Girls in front of the iconic photo of Che Guevara, Rodeo, San Juan Province

With Fidel Castro calling it a day recently there has been a lot of reports on the news concentrating on the history of the Cuban revolution. Che Guevara, being one of the key figures at Castro’s side during the first years of the revolution, received a lot of coverage here in Argentina as well.

El Che is nowadays known mostly for the famous photo taken in 1960 by Cuban photojournalist Alberto Korda. It must be the most published photo of all times, a symbol of revolution and rebellion and can be found on car stickers, t-shirts, tattoos, posters, etc.

I guess the girls, like many others, actually don’t know who the guy on this omnipresent photo actually is.

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Pack mules returning from Aconcagua, Laguna los Horcones, Mendoza Province

Most if not all climbers who attempt to climb Aconcagua (mountain on the very left) make use of mules to help them carry food and equipment. After all, the round trip to the highest summit of the western hemisphere (6962 m) takes two to three weeks.

We encountered several of these pack mules bolting down the final part of “their” Aconcagua expedition, obviously knowing their way home. I got nearly knocked down by one of them while trying to take some of these action photos.

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Advertisement along the road, near Uspallata, Mendoza Province

Regardless what item you promote (here it’s grilled baby goat), at least make sure to place some used truck tyres beside the advertisement to emphasize it. Everybody does so.

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Bodega La Abeja, San Rafael, Mendoza Province

Argentina is also a wine country (it’s the world’s 5th largest wine producer). The rain shadow of the Andes provides an ideal climate and since reaching Mendoza province we have seen many vineyards along the road.

It’s harvest time now and we have stopped a few times to watch the workers pick the grapes by hand. Many of them are from Bolivia or Paraguay and earn between 10 to 15 USD a day, depending on the collected amount of baskets. It’s hard work for little money.

Many bodegas (wineries) offer tours and we haven’t missed the opportunity to visit some to test (taste) their wine. We specially liked the small bodega La Abeja, one of the oldest in the country, as it still produces wine the traditional way.

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A mountain of salt, Salinas del Diamante, Mendoza Province

Need salt for the soup? There’s enough here.

We got our 4×4 stuck in the mud while trying to approach a salt lake near Cabo Blanco at the beginning of our journey through Argentina (luckily the stationed army officer at a nearby lighthouse could radio in help for us, but that’s another story). 

We learned our lesson well and stayed clear of all subsequent salt lakes we came across until this one, the Salinas del Diamante near El Nihuil. As salt is still being exploited here there’s an access road free of mud.

Friendly Nelson (the guy in the photo) gave us permission to walk around the premises and to take photos while he was filling one of the waiting trucks.

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Bad weather while exploring the Reserva Provincial La Payunia, near Malargüe, Mendoza Province

The effects of “La Niña”  are not only felt in Bolivia, where floods have forced over 50’000 people to evacuate their homes and villages. Also the people of the province of Salta, in the northwest of Argentina, are having their problems with several river floodings.

Further south we only have bad weather.

We saw just clouds the day we joined a tour to visit the La Payunia Reserve, an area with one of the highest concentration of volcanoes in the world. The guide assured us that on good days over 800 volcanoes can be seen.

We’ll have to believe him.

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On the road, near Chos Malal, Neuquén Province

This country is huge.

We left Puerto Madryn over 6 weeks ago and have first travelled south along the Atlantic coast all the way to Ushuaia and then up north along the Andes (with some small stints in Chile). We have now reached the beautiful Mendoza province.

Including all the side trips we have covered over 10’000 km (good job we are two to share the load).

So far the driving has been easy but let’s see how we feel after another 10’000 km to finish the roundtrip journey.

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Boy at the Expo Rural 2008, Junín de los Andes, Neuquén Province

Upon leaving the Lanín National Park we came across an agricultural fair in Junín de los Andes. We stopped in the hope to get a choripan, a very popular sandwich of grilled chorizo sausage and pan (bread) and to mingle among the locals.

We got the choripan which was delicious and were surprised to see that most of the locals had dressed up for the occasion and were wearing traditional gaucho clothing.

Some of the locals seemed to be even more surprised to see gringos amongst them!

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Photographer with sleepy St. Bernhard on Cerro Otto, San Carlos de Bariloche, Rio Negro Province

Gone are the nice cool ambient temperatures of the south. Since reaching the so called lake district (around San Carlos de Bariloche) it’s hot. The summer (of the southern hemisphere) has finally caught up with us.

But it’s not just us suffering. One of the many tourist attractions of Bariloche, the St. Bernards with the classic brandy barrel, seem not to be willing to work at these temperatures.

The message is clear: come back in winter!

And rightly so, Bariloche is considered one of the top ski destinations of Argentina.

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Graffiti, Garibaldi Pass, Tierra del Fuego

On our return from Chile after a few days on the Carretera Austral (see previous post) the first thing we saw when entering Argentina was a huge map of the Falkland Islands with the words underneath “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” (the Falklands are Argentine).

All of the towns we’ve passed have such maps and a monument or a street called Islas Malvinas or Malvinas Argentinas. Maps produced in Argentina include the islands as national territory. Many cars have corresponding bumper stickers.

Over 25 years have passed since the British-Argentine war over the islands but the issue is still omnipresent in the minds of the Argentines. A BBC report cites Malvinas veteran Edgardo Esteban who wrote about his experiences in a book called “Illuminated by Fire”:

When you talk about Argentina you talk about Eva Peron, Gardel, Maradona and tango. For us the Malvinas are part of that identity, it is a symbol, we learn about it at school from a very young age.”

One of my favourite writers, Jorge Luis Borges, once described the war as “two bald men fighting over a comb”.

Another “anonymous writer” has expressed his feelings (English = Pirates) on a wall at a touristy viewpoint in Tierra del Fuego, much to the surprise of my English wife Lisa.

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