Trip to Puente del Inca

As a child, I remember reading about the Andes Mountains and the world’s largest bird, the Condor flying overhead. A lady from Indian Head, Marion Heaslop, was a missionary in Bolivia and used to come and speak to our class in public school about her experiences with the Incas of the Andes Mountains. Some forty years later, here we are in driving our rental car in the Andes to a place called Puenta del Inca. (The Inca’s Bridge)

Before we left the city, we had a little excitement as the rear wheel of a car in the opposing direction came off and rolled precariously towards us at fast pace. I slammed on the brakes and the wheel rolled by in front of the car. No harm done, but a good test for the heart.

We made our way out of Mendoza, took Highway 40 south for about 30 kms and then headed west on Route 7 into the mountains. Mendoza lies in a valley east of the mountains. The valley is filled with farm after farm growing grapes. Some farms are very large operations that run on for miles. It is almost desert like conditions, but the Rio Mendoza, which flows down from the mountains provides the water for irrigation for the grapes.

About 40 kms, along Route 7, you start to get into the Mountains. They were like nothing I have ever seen before. The colouring was unbelievable. The soil on the mountains ranges from brown to gold to green. That’s right - green soil that seemed to shimmer in the light. Every bend in the road seem to bring a new breath-taking view. We followed the Rio Mendoza up some 150 kms to Puenta del Inca. In addition to seeing the naturally formed bridge from mineral runoff, we got to visit lots of little shops that had been set up by the local Inca population to trap the tourists. Polished onyx eggs, inexpensive jewelry and alpaca sweaters, toques and scarves. The shopping aspect of the trip made Katie a little happier than the car ride looking at the scenery.

We stopped on the way back at a place that does river-rafting and booked a trip for Wednesday. We met our guide, and he happens to be a young Canadian down from Vancouver. It will be good to speak with someone who is English speaking, as there are few that speak English here.

On the way back into Mendoza, the police stopped us at a roadside check. We didn’t have our headlights on. We knew it was the law to have them on, but they don’t automatically come on as they do in Canada, and I had forgot to turn them on. The first (female) officer spoke no English, but took my driver’s license and registration. A second (male) officer came back to the car with a written out ticket showing that the fine was $745 pesos ($250 CDN). He was insisting that we were to go on Monday to some bank and pay the fine, and that he would hang onto my Driver’s License until then. To make a long story short, I wouldn’t leave without my Driver’s License, and I paid him $500 pesos ($175 CDN) in cash and we left. He was very friendly, and told us where they were serving free wine in Mendoza on Monday. Justice, Argentina style!

Have a look through the pictures. I don’t think they really do the scenery justice. I will have to get out my paints.

Cheers Ian

Trip into the Andes Mountains to Puente del Inca