Mendoza (Day 3)

We met up at 10.30 to go on a cycle tour of the Mendoza vineyards. We took a 40 minute bus ride to "Mr Hugo's" Bike Hire, where we jumped on our bikes and headed down the road to the Familia Tommasi, the oldest existing winery in Argentina. After the brief tour with the stunning Argentinian guide, we had a wine tasting before most of the group stopped for lunch, while Dave, Rich and I continued to another vineyard to separate ourselves from the crowd to an extent. Further down the road, which gradually became quieter as we went deeped into the countryside, we stopped first at the Vistandes vineyard before cycling on to the "Laur" and "Carinae" vineyards (although it turned out that, thanks to my half-arsed map reading, Laur was an Olive Oil factory - not quite the tasting we wanted!). Nevertheless, Carinae was another very good vineyard with some delicious Malbecs, run by a former French civil engineer. We had a lengthy tasting there, as well as our packed lunch of cheese and salami sandwiches, before heading back up to the Tommasi winery where I bought a bottle of expensive (80 pesos / 16 quid) limited stock Malbec (there were only 4465 bottles produced) as well as a bottle of delicious Malbec for only 4 pounds, and some good cheap cider too.


Upon returning to the hostel, Dave and I decided to go to a cheese and wine tasting evening (Lonely Planet told us a cafe in the town centre holds it every night), before going out to dinner some nice and expensive, away from the rest of the group.

As it turned out, however, the cheese and wine tasting no longer opened on Mondays, and after failing to find a nice looking restaurant on the square, we entered a dodgy looking cafe/restaurant that Uriel, the guide, recommended, Old Bull Tavern. The food and the service was appalling - school dinner standard at best - with more fat than meat in the cheap steaks, instant mashed potato, and the "mushroom sauce" was gravy from granules with sliced tinned mushrooms stirred through it.

After that disaster, we headed to the Irish Pub again - apparently it was 'International Night' on Mondays, plus we'd already arranged as a group to have "Mendoza Monday Madness" and everyone, including Vikki and her mates, were to meet us there at midnight.

At approaching 1am, everyone turned up - Vikki and her friends were already quite pissed, but I hardly saw them as Kerry staggered in and sat on my lap (even though we were supposed to be keeping 'us' a secret) before suddenly being very ill in the bathroom, outside the pub, and finally in the pub right in front of everyone. Then she decided it'd be best for her to go home, and refused anyone's help but mine - when I eventually got back to the hostel with her, she was easily the most drunk I'd ever seen anyone... long story.

Mendoza II

On our second day in Mendoza, Carly, Lia, Angela and I went paragliding. After a twenty minute drive, we arrived at the "base camp", where Angela and I changed to another 4x4 to take us uphill. At the summit, we had a brief wait until the wind was right, before we were told to run and not stop until the pilot tells us! I expected a massive adrenaline rush as I ran off the edge of a cliff, but I was concentrating so hard on not doing anything wrong that I hardly noticed it until I couldn't touch the ground. (The pilot told me I was at the upper weight limit and had to run as fast as possible and not stop, just to make sure! He also asked me if it was my first time, then said it was his first time paragliding too.) Angela had taken off moments before me, and seemed to be gliding away effortlessly; as I ran off the edge of the hill the ground gradually disappeared from beneath my feet - I was still trying to run well after I couldn't touch the ground.


The flight was excellent, but it was much less adrenline-filled than I had expected; it was relatively slow and calm. Nevertheless, it was a great experience but I doubt I'd do it again without a specific view - we were gliding over mountains and fields with little to see.



That evening, we met with Vikki, Julia and their friends, heading to the Irish pub for several hours just chatting and catching up, before going round the corner to a recommended nightclub, Gutierrez, but (gladly) it was closed and I got to bed by about 3am.

Mendoza, 16th May

Mendoza is Argentina's most important grape growing region, producing 70% of the country's wine, especially the region's signature variety, Malbec.

After arrival in Mendoza, we headed round the corner to a cafe, where we had a very slow and poor lunch, before I headed to the supermarket to pick up some groceries for the Boeuf Bourgignon I was planning to make for dinner.

The stew wasn't bad - probably needed something like cranberry jelly in it, and some wholegrain mustard - but everyone seemed quite happy with it and considering the mash was made with a wooden spoon, I though it went down quite well!

After a few drinks (and drinking games) we headed out into town, stopping at a couple of bars before getting taxis to Apoteco, a lively club just outside of the centre. However, I wasn't really feeling up for it - it was absolutely packed and I didn't like the music - so Kerry and I headed back to the hostel only to find that Rich and Kat were already there, looking for their own privacy.

Mina´s Birthday, Salta (14th May); Salta > Mendoza.

After a lazy/hungover day of doing barely anything, we settled down in the back yard of the hostel for a BBQ and drinks; it was Mina´s 20th Birthday. Excellent steaks, very good salads, and too much booze for some people - Lia didnt even make it out, she went to bed as we were leaving.

It was an excellent night all round, lots of drinks and dancing, before heading home at god knows what time - I wish I could write more about it, but the photos are all I´ve got as memory.



The following day, we checked out of the hostel and waited, hungover again, for our overnight bus to Mendoza, leaving at 2pm and arriving at 9.30am the following morning.

Salta 2

After briefly walking around the city to orientate myself, I did very little all day other than lunch with Dave on the main square.

Salta´s rich history, colonial architecture, surrounding natural attractions, and friendly locals make the small city a main attraction for tourists, although now we were heading into the off-season, so fewer foreigners crowded the streets.

In the evening, Dave, Mina, Rich, Lia, Kerry and I headed to a nice restaurant on Balcarce, where I had a delicious Bife de Chorizo covered with tomatoes and melted mozzarella, and we shared an excellent local Malbec, before the girls went home and the three of us headed out into the city to `scout out´the nightlife for the following night, Mina´s birthday.


As it turned out, it was great fun, including the Bowling Pub, some live local music, a few shots off disgusting Fernet Branca (Argentinians drink it with Coke), before meeting a couple of local girls, going to a late night/early morning bar, getting a taxi back to the hostel, and picking up a foul burger from the street stall. All in all, a quality night out.

Into Argentina

We got our bus at 4am from Tupiza, heading to the Argentine border. We were told to expect a fairly long wait at the border while they searched our bags but it turned out it wasn´t really that bad for us, although our Peruvian guide had a bit of a nightmare, plus it was bitterly cold.

It was a pretty laid back day once we finally arrived in Salta, simply chilling out in the hostel before going out for dinner in the evening - an OK steak, despite being overcooked, before heading out for a few cocktails on Bacarce, the main nightlife street.

Day 4 at last!

The fourth day was a relatively short drive, through some genuinely stunning scenery - although we were all pretty fed up of sitting in the 4x4s by now. After stopping to visit a ghost town, formerly a mining town but abandoned 100 years ago, we arrived in Tupiza, delighted with the promise of hot showers, warm beds, and cold beer.

That evening, after a decent but enormous pizza, we all got an early night since our private bus to the Bolivia/Argentina border left at 4am the next morning.