Puente del Inca and Las Cuevas

Travel & LeisureTravel Tips

  • Author Alexander Lekker
  • Published November 27, 2010
  • Word count 411

When comingo to Cuyo region, the city of Mendoza and its hotels are are the best choice for your vacations. In the surroundings of beautiful and calm villages, the capital welcomes its guests with first class services after an exhausting but pleasant outing.

Puente del Inca (Inca´s Bridge) can be found close to the town of Las Cuevas, in the northwestern area of Mendoza province, 196 kilometres away from the capital city . Due to erosion effects, Puente del Inca´s rocky formation has turned its 48 meters long and its 28 meters high into a natural bridge over Las Cuevas River.

At That Place we can see the remains of the Puente del Inca Hotel, which was opened in 1925 and destroyed in 1965 by an avalanche. As time went by, the rocky walls got a yellowish ocher shade, making its sight even more impressive. The Puente del Inca Hotel was headed to the most relevant celebrities of those times, who used to come and enjoy the hot springs still active and accessible in the site.

Unfortunately, since July 2005, the access to the Puente del Inca and the hot springs is completely closed. This decision was taken to prevent potential cracks and collapse, and to give the rocky formation some time to recover and settle.

Even though it is forbidden to get too close to the Puente del Inca, this natural wonder still seduces thousands of tourists who want to see it and take some pictures of it, even from a distant spot. In the surroundings we can see several handcraft stalls and the Puente del Inca Station, where the Trasandino Train passes joining Argentina with Chile.

Las Cuevas is a small town placed 195 kilometers away from the capital city, over the Andean Mountain Range, almost on the border with Chile. This village is surrounded by mountains, which nest the old wooden and stone houses of the region, all of them built with a nordic scandinavian architectonic style.

One of the major attractive features of Las Cuevas is the Cristo Redentor Monument, a sculpture 7 meters high that pops out among the mountains and hills. During the summer, the route to the Cristo Redentor Monument is one of the favorites circuits.

Coming from any Mendoza´s hotel to Las Cuevas can be also a start point to visit places like the Puente del Inca, the Aconcagua National Park, the Cristo Redentor Tunnel or some ski resorts like El Portillo, in Chile, or Los Penitentes, in Argentina.

This article has been viewed 699 times.

Rate article

Article comments

There are no posted comments.

Related articles