Advertisement
Published: February 28th 2011
Mendoza
Once more we cross the Andes, but now back from Chili to Argentina and not with two, but with three. Linda and I travelled more than 6 months together. To travel with three is a new experience. It asks some adaptation. We sleep at Hostel Independencia near the centre of Mendoza.
The Vineyards
Visiting the European supermarkets you can hardly miss the Argentinian wines. They all come from Mendoza. Who Mendoza says, says Wine. Yes with a capital.
Robin, Linda and I are wine lovers. Moreover we like to bike. So what about a wine and bike tour?
To bike in between vineyards is a special experience (specially after 20 kilometers and several wineries). The Merlots, Cabernets Sauvignons and Syrahs are tasted with full concentration. But above all the Malbecs, the national proud of Argentina get our attention. What a delicious wine. When we taste the grape itself it tastes sweeter than other grapes. Maybe it has to do with the maximum of sun the grapes get, so that they make lots of sugar by photosynthesis. All wines are red. Conditions are better for red wines we hear and Argentinians like more red wine with their grilled meat.
We also learn that the wines usually mature in bottles and not in oak. Argentinians do not like the oak taste. They like the flavours of the wine itself. At the last vineyard we hear that young people like young wine, which was not in a barrel at all. Unfortunately that is not possible. ´So, you know what we do?´, says the woman in the winebar, ´we mix the young wine with 30 procent of barrel wine´ She shows a bottle. ´Utopìa´, we read on the sticker. After 20 kilometer biking and numerous glasses of wine we feel likewise. But it is a nice form of utopia.
The Aconcaqua
It takes about 4 hours from Mendoza to come with the bus to Punta del Inca, a natural stone bridge in the landscape. From there it is 3 kilometers walking to the entrance of Parque Nacional Aconcaqua. You cannot enter without a permission of the Tourist Centre in Mendoza. There you have to answer questions about your health and condition, your insurance company, whom they can call if something gets wrong and you have to sign that you are there under your own responsibility. Why all this paperwork? Well,
because the Aconcaqua is the highest mountain in the Western Hemishere with its almost 7000 meter (second highest in the world after the Himalaya). To come to the top takes about 15 days. We only walk about 7 hours. Our little ´expedition´ with three members does not come any farther than 3500 meter. But it is beautiful: the huge rock formations in all colours, the snowcapped Aconcaqua on the background, contrasting against an intense blue sky. So nearby and still so hard to reach.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.051s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 9; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0306s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
Gré en Ruud
non-member comment
Jomgens, weer bedankt voor het mooie reisverslag en leuk dat je zoon er nu ook bij is Andre.