A furious burst of activity.

Hola chicos,

I write this from one helluva of disinfectant-laced hostel in the city of Cordoba. What's it like? Dunno. We just rolled in on another overnight bus and one half of the team is crashed out. Understandably so, as the past two days have been insane.

So two days ago, we checked out the Andes. The mountainside was very desertous, and many of the cliff sides appeared "painted" because of the different rocks a-happening therein. As we climbed higher in the mini-van, things got a little snowy, which was cool enough, until our guide quite surprisingly announced that we would now be taking the 2 hour hike up to see the "Highest Mountain in the Americas" (note: may Not in fact be highest, "facts" get a little whimsical down here), which is also the 36th Highest peak in the world. Take THAT peak 37!!

Generally, I'm a fan of hiking, not having been forewarned about any hiking, we were rocking our comfy but practically treadless sneakers, not the best for negotiating icy slush. But anyhoo, no toes were lost, and we had some fun trying to to face-plant.

Yesterday, we finally got a chance to grab some bikes and explore the vineyards that surround Mendoza. The biking wasn't exactly idyllic, (think big trucks whoosing past, sending furious dirt tornadoes whirling into eyes/nose/mouth) but in the moments when the streets were calm, the elm-lined streets were lovely. So, in fact, was the wine. Will post pics from that day's adventure and dish on Cordoba later. But right now, I've got some bus-stolen sleep to recover.