Wine, rafting, riding and a sore bum.

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We arrived in Mendoza after an 18hr overnight bus ride (in comfort, its all about the Andesmar cama seats!) from Salta.

Mendoza is a big city with a small town vibe, it has a slightly more urban feel than Salta. This is mainly due to the fact that the city has been flattened in the past by a series of earthquakes, which destroyed most of the heritage architecture. Nevertheless, the subsequent intriguing town planning coupled with a little bit of ingenuity has resulted in wide avenues lined with giant sycamores and parallel irrigation channels (carrying melted snow from the Andes).

In the centre of the city there are five plazas, one large one in the centre (Plaza Independencia) and the four smaller plazas (Chile, San Martin, España and Italia) lying two blocks from each of its corners. There are also a number of popular streets for shopping, eating and socialising dotted around the city. The Mendocinos are a lively and friendly bunch.

Mendoza is a convenient gateway to exploring and adventuring in the neighbouring Andes. Its surrounding 3 wine regions produce 70% of the country's wine (the most popular of the red varietals being Malbec).

For our three nights in Mendoza we stayed at the Plaza Italia B&B, which was situated on one of the streets bordering Plaza Italia.

Highlights of the trip

- A three hour horseback adventure through the Parque Provincial Aconcagua which is nestled in the Andean foothills and is overlooked by the snowcapped Cerro Aconcagua (6962m). It was a glorious sunny morning and the views were stunning. The only draw back was the inability to walk once we dismounted from the horses, and Kai moaning about his sore arse!!
- After the horse riding we headed to Potrerillos, a large lake / dam at the base of the Mendoza river, where we prepared for our 1hr 20min rafting experience. It was a fantastic grade three rafting trip with just the two of us and our guide, which ended with a plunge into the icy cold river.
- Spending an afternoon in the Maipu province, a wine region of Mendoza. We were part of a group of ten partaking in wine tasting at the large commercialized Baudron winery, and a small family owned winery. We also visited a private enterprise specializing in homemade chocolates, preserves and liquors (which we sampled). Lastly, we visited a pretty average chocolate factory and resisted the urge to buy all the merchandise!
- As a protest to the enormous sized carnivorous portions that we have become so accustomed to in Argentina, we decided to try something different. After an evening of a few traditional empanadas and a small salad, we sampled both Lebanese and northern Spanish seafood cuisine.
- Having a picnic in the Gral. San Martin Park and discovering that Mendoza also has a friendly dog that chose to trail us and bark at passing two wheelers. We must smell a little too enticing for them to resist!

So from here we head back to BA.

Ciao Chicos,

Kai and Kerry

PS. Importnat Blog Note: Kerry is also taking a lot of the photographs on the blogs, so credit is due.

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Comments

[Bill Ellis]

Brilliant
Hi guys, fantastic hope your arse is no longer sore Kai.Nice leggings Kerry. Wow grade 3 white water rafting very envious. I hope the rest of your trip is as enjoyable as Argentina has proved to be. Mum and I think there are some places there that we would like to visit the wines sound very good. Do they taste good. Food looks exceptional. Enjoy. Love from us