Post Peru

A quick update:

So, we have ventured from the Incan land of Peru into Chile surf country, called Iquique. It is a super sweet beach town in northern Chile that would be sooo sweeet to check out in their summer time, with plenty of surfing, paragliding, and bodyboarding. We took a quick break there, exploring the beaches on bikes and watching the beautiful Pacific from the beach...Unfortunately the timing wasn´t right for either surfing or paragliding.
Next, we took a flight to Santiago to cut out a 27 hour busride that we couldn´t afford to waste the the time on (even though we did miss the northern town of San Pedro and the beautiful salt flats). In Santiago, we were able to explore the city a bit, which is a lot like Denver, but closer to the mountains and a little bit more spread out. Fortunately, it is the end of the ski season, so we booked a trip up to the mountains for 2 days to check out the mountains...incredible, I´ll post pictures tomorrow. Although the snow was springy (aka, slush and choppy hardpack), it was unbelievable to be skiing in Chile. I still have to tell myself everyday that I am in South America everday. It is sooo incredible.
SO, yesterday we arrived in Mendoza, Argentina to a hostel where we met two thirty something year old Aussies that we´ve palled up with. With them, we´ve done a winery tour all today and have ended up in a nice dorm style hostel tonight. Today we sampled delicious wine, olive oil, absinthe, port, dessert wine, irish cream, chocolates, and local cuisine. Mendoza is a great smaller city tucked against the Andes like a boulder/denver mix.
Tomorrow we are planning to walk around the town a bit, and maybe Sunday we will take a bus to Aconqagua - the 22,0000 ft peak only 4 hours away....