Cerro Aconcagua, at 6959 metres tall the highest mountain in Argentina and South America (and also in the world outside the Himalayas) was what we’d come to Mendoza to see. I’ve seen large mountains and volcanoes before, in Peru and the northwest of Argentina, where there are 5000 metre and 6000 metre tall mountains and volcanoes that rise up in solitude from the altiplano. I remember the mountain Nevado del Cachi (6380m) which I could see from another village 150 kilometres away, and even from that distance it still seemed huge.The difference with Aconcagua is that it’s surrounded by other, nearly as tall mountains, and can’t be seen until you’re very close, and even then framed by other mountains. To get there, we caught the bus from Mendoza to Uspallata, where we stayed for two nights. Uspallata is a small town high in the mountains near Mendoza. The views of the Andes on the journey are spectacular. This is a desert environment and the mountains are tall, jagged and bare. Uspallata was very small and quiet and very cold at night. We caught the bus from there to the Parque Provincial de Aconcagua (Aconcagua Provincial Park), a 90 minute journey. The road leads past the park over the Andes to Chile and there were lots of trucks and buses on the road. As we neared the park we climbed above the snowline, until finally the bus driver dropped us off.

From the drop off point we walked into the park, where there is a hike of a few kilometres that takes you to the Laguna Horcones and a lookout point from where you can see the south face of Aconcagua. The ground was covered in ice and snow but the sky was a brilliant cloudless blue and the sun was beautifully warm. We didn’t feel cold at all, except for the few times a cold, icy wind blew down the valley, an icy reminder that the weather here is very dangerous and can turn at any time. Even in the summer the overnight temperature on Aconcagua can drop to minus 40 degrees celsius.

We had great fun walking through the snow, until finally we saw Aconcagua. It was very exciting to see the mountain and to know we were looking at the highest part of the earth outside the Himalayas, towering another 4 kilometres above our heads in the distance.

Finally we returned to the road where we walked to the Puente de las Incas (the Inca Bridge), a natural rock formation formed by thermal springs and marked by the ruins of an old hotel. There were market stalls outside and people waiting for buses back to Uspallata and Mendoza.

For the record, the short walk we made inside the park is the the furthest one can go without buying a permit. To climb the mountain usually takes a couple of weeks, with a properly prepared expedition, to allow for the distances, weather and acclimatisation.