| | Oct 27, 2008 - Mendoza, Argentina | (click to enlarge)
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 | Sweet lady working at her loom - this was a project that is being commissioned
| | One of their finished projects
| | Our first view of the Andes
| | Fountain in the center of Mendoza
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 | | | | Statue of San Martin
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| On our way out of San Luis, we stopped at one of the oldest churches in the town where they sold hand made rugs. The ladies work in the church for up to 3 months on 1 rug. The rugs cost 800 pesos/square meter (that's about $250/square yard) and are just beautiful. Attached are a couple of photos of one of the rugs and a lady working - she refused to look at us to have her photo taken.
The route to Mendoza proved to be one of our only (so far) experiences where we were thoroughly searched - the outside of the car that is. They looked at a few things inside, but mostly they were insteaded in the body of the car. They checked under the hook, knocked on all the doors, looked in the tire wells. We don't know what they were looking for, but after about 30 minutes of searching, they apologized and gave us back our documents.
About 80 km from Mendoza we got our first view of the snow covered mountains of the Andes. They are impressive!
We got into Mendoza and had a bit of a difficult time finding a hotel. It seems there was a conference in town, but we did find something suitable within walking distance of the central plaza. Most South American towns have a central plaza, and around the plaza are terrific places to eat. We've continued the tradition of eating local foods, and have had grilled veal ribs and grilled young lamb - GREAT!
We spent an full day and 2 nights in Mendoza - NO DRIVING! These days of no driving have been a real blessing. We had a chance to get our oil changed, truck washed, and just enjoy walking around the plaza.
Photos are of our first view of the Andes, a statue of San Martin, the liberator of Chile, and one of the fountains in the plaza. Note the color of the water - its pink. The stone for Argentina is a pink rodocrosite. Apparently they like to color their water to match the stone.
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