Having the freedom of a car really helps in this vast country, which we really realised after this road trip.  Many of the tour books advised just getting a bus from Córdoba to Mendoza direct, as there wasn't really anything to see in between.  However, we disagree after having a two night stopover in San Luis, a small town just over half way between the two major cities. 

We arrived at the hotel late afternoon, just in time to enjoy a swim to cool off before having a delicious dinner.  The following day we discovered there was a lovely waterfall trek up the mountain in the Sierras Grandes (it's probably more of a giant hill than a mountain if you're comparing them to The Andes).  The town was called Potrero de los Funes, and was about a 30min steep drive up.  When we got to the town, there was bizarrely a motor race track that we had to use as part of the road.  It is a semi-permanent track that was built in the '80's, although when we drove along it, houses had and were still being built behind the high safety fences.  

The town had an Alpine feel about it, with some of the houses having been built of wood and long sloping roofs to prevent the snow from settling on them.  

We reached a ford in the road after a small drive through the middle of the town and we thought it seemed as good a time as any to stop and get out and walk. 

The river was a beautiful clear flow of water through a gorge of towering boulders and shrub trees clinging to the sides. We simply followed the river up, walking in it at times when the sides were impassable.  We eventually came to a large natural pool where the sun was streaming down and decided it was a perfect place to stop and have our picnic we'd previously made for the walk.  

We stripped down to our swimsuits and went in, a little cooler than the swimming pools we'd been used to, but a lovely cool down after being in the 30 degree heat. 

My childhood traumas of watching Jaws came to me when I first stepped into the water, not worrying about sharks, but maybe snakes or something else just as ghastly to sneak out of the sand covered floor or the rocks at the edge, but nothing did and I soon calmed and enjoyed the water, not wanting to get out.  

Axel scampered off to make a dam, while Edith screeched with delight every time she saw a yellow butterfly flutter overhead.  We were alone in this peaceful beauty of nature, as I thought "This is what it's all about." 

After a couple of hours passed, we dragged ourselves back home, Lorne having to freewheel most of the way back down the hill as we were almost out of gas, happy and relaxed.