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Published: March 20th 2005
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Another 15 hour bus trip and we found ourselves in Mendoza. The first thing that you wake up to the overnight trip from BA is a view of the Andes - not bad eh? As soon as we had ourselves installed we were off to the tourist board to find out about wine trips. Since Ginny had just 1 ½ days time for her was short and sweet. We were told that we could go to the Bodegas (wineries) with a local bus which was much cheaper and would allow us to see three bodegas on the bus route - whereas all the organized trips only included two bodegas. So thinking ourselves extremely clever to have discovered this off we went.
Well…. It did not go quite according to plan. On the ´bus route´ was an actually take a left and walk 2 km in that direction. The first and closest bodega was also the wine museum and looked very organized and efficient. Not quite what we were looking for. So after pottering about ourselves and nicking some wine from the previous tour that was finishing up we set off to find Bodega number two on the map.
Another couple of km (in the midday sun and with no water) we ended up at the Bodega al Cerno. It was fab. They were just bringing in the grapes as it is the harvest season so we got to munch on some cabernet sauvignon while watching the grapes being crushed and sent to the vats (you will see from the number of photos that I was quite enthusiastic!) . We also got the guided tour and complimentary wine tasting (which of course was the whole reason why we were there!).
Next day and we went water rafting. Yes you read right. Water rafting. Well it was Ginny´s last day and that is what she wanted to do. (I would have put my foot down at paragliding, but water I can handle). We went with a group up into the Andes and had an hour ride down the Mendoza River. Apparently you have 1 - 6 and we were on 3 to 4 which was pretty harmless enough. At first I could not figure out how the hell you were supposed to not fall in since you sit on the side of the dingy. Then I got it. When
you think that it looks pretty scary, you ignore the instructor, stop paddling and jump into the middle of the boat! Easy! (and that is what everyone did!).
Ginny then headed off to BA and I was left alone. I trudged off to the hostel I had booked to find out the hostel did not have a booking for me, it was not a hostel hostel but a hostel hotel and hence the rooms were expensive and they only had one double room left. The owner took pity on me, I was tired and fed up (have been battling a severe thos), and so forked out the extra money for the room as he was charging me a single rate.
So there I collapsed on the bed to discover a severe tilt. The pillow was awful and basically stuffed pieces of god knows what. However since he had been such a sweetie I decided not to go and complain and just grin and bear a tilting bed. That was till half way through the night when with one of my coughing fits the bloody bed collapsed! Lights on and a little investigating revealed that the severe tilting was because only half the bed boards were on the bed frame and that one leg was in severe distress. From the evidence it was obvious that this was a frequently occurring event. So my night of luxury was sleeping on a mattress on the floor and putting the bed together before leaving asap!
I got myself down the street to a hostel (and it really is a hostel hostel!) and decided to go and sort out my thos. Basically ever since Montevideo I have had a severe tickle which has been making me cough. However 10 days later and this tickle was at the point of making me retch and feel pretty low (oh and a lovely cold sore to boot!). So I decided it was really time to take action and went off to the local pharmacy to ask for a list of doctors. The pharmacist looked at me blankly at the request for a name of a doctor and then wrote down an address and Association of bankers. Seemed strange to me but off I pottered to the address to find that it really was the Union of bank workers. Nether the less I went in and asked if there were doctors in the building. The guy at reception asked me how serious the ailment was. I explained in my perfect Spanish about my thos and gave him a practical demonstration. He told me it would cost 12 pesos which I readily agreed, only to discover that I only had 10 pesos (3 euros!) on me. With a wave of his hand and a couple of strokes on the keyboard he looked up and said - 5 pesos? I agreed and was whisked past the others to speak to the doctor.
He explained what I already suspected - that I had picked up a viral infection from the air conditioning and there was nothing to be done. He did however give me some cortisone which has been sweet relief to me and my dorm mates as it has killed the tickle and hence the cough!
With those little adventures out of the way I had an admin day - sorting out tickets to my next destination, laundry, budget, trying to get my phone to work etc and all the little bits and pieces which crop up when you are traveling.
Next day and I was on the Alta Montana tour. It was glorious. You are driven high up into the mountains through the Upsallata valley (piece of trivia - this is where they filmed 7 years in Tibet and pointed out where Brad Pitt stayed). There were stops along the way and explanation of the geography. There is a lot of sulphur providing yellow, black from volcanic activity along with the red soil. One of the highlights is the Puente del Inca which is naturally formed bridge made out of sulphur and other minerals created in the ice age. At the beginning of the last century a hotel and spa were created in the area but these were destroyed by an avalanche (though a church was sparred by a miracle). The bridge was then protected by UNESCO and the spa built under the bridge was left to ruin which in all honesty I thought a little strange. Pictures will be loaded if I ever find an internet café which lets you upload your photos and recognizes my camera!
Since I had some extra time in Mendoza as I could not get a bus to Bariloche I decided to do another Bodega tour - this time organized to see what it was like. So even though our original trip was not quite as easy as we thought at least we hit upon a lovely Bodega. This time round it was two large commercial bodegas with the tour guide telling us all how a wine must never ever be stored for more than 5 years. A South African was disputing this with ´The president of France drinks wine 15 years old´. I just decided it was best to just keep quiet!
I have just spent the day in the city´s park. It is beautiful with a lake with a view of the Andes. I had a pic nic and planned the next couple of weeks of the trip….. The last couple of days in Mendoza have been lovely. It is a great city, easy to navigate since all built in blocks, lots of pretty plazas with live music and terraced bars and restaurants. Good wine and food and the Andes never far from sight.
Photos can be seen here: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/foodiefloozie/my_photos
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