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Published: August 25th 2011
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Sunday 21st August
Up at sparrows fart this morning to be down at the bus terminal by 7am and the bus leaves on time with everyone on board – except us! The girl at the office says “It left at 7.30am.” We say “What are you on, its only 7am”, but she is adamant that it is 8am. The clock in the terminal says 7am and the man who walks by says its 7am. Yeah, you guessed it! Daylight savings kicked in and it didn’t occur to anyone at the ticket office to tell us. This is like a strange nightmare occurring over and over.
We ask for a refund and are told we can’t have one because we missed the bus. Google translator is my best friend. I explain that we really can’t be blamed given the circumstances and doesn’t the bus company have to accept a little responsibility as perhaps someone could have told us dumb arse tourists to put our clocks forward? They won’t give us a refund, but after another person arrives to catch the same bus, they agree to bus us back to Santiago (another 8hr bus ride) at no charge, so that we can
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Arriving in Argentina at the border catch a bus to Mendoza from there the next morning, also at no cost to us.
So we’ve plonked ourselves at the Hotel de Carlo, about a block from the terminal and ventured out again onto the bustling Sunday night streets of Santiago.
Shane says – Bustling? It was bloody teeming with people. The whole of Santiago’s 7 million were on the streets.
Finally, after 4 false starts, we have arrived in Mendoza!!!
Shane says- I have to honestly say that, that was the best bus ride I’ve ever been on. The Andes at her best. The scene was amazing to say the least. Fresh snow the whole way up and over. Just sheer scintillating views. The wait was definitely worth it.
We havent been able to secure our original lodging yet, so after speaking to a lovely Argentinian man named Florenzio at the terminal, we get a taxi to his recommended hotel, Andino Apart Hotel.
As you know, we have recently been accommodated in Dogsville and Sticksville, but this place I like to refer to as Shitsville. Honest to god, it was abysmal. My first visit to the front desk was for towels, then to
ask why the wifi didn’t work, then to ask why the free computer didn’t work, then to ask how to lock the window, then to ask for toilet paper etc etc etc. Are you getting the picture? We head around to the Modigliani Art and Design Suites to salvage our original booking and we are nicely settled in her now.
Shane says- I told Sharls to go in and check the room before accepting. But oh no not this girl. Look at the brochure, it will be fine she replies. Shitsville’s deserves it name. I’ve had better broom closets to sleep in in India. And heaps cheaper. Haha.
Mendoza is a really beautiful clean city. There seem to be two schools of thought here. Chileans who have come here for holidays, have bought homes here and never returned to the hustle and bustle of their former lives, and those who have homes in Chile and only work in Mendoza because they wouldn’t dream of living in a country in which there is so much corruption. Apparently in Argentina, $100 slipped in between the pages of your passport can get you out of any predicament, but if you tried
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Mendel Winery to do that in Chile, you would be charged and appear before the courts for bribery. Chile certainly has come a long way.
We spent most of Sunday afternoon getting our bearings and looking around. They have a massive 11 hectare park here that we will get a bike to ride around in on Thursday. We also booked a wine tour for Wednesday with Trout and Wine.
Yesterday saw us book a 17hr bus trip to Salta for Friday night at 8pm. Honestly, the buses here are incredibly comfortable so we don’t mind at all. We had a wine tasting at The Vines before dinner at Ocha Cepas. We ate the most amazing steaks we have ever eaten in our lives!
Wednesday 24th August
A 9am start this morning for our wine tour. We visit 4 prestigious wineries in the area, and most of us were pretty much sizzled by lunch. We are joined by :
Deanne from the Harlem– mad, crazy dark hair, and lots of fun. Its her 40th birthday today!
Benjamin and Maree from London- They’ve been travelling around Asia and South America for the past 6 months
Deidre and Eric from Texas- Lots of
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Dante Robino Winery fun and married only 4 days. We are also having dinner with them tomorrow night at Don Marios- highly recommended for their fabulous food!
Lunch is a 5 course spectacular with matching wines. The chef here doesn’t match the wines to his food, he designs his menu and cooks his food to match the wines.
I was saying to Shane just last night after a few wines, that its so nice to have lovely comfortable rooms and food, and he really shouldn’t be worrying about the cost. At the end of the day, its about the quality of the trip, and who cares if its costs a little more than you think if all your experiences are like Mendoza! He just smiles and nods and says “Your right”. No shit Sherlock!! Lol
Shane says- But don’t get to carried away girl.
The pooey however is another story. It has been on his face for 5 days now. Its like a scene from Boogie Nights – I just can’t look at him and take him seriously. To make matters worse, he is refusing to shave it off, and all for the sake of the blog! I tell him it’s
like sticking needles in my face. Even hitting him in the face with a stiff bristled hair brush, whilst giving him some empathy, has still not convinced him to change his mind. :-(
Shane says- I’m manning up boys and the pooey is staying. Mendoza is an amazing place. After Easter Island (and only because of the Moai) it is my next favourite place. The restaurants here are fantastic, and the wine, it compliments everything. The steaks cannot be compared to anything I have ever eaten in my life. They are four inches thick and huge. I’m moving here.Lol
The winery tour today was great fun. Three Americans and two English, but a really good mix and all people who have travelled extensively. It was good to get a bit of information on South America and of what is to come. The English couple have been travelling on the continent for three months, so we will get a bit of info about ‘The Galapagos Islands’ from them tonight when we head out for a few more reds.
Thursday 26th August
Our first sleep in for days!! We headed up to the massive park today intent on
grabbing a couple of bikes and riding around to the various attractions there. We don’t need to drop in to the tourist information centre because short cut Shane knows where he’s headed. 2 hrs later we turn back as we are both starving and in dire need of a bathroom. We did not find the bike hire, or the lake or any other attractions because we went the wrong way. Mmmm. I’m not saying any more because apparently this would be having fun at ‘short cuts’ expense!
We will go back tomorrow, as we have a full day to put in before we board our next caravan of love at 8pm.
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Gwen Cameron
non-member comment
Hi Guys
Mendoza sounds like a nice spot, nice food and wines