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Published: March 31st 2011
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We travelled on a ‘Tur bus’ through the stunning Andes. We took loads of photos through the glass of the coach window – we’d have like to get out and take some properly. It was a landscape completely different to anything we’d seen so far, very dry, the only real vegetation being cactuses, and some of the steepest and windiest roads yet! Another new experience was the ‘in-flight’ coach service. We were handed blankets, pillows, a drink and some snacks, plus the bus was one of the comfiest yet (this mainly due to the massive investment in the transport system due to the railroads being broken up). The border crossing was fairly quick and simple, and we soon arrived into Mendoza – which was much larger than we were expecting. We’d book a hostel based on their quote that they were a ‘short walk from the bus station’ – I wouldn’t say 30 minutes with an 18kg bag on your back and 6kg bag on your front was a short or pleasant walk! We arrived pretty hot and flustered and then didn’t have the right currency to pay for our room, grr. We showered and cooled off a bit before heading
out to explore and get some dinner. The hostel was a bit out of town, but it was a pleasant walk down tree lined streets. We spent a long time finding a restaurant that was in our budget and then learnt that they don’t accept card, nor did the next two that we tried, so off we went to find an ATM. We’d been given some Spanish directs, so it was a bit of a blind search and there appear to be very few cash points in Mendoza! By the time we’d located one and queued to get cash out, it was already 10pm! We ended up going to the closets restaurant we could find – an Italian, where Dan described his pizza as cheese on toast!! It was a bit disappointing for our first proper meal out since our Fergburger in Queenstown!
After a good night’s sleep, it was time to get out and explore the vineyards surrounding the city. We’d been recommend a company called ‘Mr Hugo’s’, and turns out our English dorm buddies had also heard good things so we decided to go together. We managed to buy an oyster card type bus ticket using our
very basic Spanish, (which seem to be getting us by just about) then caught a public bus out of town to Mr Hugo’s bike rentals. We were handed a beaker full of red wine before we’d even given over any money to hire the bikes and it was only 11am! We were given a map and set off to our first stop, a wine museum called Museo del Vino La Rural. We got to see lots of traditional equipment used in the wine making process and huge barrels, but it was lacking any explanation (in Spanish or English). Still, we got to sample a glass of malbec so it was all good.
A short cycle took us to Dans favourite stop – A la Antigua. We had to pay 15 pesos for this (just over £2) but it was well worth it! We were given a tour of the grounds where we got to see 3 different types of olives growing and the machinery they used to make their homemade olive oils and balsamic vinegar. Then it was onto the good bit – the tasting! First we tried bread with olive oil drizzled over it, then we dipped it
in balsamic vinegar (it tasted so good we actually brought a bottle – not sure why we thought carrying around a glass bottle with high leak potential was a good idea, but we did!) Then we tried their olives, olive pastes, chilli and jalapeno sauces, before moving onto their jams, marmalades and chocolate spreads, it was great! Then came the liquors round where they limited us to one sample each (boo). Laura opted for the more sensible choice of mint chocolate which was really tasty, whilst Dan, Katie and Lulu thought they’d give the absinthe a go! They even went to the effort of preparing it the traditional way using a sugar cube to make it taste ‘more drinkable’, but by they look on their faces after drinking it, you could tell they were really happy with their choice! We finished on a sweeter note with some homemade chocolates. £2 well spent!!
We continued with the afternoon visiting 3 other vineyards – Vina El Cerno, Tempus Alba and Familia Di Tomaso. At some points we were riding along roads that had been turned to mud by the roadwork’s – it wasn’t quite the romantic vineyard setting we’d imagined in
our heads and was pretty tough riding in places, quite the contrast form both Hunter valley and Marlborough! We enjoyed a very informative tour of Argentina’s oldest winery ‘Familia Di Tomaso’ it was nice to be back among some actual old buildings – something Australia and New Zealand lack. At around 4pm we headed back to Mr Hugo’s where we were plied with gallons of free wine! Everyone that had hired a bike that day ended up sat around in his garden with his dogs and cats, drinking endless amounts of red wine from plastic cups! Mr Hugo spoke only Spanish but the fact we couldn't understand him didn't stop him chatting away with a big smile on his face! It was really good fun, and gave us the chance to chat to some people who had recently travelled to the places we are planning to go. We are now debating cutting Brazil out (based on how expensive it is) and replacing it with Columbia as we keep hearing such good things about it. We took the bus back into town feeling pretty merry and in desperate need of some food. After our nice cultural day, we unfortunately ended up
in McDonalds – our most expensive one yet!
We had to move on the next day but were not due to leave till 10.30pm on a night bus. We decided to spend the day seeing some of the sites in and around town. We had lunch after being drawn in by the cheaper set menu’s which most restaurants have on offer, Laura unsurprisingly opted for lasagne, and Dan had a rather disappointing steak, especially by the Argi’s standards! We carried on our walking tour - there are many beautiful buildings especially around the old parts of town, but it is the plaza’s and squares which really stand out in the centre. Plaza Independencia and Plaza Espana play host to a number of events and small markets during the days and nights, whilst we were walking through Plaza Independencia they were having a wood carving competition. We made our way up to the huge park Parque General San Martin which contains a lake, museums and a stadium amongst other things. The tree lined avenues provided a gateway for many Argentineans to play football, go jogging, cycle and have picnics; the park was really busy as it was a public holiday.
It was quite a relaxing afternoon and Laura obviously took the opportunity to have a nap ZZZ.
The bus terminal was not really somewhere we wanted to hang around at night due to reports of muggings, so we were pleased when out bus was waiting for us, especially after the long walk from the hostel with our heavy bags! It was a broken night of sleep due to a border crossing and generally being on a bus, travelling on windy roads but we still couldn’t fault the service, which was due to drop us off in Valparaiso, Chile.
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