Getting high in the Andes, until it got complicated

[offshore171]

So what do we have here?

Portillo is a mountain resort centred around a large hotel "Hotel Portillo" established about 80 years ago. The hotel is full board, serving guests 4 fully seated meals per day. The food is an incredibly high standard.

The setting is a deep sided, high altitude valley, with the focal point being the Laguna del Inca, or "Lake of the Incas"

The hotel sits at 2880 metres, and the surrounding peaks approach 5000. Aconcagua, a few km away is the highest mountain in the Americas.

We enter the hotel at about 2:30pm, and they are super friendly and mention we should quickly pop in to the restaurant because lunch service finishes at 3. On the way to the restaurant, we stop to take in the view.

 

[offshore171]

Who is here?

About half the guests are there for skiing.

The other half visit for the food, scenery, various outdoor activities, or the general wellness benefits of a week at high altitude.

Each day, the hotel publishes an activities list, offering up things like snowshoeing around the lake edge, watching world cup games in the bar or cinema, live music in the evening, etc. There's plenty to do and see.

This particular week is school holidays in the region, and there are plenty of families from Chile and Argentina (Mendoza in Argentina is about a 2 hour drive).

Bookings are for 7 days, Saturday to Saturday, and as mentioned it's full board. You only need to pay for drinks.

The hotel has a tea bar, two full bars, a cinema, an indoor basketball/soccer court, a large games room, a bunch of outdoor heated pools and spas, and a fantastic lounge area with views onto the lake




Additionally, each day we see day trip sightseers who stop in to see the famous lake.

 

[Cossie]

Hmmmm, hairpins, might have to pay a visit! Enjoying this tr.

 

[Scarlett]

Hmmmm, hairpins, might have to pay a visit! Enjoying this tr.

Agreed. What an outstanding road.

As someone who will be in Sth America, including Chile, in a few months, this is a very interesting trip report.

 

[offshore171]

Late afternoon on arrival day and there's a World Cup game showing in the bar.

Must say, latin American soccer commentators are unbelievably exuberant. The only word I could understand was: ¡ GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAALLL !

I sample some local beers, including the ones recommended by our first Uber drive:

Austral and Kunstmann

The bar prices aren't too bad, considering the remoteness of where we are. A bit under $10AUD

 

[RooFlyer]

Hmmmm, hairpins, might have to pay a visit! Enjoying this tr.

@JohnM and I drove from Mendoza to Santiago a few years back and, having gone though the uncertain trial of the land border crossing (where our vehicle permit was stamped 4 times at different counters), we drove down those hairpins. Or rather, IIRC JohnM drove down. I don't think either he or I trusted me to do so!

So in our haste to escape the boarder post (which is a few km inside Chile), we must have blithely passed Portillo, about a km past it. Enjoying this TR @offshore171

A few pics here.

 

[offshore171]

(where our vehicle permit was stamped 4 times at different counters), we drove down those hairpins.

Good to have some corroboration that this road is real!

I showed an aerial shot of those switchbacks to a mate and he was convinced it was an AI concoction!

 

[JohnM]

It’s real…

 

[offshore171]

Then it's time for the first dinner of the stay. Given we've booked in for 7 nights, I'm wondering what the quality of the included meals will be like. Will it meet expectations?

Tonight's menu looks very promising.

I go with the beef, wondering if it will be a hit or a miss.



The waiters bring out a massive tomahawk steak. And it's cooked and seasoned to perfection. WOW. Mind blown. Apologies that the photo didn't really come out very well for some reason. It was glorious.

You'd pay over $100 for something like this back home. This is the calibre of the included meals??


Desert is a Pear Strudel with Pistachio ice cream. Very very impressive. Off to an incredible start! (again not a great photo - sorry)

 

[offshore171]

Next morning I'm the first one up, and breakfast doesn't start until 8. So I go for a wander around 7am.

