Argentina - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 100

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Ì TREAT YOURSELF
Try to make time (and room in the budget) for a trip out of town for a gourmet lunch among
the vineyards at a nearby bodega : ask at the tourist of ce or pick up the Vines of Mendoza
magazine for further listings.
WINERY LUNCHES
Ruca Malen Ruta Nacional 7km 1059, Luján de
Cuyo (take a bus to Luján and then a taxi for $AR40)
T 0261 410 6214, W bodegarucamalen.com. The
restaurant here looks out on to vineyards and
mountains, and lunch is a belly-busting five-course
degustation (AR$200), with each delectable plate
- from roasted aubergine in plum sauce to dulce de
leche mousse - perfectly paired with bodega wine.
Lunch daily.

La Bourgogne Roque Sáenz Peña 3531, Vistalba,
Luján de Cuyo (taxi from Luján AR$25); T 0261 498
9400, W carlospulentawines.com. Attached to the
Vistalba winery (producing since 2002), this restaurant
prepares French cuisine using regional and seasonal
produce. Dishes like veal in mushroom sauce (AR$110)
and quince tart with lavender ice cream (AR$45) go
down a treat with a bottle of vino (AR$100 upwards).
Reserve in advance and ask for a table by the window
with cordillera and vineyard views. Closed Sun & Mon.

including San Martín, at Gutierrez, and España 1275.
Cambio Express, at Espejo 58, and Cambio Santiago, at
Av San Martín 119, will exchange foreign cash.
Car rental Alamo Nacional Rent, Pvo de la Reta 928
( T 0261 429 3111); Avis, Pvo de la Reta 914 ( T 0261 429
6403); Hertz, Espejo 415 ( T 0261 423 0225); Via Rent
a Car, San Juan 931 ( T 0261 429 0876).
Internet The WH Internet & Games chain ( T 0261 423
3398) has cybercafés at San Martín 1178, Las Heras 61
and Peatonal Sarmiento 219. Only the San Martín branch
opens Sundays.
Laundry Lavandería Necochea, 25 de Mayo 1357.
Post o ce San Martín, at Colón.
Shopping There is a handicraft market on Plaza
Independencia every weekend. The upscale Mendoza
Plaza shopping mall ( W mendozaplazashopping.com), at
Av Acceso Este 3280 in Guaymallén, to the east of the
city centre, has around 200 shops and restaurants, plus
a cinema.
Spanish school Intercultural, at Rep de Siria 241 ( T 0261
429 0269, W spanishcourses.com.ar), offers one-week
courses.

From the crossroads village of Uspallata
(105km west of Mendoza), it's a further
65km to Los Penitentes , a winter ski
resort with 28 pistes ( T 0261 428 3601,
W penitentes.com), and, in summer,
a base for Aconcagua climbers (see
opposite). Some 6km west of Los
Penitentes is one of the area's most
photographed landmarks, the Puente del
Inca , a natural stone bridge traversing the
Río de las Cuevas at 2700m. Beneath it,
thermal waters seep among the ruins of
an abandoned 1940s spa resort. he route
passes Parque Provincial Aconcagua and
ends at the Chilean border where a statue
of Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer)
commemorates the 1902 peace pact
between historic enemies.

PARQUE PROVINCIAL
ACONCAGUA
At 6959m, CERRO ACONCAGUA -
“the roof of the Americas” - lords it
over the 710-square-kilometre Parque
Provincial Aconcagua. The highest
mountain in both the western and the
southern hemispheres, Aconcagua's faces
are ringed by five glistening glaciers. In
1985, the discovery of an Inca mummy at
5300m on Aconcagua's southwest face
lent further weight to the theory that
the Incas worshipped the mountain and
offered it human sacrifices.
Nowadays, Inca worshippers have been
replaced by ardent mountain climbers,
who ascend in droves throughout

ALTA MONTAÑA
The cathedral-like peaks of the Parque
Provincial Aconcagua lie just three
hours west of Mendoza, easily visited
on a popular day-trip dubbed the
ALTA MONTAÑA ROUTE . Leaving behind
verdant vineyards and climbing into
barren hills, this scenic excursion follows
the RN7 (the highway to Santiago de
Chile), following the former Trans-
Andean railway and the Río Mendoza
into the spectacular Uspallata Valley,
where Seven Years in Tibet was filmed.