Ushuaia to Mendoza

---

Well as most of you know by now, we have made our way north from the southern most city in the world (where almost everything is ´the most southern golf course, train, post office, etc) stopping in Rio Gallegos, Campo Rivadavia, Bariloche, and finally arriving in Mendoza: the capital of their wine district....I think.

Ushuaia:

I really like Ushuaia even though there did not seem like a whole lot to do. Yes there was hiking in the national park, and hiking across a glacier, but after El Chalten, Moreno and Torres del Paine, it did not really seem worth doing. That being said, our hike to the Chilean - Argentine boarder was quite pleasant and it was interesting to witness the plague of rabits affecting the area.

The other good thing about Ushuaia (not being able to leave), and as well as travelling with Doris (her mind boggling organization), is that we have learned to ´plan´or are at least, we are trying to plan things a little more: we bought our ticket from Bariloche to Mendoza the day we arrived in Bariloche, we booked a hostel in Mendoza a COUPLE days before we even left Bariloche, and we have had a list of things we have wanted to do in said cities.

Travel:

Let´s face it, Ushuaia to Bariloche, consisting of four different bus rides and a short ferry trip sucked. It´s not as bad for me because well I´m short and thus very rarely do I not have enough leg room, and also because I can read on buses (cursed Collapse is taking me forever though), but however long it took, plus two fairly long stops in both Rio Gallegos (nothing there), and Campo Rivadavia (nothing there either) made the trip seemingly endless.

Bariloche:

We had a lot of fun in Bariloche goarging on chocolate, beer and steak. We planned to have the chocolate taste test, planned to rent bikes, and although white water rafting did not pan out, we still managed to fill the day with activities. Carl and Condorman are big highlights of the hostel, as well as the guy who passed out on Jord´s bed....with Jordan in it.

On top of that we managed to make some fairly impressive meals: steak, carrots, bread and wine; steak, linguine with an alfredo type sauce and wine; and a steak and veggie stir fry with rice and of course wine. The meals cost maybe 10 dollars.

Bariloche to Mendoza:

We arrived in Mendoza this morning around 7am? after leaving Bariloche around 13:00. We had decided to splurge on this bus ride and go cama (bed that is just a comfy seat that reclines not quite all the way) instead of semi-cama (shitty seats that recline even less). The top section of the bus was semi cama, and the smaller section on the bottom, cama. It could be one of the best decisions we have had on this trip so far. Plasma screen TV, comfy seats with tons of room movies in English (and good ones) and lunch, dinner and breakfast, plus Jord won a bottle of wine in some bingo promocion. Needless to say I will be trying to take AndesMar when I go to B.A. What cemented my opinion that it was a great decision were the looks from the other people on the bus when they came down to use the bathroom, although after the first few times we decided to close the curtain so as not to be bothered....

Future?

After checking into our hostel, napping and going out for Lunch, we hope to maybe take in a winery tour, go horseback riding and just generally enjoy the ambience of Mendoza which, based on first impressions, and in the words of Jas, looks like a cross between granville and gas town. At least in the downtown.

After Mendoza I head to Buenos Aires to hook up with a rugby team, lose fRyan and hone some spanish skills so I can say I was pretty good before I forget it all over the next year. After that it is off to South Africa, Cape Town probably around May 14 th or so.

Sorry about the lack of pictures.

---