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Maipu, Argentina
Our wine tour lunch stop...Friday 29th April - Wednesday 4th May
Our early morning departure from Santiago meant we were able to take in the impressive Andean views as we climbed to in excess of 3,000 metres to cross back into Argentina. With no bus related drama to keep us entertained for once, we turned our thoughts to Mendoza. Billed us 'stunningly picturesque' by the Lonely Planet, we pictured ourselves sipping wine in the sun, amongst rolling vineyards, similar to Tuscany or Bordeaux. We were in for a shock!
For us, Mendoza was just another city, and a bit disappointing at that. However, it would have been rude to leave without visiting the wineries of nearby Maipu, so we rented bikes from Mr Hugo and set off in pursuit of a vintage drop. Our first stop was at a family run farm where they produced all sorts from olives and mushrooms, to jams and chutneys and liquors. Not a drop of wine in sight, but home brew absinthe is not to be missed. I wouldn't recommend it as a substitute for the 11am cup of tea, but it certainly warmed us up. We also happened to bump into a fun group of people,
including a couple we recognised from our hostel in Pucon, who we joined for the day.
The wineries, whilst not set in rolling fields of vines as expected, made for great pitstops and unsurprisingly the wines were superb. So much so, that one tasting session developed into lunch and a couple of bottles. An excellent day out, topped off with a filet steak and a(nother) bottle of Malbec back at the hostel - all for a whopping £6 from the local supermarket.... gotta love Argentina!
Despite still feeling a little fragile from the day before, we were keen to move on, so we booked our tickets on the next bus to Salta (a mere 18 hours away) and hot stepped it out of Mendoza - 18 hours turned into 22 due to the standard breakdown and replacement bus that is becoming customary on our travels. However, the bus company redeemed itself by providing a game of bingo for the cheap seats. With a bottle of wine on offer, I've never concentrated so hard to understand spanish. But numbers are the one thing I've mastered (or at least I thought I had) and with one number remaining on my
Salta, Argentina
Salta's cathedral by night bingo sheet, I though the game was won..... only for a cry of 'beeeengo' to be heard from the front - gutted!
Salta in the northwest of Argentina, starts to feel a little less 'western' and a bit more how we expected Bolivia to be like. Unlike other parts of Argentina, there are more street vendors lining the pavements, selling everything you can think of in hope of luring a buyer, and the food is a little more spicy (soups and stews rather than steak and chips).
A lovely place, with old colonial buildings surrounding the main plaza, 9 de Julio, which comes to life as day turns to night. We spent the first day exploring the city, visiting the MAAM Museum (which documents the discovery of 3 child mummies found at the top of the Llullailco Volcano, at an altitude of 6,700 metres - perfectly preserved), taking in views of Salta from the top of Cerro San Bernado, playing on the swings in the park like kids and being sent on a wild goose chase for the artesanal night market, which was either closed or didn't exist! There's nothing quite like being stranded in the back end
of nowhere, roaming dark streets in search of the bus back to town, Gortexed up to the max like the gringoes we are......
An awesome day out followed. Along with a minibus full of non-English speaking Argentine tourists, who appeared to have brought with them their entire dodgy Spanish love songs record collection, we ventured out of Salta towards the vineyard town of Cafayate. The road winds through Las Conchas Gorge, an eroded river bed canyon, past many impressive sandstone landforms carved out over time by the wind - it was like being on another planet at times. First up was the impressively named 'Devils Throat', a deep canyon with multi layers of sandstone lining the walls. Our curiosity and sense of adventure had us crawling up the rock and deep into the canyon. Other rock formations included the amphitheatre, the toad, the obelisk and the castles.
Just before arriving in Cafayate for lunch, we managed a cheeky visit to a local vineyard to sample some of the excellent Torrontes white wine for which the region is well known. They must have seen us coming as before we knew it, we were sat down drinking a bottle over
Salta, Argentina
Traditional Argentine dancing at the pena lunch! The sun was still out and it just so happened that we bumped into the gang from our wine tour in Maipu a few days before....small world this travelling lark.
After five or so weeks, our last night in Argentina was upon us and so the six of us decided it would only be right to see it off respectfully by taking in a local pena, a traditional Argentine folklore show. A few pisco sours to kick the evening off, a slab of Argentina's best beef and several bottles of red later, we emerged from the smoky room safe in the knowledge that Argentina had been properly toasted. The pena was great fun, even if we were the only gringoes in the house.....although I'm still not sure why a video of Michael Jackson singing Heal the World was played half way through the night as the audience sat in silence - Chris just couldn't resist a little "Hee Hoo, shamon"! much to the locals' delight....Classic.
With the memories of the great times in Argentina still fresh, we headed into Chile for the final time with nervous anticipation as our first real brush with altitude lay in wait.
Salta, Argentina
Pena meets Alien.... C and K xx
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