Wine, thugs and harmony

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Back to Argentina, again. It looks as though the border guards have been testing out their stamps in our passports.

The crossing over the andes was spectacular. Once again, we had a bus driver that was eager to beat the queues and happily cruised up the outside lane past lines of trucks. At least this gave us a good view from the bus window!

Our first taste of Mendoza was a lesson in how not to arrive in a city. Our hostel was only about 3 blocks from the bus station and so, we bumbling kiwis decided we would walk. Unknowingly, we wandered out the ´wrong entrance´. As we turned back towards the bus station a guy tried to snatch Ben´s day bag. He was dragged along the ground for a bit but refused to let go. I was a bit ahead and turned around to see them having a bit of a tussle. I don´t think our would be assailant had ever seen a 6ft tall woman with a good set of lungs, running at him screaming at full bore. His eyes widened, he dropped the pack and then ran off. All this at the end of the taxi rank!

Well, this was obviously a bit scary, and I took an instant dislike to Mendoza. I could only sigh when I saw a sign on the wall of the hostel saying that if you are going to get robbed in Mendoza, it will be at the bus station, the Plaza Indepencia or an internet cafe. Shame, since we intended on visiting said plaza and internet cafe.

Still, we gave Mendoza a chance and found it to be quite nice. Ben advises me that a big earthquake mostly destroyed the city in 1861. They rebuilt it with wide pavements for the rubble to fall into, and lots of plazas for people to gather, should the city self destruct again. It hasn´t so far, and the result is a really nice city for walking around in. The city planners also installed a series of irrigation channels so all the streets are full of leafy trees.

This is a big wine area, so we did the wine tour thing on bikes. My bike only had one gear, but this wasn´t a problem as it was just right for the flat dusty roads. Ben´s didn´t have any brakes, so he had to anticipte when he wanted to stop about 50m in advance and roll to a stop. Luckily the trucks that ply these roads are used to cyclists (usually weaving all over the road after a few too many tastings) and gave us a wide bearth. Strangely enough, we ate more chocolate and olives than tasted wines. A great afternoon, none the less.

After Mendoza, we took yet another 20 hour bus ride to Salta. We didn´t spend much time there, as we wanted to catch the next bus back over to Chile. I found I didn´t take many photos of Mendoza - I didn´t feel inclined to get my camera out, and instead, guarded my bag closely. The only photo I have of Salta is a terrible one of me, standing at the top of the teleferico with bedraggled hair. I refuse to ruin the site by posting that!

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Photos

Its a long and winding road...
Our bus driver apparently wanted to make it to the border crossing first. Not so sure about his overtaking strategy though.

Wine, food and friends
Glad we gave this town a chance

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