mt. arenales

yesterday i climbed mt. arenales in the andes! it was great. i love mountain climbing. it was nice and chilly the whole way, though at the top, the hat and gloves definitely came in handy. and the boots were KEY. there was some very slippery snow and tennis shoes just are not sufficient for mountain climbing.

i climbed with a college student from minnesota and a couple (happy one year anniversary to them today!) from london, and alejandro, the guide, and his dog, marks (or marx?).

i do love mountains, hiking, and altitude. mendoza reminds me very much of denver or colorado springs. wide streets with wide sidewalks, lots of hikers, very chill, lots of cafes. i could definitely spend longer than 3 days here (i'm leaving tonight to ride the bus back to buenos aires and then fly to iguazu falls tomorrow). probably at least 3 months. and its a proper city, which keeps surprising me. i kept thinking that northwest argentina would be like northwest tanzania. but in reality its more like western USA. which suits me fine. i now understand why my hostel exists. a british guy and his chilean girlfriend (and their two dogs) loved the city so much they decided to live here, so they opened a hostel.

in spanish, hostel is "refugio."

and people who stay in hostels are kind of like refugees.

so...who wants to open a hostel in mendoza with me?


me and marx...i think i look goofy, but i had to put the dog on the blog.