Up in the mountains - from Cordoba to Mendoza

Off to the mountains! I'm so tired of the vast, flat land! That's why I was even more excited this morning for the ride into the mountains behind Cordoba. The city is already one of the more beautiful ones I've seen in Argentina. But still, the mountains call me. The bus struggles up the winding road in hazy weather to over 2000 meters in one of the Sierras de Córdoba. The windows in the bus are fogged up because it's cooler outside than inside. I keep wiping, but finally, it clears up at the top and blue sky appears. The bus's air conditioning turns on and removes the condensation. A bizarre, rugged desert of rocks with barely any vegetation is revealed. It goes over a plateau and finally starts to descend again, and the area with vineyards begins. Towards Mendoza, it becomes flat again, but in the background, you can even see volcanic mountains. A beautiful backdrop and a mix of sun and clouds make everything look friendly. This stage was one of the longer ones, going more than 600km to the southwest. But Mendoza is supposed to be interesting, and I have a room in a Posada just outside in a suburb. The taxi driver is uncertain and briefly stops on the highway to get his glasses from the trunk. I watch him suspiciously, but the situation quickly relaxes, and I have to laugh: he asks how the destination input on the app works. I help him, and after 15 minutes, we're almost at the destination. But where is the Posada? He gets out and rings the doorbell in vain and even tries to stop passing cars to ask - with the taxi engine running and the door open. We're relieved that Miguel from the Posada happens to come by in an SUV. Nice of him to have already messaged on WhatsApp yesterday. I praised his German, but that was the other translation app - same!

He doesn't have any beer, but he goes straight to the wine cellar - which is also good, I thought. Luckily, I bought a Milanese sandwich at the bus station for dinner (just a schnitzel sandwich). The Posada is beautiful, nestled quietly in the greenery.