Between the Argentine and Chilean border.

Last week, we moved into a new apartment, went on an olive tour, and visited the big Jesus statue, which is 3,832m above sea level and located between the Argentina-Chilean border.

We went on a tour bus to an olive farm and learnt how Extra Virgin Olive Oil is made. We got to do an olive oil tasting there in which we tried different infused olive oils. They were all delicious, my favourite was the garlic infused extra virgin olive oil because garlic and olive oil are a match made in heaven.

The next day we had a picnic in the Parque General San Martin. We brought the tapenades and the garlic olive oil that we bought from the olive farm and got some fresh bread. The picnic was very nice.

Later in the week on Friday we moved house. We have found out that two weeks is the sweet spot for staying in accommodation for us. I think it’s because the houses get dirty, and you can’t clean it because they only have brooms which contain 30-year’s worth of dirt on it. In every place there are also many little things that you can put up with for a little while overtime they become harder to deal with.

On Saturday the 01 Feb, we decided to rent a car and drive up to the big Jesus statue called Cristo Redentor De Los Andes (Christ the Redeemer of the Andes) between the Argentina and Chilean border. It’s about 3 hours and a half away from Mendoza so it’s about a 7 hour round trip if you don’t make any stops. We set off from Mendoza at around 10 in the morning and drove for a while till we got to a little town called Uspallata. We stopped there because we all needed to pee, but we needed to buy something from the café to use the bathroom, so we got a ham and cheese croissant and a Nutella and Banana croissant. Here is where we went wrong…. I should not eat Nutella outside our house because I got an allergic reaction to traces-of-nuts while high up in the Andes – again! Luckily there was a hospital in that town if we needed it. For some reason every time I go high up in the Andes, I get an allergic reaction from food that I eat. Last time we were quite high up and I ate a cookie, and I threw up at the Inca Bridge, which you might remember reading in my previous blog. This time I got some Phenergan, and the reaction started to settle, after a longer break than envisaged we set off again. On our way to the top of the mountain, we had one final challenge it was to drive up a very steep gravel road for 8 km with a two-wheel drive. You could hear the car struggle a little bit because up there the air is thinner. Once we got the top it was so windy it felt like I could just fly of the side of the mountain if I didn’t brace myself.

That road used to be the only way to get over the Andes and is actually the lowest point in the Andes to go across. It was so windy at the top because it is the lowest point so wind from the Pacific Ocean gets funnelled through this small opening. Thankfully the road is no longer used as the only way to travel between Argentina and Chile. There is now a tunnel the goes under the mountain.

On our way back I got to see the Inca bridge again this time I felt better and could enjoy it more and we stopped at Acancagoa for a second time and this time we could actually see it. We also stopped for a swim in Embalse Potrerillos Lake it was cold but I swam surrounded by the Andes, after which we had a whole melon as a snack by the side of the lake before we drove back to Mendoza again during sunset.

That is all for now, stay tuned for next week when we fly South to Bariloche.