We were traveling from Mendoza to Tupungato in the Uco Valley to visit a winery. We asked our driver, Gerardo, about taking a scenic back route in the Andes foothills from Mendoza to Potrerillos, then on Route 89 from Potrerillos to Tupungato. After a few phone calls, Gerardo told us that this was a dirt road but do-able. (Side note: hiring a car and driver in Mendoza was one of the smart things we did, and Gerardo was an excellent driver.)
What we didn't know was that it had rained the previous night and that the dirt road was a mud road. Had we been sensible or thought things through, we should have/would have/could have turned around at the first mud crossing. But we didn't. And Gerardo said we could go forward.
At several points, all four of us American-sized passengers had to get out of the little car and ford the mud so the car could get enough clearance to drive through.
As we crossed the mountain, all we saw was fog. Fog on a muddy, rutted, one-and-a-half-lane mountain road.
We were glad to see the road crews out moving mud.
Just when we thought we might make it through the mud, we feared being run down by horses. At one point we rounded a corner and saw a dozen or so horses headed for us, as a man and his dogs were herding them from one pasture to another.
When we arrived safely in Tupungato, we discovered the winery we planned to visit was closed because the rain had washed out its road. We ended up having lunch in a fabulous restaurant in Tupungato called El Ilo. Later we learned it specialized in fish, which we generally didn't order, but the food was excellent anyway.
And we took the main highway back to Mendoza.
Many thanks to ace photographer Scott Hogman for the photos. He had the presence of mind to take pictures from the front seat while the three of us sitting tightly in the back seat worried about Gerardo's car and out ability to get out of this adventure.
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