Base Cerro Uritorco, Capilla del Monte

The river was dry when I was there, but that gave us a really neat walking experience. There is a trail to climb if you have the time, and there are some vendors with souvenirs to pick up. The water, trees, and rocks are really the highpoint here.

The mountain is great, but a little overrated. There are nicer hills and mountains in the world if one's willing to venture out further. The whole UFO and energy crystal thing is a curiosity, but to me, feels like nothing more than a tourist scheme to drum up more money. Which the owner of the land happily takes advantage of, selling the rights to park on a piece of uncovered dirt for 1,000 pesos, and the only well known passage to the mountain for 4,000 pesos per person (the website doesn't detail this information, I wonder why?). (At this time of writing in late 2022, the dollar blue is about 300 pesos). So you can imagine an Argentinian family driving into town and not being able to climb the mountain because they can't afford the enormous price they had not imagined they needed to pay... shameful. The base camp is pretty enough, with the view of a large sign, a couple shops, an overpriced restaurant, and a shaky drawbridge that one could easily cut themselves on(!) if they're not careful. But it simply doesn't justify the high prices. Unfortunately, the government won't do anything about it at this point, it was decided long ago that access to the hill would be privately owned. Maybe the owner could offer a discount for families? Or for Argentinian citizens? Maybe the elderly? They're the ones that are most likely to be priced out of an otherwise pleasant tourist experience. 4 stars for the mountain, 1 star for the commercial exploitation.