I go out onto the deck. It's just after sunrise, there's not a breath of wind and the reflections in the lake are otherworldly

 

[Rich]

Then it's time for the first dinner of the stay. Given we've booked in for 7 nights, I'm wondering what the quality of the included meals will be like. Will it meet expectations?

Tonight's menu looks very promising.

I go with the beef, wondering if it will be a hit or a miss.
View attachment 516050


The waiters bring out a massive tomahawk steak. And it's cooked and seasoned to perfection. WOW. Mind blown. Apologies that the photo didn't really come out very well for some reason. It was glorious.

You'd pay over $100 for something like this back home. This is the calibre of the included meals??
View attachment 516052

Desert is a Pear Strudel with Pistachio ice cream. Very very impressive. Off to an incredible start! (again not a great photo - sorry)

View attachment 516051

Stunning photos and what a menu! I noticed on the menu the words "the first course may be changed for:..the second course may be changed for:.." Ah, no thanks.

 

[drron]

Fantastic TR with amazing photos.

 

[Volando]

Following along with interest!

 

[Seat0B]

Next morning I'm the first one up, and breakfast doesn't start until 8. So I go for a wander around 7am.

I go out onto the deck. It's just after sunrise, there's not a breath of wind and the reflections in the lake are otherworldly

View attachment 516054
View attachment 516057
View attachment 516056

Such magnificent scenery and fantastic photos. Absolutely amazing. Chile is moving up my list of places to go - but I have to contend with a previous bout of high altitude pulmonary oedema that I endured in Breckenridge in 2019 and I wonder if it will come back again....

 

[offshore171]

what a menu! I noticed on the menu the words "the first course may be changed for:..the second course may be changed for:.." Ah, no thanks.

Well spotted. Yes, at every lunch and dinner you can switch out your main for something more simple like spag bol, Chicken etc. I think is is more targeted at kids, and possibly for those who want some respite from all the fancier dishes.

The food was an incredibly high standard. No one leaves that dining room hungry



Views at breakfast

 

[offshore171]

but I have to contend with a previous bout of high altitude pulmonary oedema that I endured in Breckenridge in 2019 and I wonder if it will come back again....

A tricky conundrum, we certainly felt the altitude for the first couple of days.

I think I have a solution: Alyeska, Alaska. Absolutely beautiful and it's at sea level!

 

[kpc]

...but I have to contend with a previous bout of high altitude pulmonary oedema that I endured in Breckenridge in 2019 and I wonder if it will come back again....

This is my personal experience...in 2012, I went to Cusco (3400m) from sea level....within 24 hrs, developed severe headache, palpitations, tachycardia, SOB etc to the point I thought I should go to hospital. Fortunately, the hotel had oxygen and that soon relieved my symptoms and we descended to the Sacred Valley that day and I was fine when I returned to Cusco 4 days later. I avoided high altitudes after!

This year we went to La Paz (3600m) and airport is 4000m as +1 wanted to go to Bolivia

This time I acclimatised and spent 3 nights in Medellin (1600m), then 4 nights in Bogota (2600m)...also spent a few hours at a mountain (3100m) overlooking Bogota day before and also started Diamox tablets.

I was a bit breathess at Lpb airport (4050m) and was a bit dizzy and light headed the first night in La Paz (3600m) but was fine after. I had also prechecked that my hotel had oxygen available if needed.

Within a few days I was in the high deserts of Bolivia sleeping at 4300m and climbing to 5000m high deserts and was OK despite my fears.

The trick with altitude is slow ascent and acclimatisation, and Diamox.

YMMV and speak to your Dr.

 

[tgh]

Chile is a land of wonderful geography ,from desert to alps to fjords, no need to go high @Seat0B
South America overall is truly a must see continent.
This excellent ta is bringing back some wonderful memories

 

[ols]

Austral and Kunstmann
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I'd be a bit worried about ordering that second choice especially if you have had a few already

 

[TheRealTMA]

Following. Lovely TR to a land I will never be able to visit.