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So, after the weird hostel and terrapin incident we decided that maybe Mendoza wasn´t for us and decided to leave after 3 days.Not before we did the bike tour of the wineries though onvery VERY uncomfortable bikes which luckily became more bearable after a few tastings of the local produce......Tim got very excited about some smoked olive paste which he decided to treat himself to and then smasha few kilometeres down the road which was fun, but the wine was lovely and made up for it, sort of......
Then it was back on a particularly small and sweaty bus to a place called Valle Fertil nestled in a valley 4 hours north of Mendoza where you can organize trips to the two national parks: Ishigualasto and Talapaya.Stayed in a deseted hostel in this one horse town for 3 nights before booking a tour to both parks.Set off at 7:30am with a group of 10 people to the first park, Ishigualasto, or Lunar Valley as it´s more commonly known.This national heritage park is full of eerie landscapes created from rock forced up due to plate collision below the surface uncovering vivid colours in the rock as well as dinasaur bones!We drove round the park on a 3 hour tour and saw the most amazing rock formations. Unfortunatley you´ll have to wait for the photos but goole probably has a few good ones if you type the name in.There were huge rocks balancing on smaller ones, sweeping lunar landscapes, jagged volcanic rock and a huge red mountain rising up in the distance that had been forced up over the centuries. I´ve never seen anything like it!
Then it was onto the 2nd park of the day but it was only us and an Israeli family (who were travelling for a year) who went to it. They had 3 young children, 5, 8 and 10 who could all speak english, spanish and hebrew fluently. It was crazy hearing them switch from one to the other so quickly.
The second park, Talampaya, is also a world heritage site and luckily for us the tour guide spoke english. Saw some amazing hieroglypics on the bright orange and red rocks and as we drove along the bumpy track we saw guanachos, wild guinea pigs and some weird huge rabbit type things that walk on 4 legs! The rock here is incredible too and we were allowed to stand in a chimey that had been naturally carved into the rock and here the loudest echo i´ve ever heard. So incredibly hot though it was almost unbearable out of the shade.
Then it was back to the van to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere to be picked up in the moonlight by the bus heading to Rioja and then onto Salta in the north.
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