Le Tour de Mendoza

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A slightly delayed night (and next day) bus eventually dropped me off in Mendoza on the 3rd. The cause for the delay was that Argentine police decided that our bus was the one they wanted to search through every single bag on. Worse luck.

It's always nice when you turn up at a hostel and find out people have already bought steak and red wine for you (and themselves aswell of course). Admittedly, this was the only time it has happened so far in my life, but it was nice all the same. It also turned out that Mike and Ellie were also in Mendoza, so we went to see them, ate the steak then went to bed.

The next day we were going to go visit some thermal baths, but a general lack of planning meant that never happened. This meant a day spent sat by the pool, I know I've said it before, but it's a tough life. I was put in charge of the meat buying for the evening, which is how we ended up with 3kg of steak to share between 6 of us. Myself and Mike took care of the BBQ, which was quite possibly a mistake on the others behalf, as when perfectly cooked bits of steak came off the BBQ, we found it very difficult to resist a cheeky taste or 3. We were joined at the BBQ by some Argentians, who were intent on overdoing their steak. Deciding they needed educating, Mike gave them a bit of ours, and as a result, their steak came off a lot redder than it would have done otherwise. A testament to British barbequeing ability right there.

One of Mendoza's big attractions is that it is one of Argentina's principal wine producing regions. So one day the 6 of us (myself, Beth, Rob, Molly, Mike & Ellie) took a taxi out to Maipu, and rented ourselves bikes from a chap called Mr Hugo. What followed was a biking tour around the region, visiting bodegas, a chocolate factory, an olive oil factory and a cheese shop, all of which would give you a tour of the premises before the main attraction, a tasting!

The day was significantly enhanced for me with the realisation that with so many bikes on the road, it resembled the Tour de France. And thus the newly christened Tour de Mendoza began, with the cycle between the bodegas now turned into a furious race. Not everyone seemed to get quite as into it as myself, which meant that on the first stage Mike and I arrived quite a significant amount of time ahead of the pelaton (although Ellie and Rob weren't far behind!)

Another fun diversion was the discovery of a natural water slide near the cheese shop. This was great fun, but carried a bit of a risk, as the current was pretty strong, and missing the exit spot meant getting dragged down the river into the unknown. Unfortunately this is what happened to Beth, but I'm happy to say she eventually got out safely, albeit with a few extra bumps and bruises.

This was the signal that it was time to return to Mr Hugo's and upon our arrival he presented us all with as much wine as we could drink. Happy times! We enjoyed his hospitality to the tune of around a bottle each, which was enjoyed with our cheese and salami. Sadly, the weather had turned a bit nasty, so once we were the last ones remaining there, we decided it was time to jump on a bus back to Mendoza. A really fun day!

The other highlight of my time in Mendoza was a trip out to Puente del Inca, and Aconcagua National Park. On the bus out there (at 6am!) I bumped into Christian, who I'd met in Potosi, who had since been joined by his girlfriend Lynda, so I spent the day wandering round with them. The Puente del Inca is a natural bridge over the Rio Mendoza, formed with ice and sulphur, and was quite interesting to see. However, I enjoyed the National Park a lot more, even though it involved walking about 2km up the main road to Chile to get there.

A few days beforehand, I had been musing over trying to climb Aconcagua, with it being the highest mountain outside the Himalayas. However, a combination of the high cost of climbing it, and the news that a group had died recently, made me decide against it. Therefore, the compromise was a visit to the National Park, to at least see the beast. Which was made difficult by all the cloud obscuring the view. Bugger. But the park itself was really nice, and as we walked back towards Puente del Inca, there was a slight tinge of regret that I hadn't gone for it.

And there's Mendoza in a nutshell. It was time to return to Chile, which was just about achieved, as I caught the bus over the border with about 20 seconds to spare.

Stewart

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