we have things like this right here?

i was frustrated with my camera's inability to capture all the cool colors. this was the best shot i got. there was so much variety--jagged rocks like these and then hills that were so velvety smooth that you could see individual animal tracks on their faces. it all had sort of a watercolor quality to it. lovely.

this is the same lake as before, only later in the day. that blue is not photoshopped!