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Mendoza May 08
We were really excited about arriving in Argentina as we had heard so many good things about it and we weren´t disappointed! On the first evening, we got into Mendoza about 11pm and decided to go straight out and sample some steak and Malbec. It was fantastic, I think the fact that the whole meal only cost us about 8 pounds so made it taste even better! We decided to have an early night and headed back to our superb hotel room ( less than a tenner for a suite, nice kicthen , sitting area, massive bathroom ....etc )
The next morning we had an explore , the city had some really nice little squares dotted about and parks. It was soon time to go and have another steak ! ( at first in Argentina we couldn't get enough of it, it was cheap and always brilliant ) . We then headed over to the main bar area and had a look in some of the hostels as they are always good for tours, day trips ....etc. We decided to do three, a one day wine tasting trip on bikes, a nightime horseriding trip and then
a trip into the mountains to see a few things but mainly the highest mountain in South America ,Aconcagua ( if anyones interested, its roughly 6900 metres high ).
The first one was the bike ride / wine tasting , can't remeber what we paid , but they saw us coming ! The payment only included a lift to the bike shop, hiring the bikes for a day and a map of the vineyard area ! We thought being a wine tasting trip there may be some wine tasting included ....... not so, these were all extras that we needed to pay for. We had visions of the vineyards and countryside around the Frandschoek and Stellenbosch area near Cape Town, which were quality. What we got was more like an Industrial road ( think Jackson Street, St Helens or Dallow Road,Luton ) , with some vineyards either a right or left turn off it. So, we set off on rubbish bikes down a road full of lorrys and buses, past what looked like bomb damaged buildings .......... we just had to laugh about it really. It did get better though, some of the vineyards felt a world away from
the dusty industrial road, and most had quality views of the mountains in the distance. The wine wasn't bad either. We had lunch at one and in all visited about six, making the bike ride back interesting ! Being ripped off and industrial road aside , it had been a really good day.
The horse riding was a funny night, it started with a sunset ride out into the surrounding hills, then a ride back in darkness ! My horse as usual had a mind of its own and basically did what it wanted until occasionally seeing one of the guides coming passed and behaving for 30 seconds. Gills was even worse, but really funny. At one point the group , about 15 tourists and 3 guides, were all together as one guide gave an explanation of the area ....... etc Gill's horse must have been bored and just decided to wander off, Gill tried to control it with no success ! Other horses then followed its lead and also turned and went. Halfway through his story this poor guide had to then gallop after Gills horse to bring it, and the followers back. Really funny ........ just picture
Gilll heading off into the distance shouting at a horse she has no control of ! We eventually got back ( with sore bum ) to the camp area for a bit of a bbq involving ....... steak !
The Mountain trip was rubbish ! It involved hours on a bus with a spanish guide ( we had been promised English ) . So, bumpy bus ride with a lady rattling on in a language you don't understand ........ brilliant. Being a little hungover also didn't help things. It also when we got high into the mountains was snowing quite heavily ! We were completely not prepared for this , Gill stayed mnainly on the bus as i was sent out to get a few pictures. The scenery at times was amazing ......... but we were bored silly ! Annoyingly , because of the snowfall, we couldn't even see Aconcagua .... bugger !
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Lots of lovely vino!
maire
non-member comment
Hello there!
Hey there, Gill and Steve. It Maire and Peter from Mellow Yellow! Found your blog my chance which was cool cause I managed to lose that little piece of paper with your emails. Hope your enjoying Argentina....we would love to go back. We are in Laos at the mo, so chilled out here. Staying here about 5 weeks and then down to Southern Thailand. We are on travelblog, look for PeterandMaire or peter Gaffey. Enjoy the rest of your travels Maire x