Adventure and wine - Mendoza in a nut-shell

Well from Chile to Argentina was the plan and so i have headed over the Andes to the Argentinian city of Mendoza. This involved an 9 hour bus which i decided to take during the night. I have been informed afterwards that it is probably best done in the day as the views whilst crossing the mountains are just spectacular. My trip was also slightly ruined by a bunch of 15 old woman telling jokes to each other from around 8pm til 3am, and the border crossing which took 90 mins standing out in the freezing cold (-5C) with nothing more than a t-shirt, jumper and long pants.

Mendoza is beautiful though and well worth the trip over for anyone thinking of visiting here. It is the wine hub of Argentina and although i have not been to any of the wineries., i sure have tasted many of the good quality, as well as bad quality ($6 aussie dollars for a 5L bottle) produce from the area. One afternoon was spent in one of the many parks that are littered throughout Mendoza, polishing off the 5L bottle between four of us, with some cheese and salami sándwiches, hanging out with the artisans. Needless to say, it was an early night.

The highlight of my stay in Mendoza has definitely been yesterdays adventures into the Andes. Myself, and two other blokes from the hostel, signed up to go mountain biking and white water rafting in the Andes for the day. It was about an 80km bus trip out from Mendoza, to the foothills of the Andes, where the glacial run off provides for some incredible rivers that flow with this freezing cold water, straight from the mountain. As you can see from the photos, it was a great experience. Whilst the rapids were by no means insane (you have to wait until late Dec/Jan when all the snow has melted to get the grade 4-5 rapids), it was still real exciting and pumped the adrenalin throughout the body! And no, i did not fall out, although one poor German girl went arse over tit and had to be rescued.

Mountain biking was also great fun, with us heading high into the hills and then cruising back down along some tight, windy tracks. Unfortunately however, i now feel like i was on the wrong end of a big night in Oxford St as my arse is incredibly sore with some deep brusising throuughout. We weren´t exactly provided with nicely padded seats.

Apart from that, i have been pretty lazy here, just hanging out in the parks, or with some people from our hostel and others at the local bars and restaurants.

Tonight i bus out to Bariloche in the south of Argentina on a 19 hour sleeper bus so wish me luck. I am seriously considering taking a Spanish course down there as my very basic spanish skills are certainly lacking, and i would like to be able to actually know what i am saying and what others are saying to me. However, laziness might very well overcome me and i may just sit around the lakes down there and watch the days go by.

Until next time…..

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