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.

Day 3 in the Desert

We were awake at 4am, so we could reach the geysers a few miles away by dawn. It was -10ºC when we left the hotel. After trying desperately to stay warm for an hour, we arrived at the geysers, where there were huge craters of boiling mud and billowing steam, and the stench of sulphur in the air. I was fascinated, but the Kiwis in our group told me to wait till I get to Rotura, in NZ, where the geysers are much more impressive.


Following the geysers, we headed to another lake to pass the time before a breakfast of pancakes and toffee sauce, which we ate next to the hot springs. At 9.30am, it was still below freezing, but Mina, Mike & Marlene and I all braved the 30º thermal springs: the water was beautiful, and after the initial pain of having to get undressed in the freezing outdoors, it warmed us through to the bones - well worth it!


Several hours driving later, we arrived at a basic homestay where we went to play basketball with the locals. Unfortunately, we couldn´t find any locals but played against each other anyway, although it was quite tough with the cold and the altitude ruining our fitness.

4x4 Tour Day 2

The second day of the tour we set off at dawn, and headed through deserts and mountains, first stopping to see the most active volcano in Bolivia (although half of it is in Chile), stopping shortly afterwards for lunch.

Having climbed into the Andes, the altitude made it fairly chilly, despite the blazing sun, as we first stopped at Laguna Verde to see dozens of wild flamingoes, before continuing to the highest desert in the world and seeing the "Stone Tree". As much as it pains me, the landscape, beautiful as it was, became quickly monotonous as we continued the trip - most of us had expected to spend most of our time on the salt flats, but as it turned out we had less than a day there before heading into deserts and mountains.




The hotel at the end of day 2 was very basic, with 6-bed dorm rooms, a shared toilet, and no heating. As soon as the sun set, however, the temperature plummeted, plus I think I began to feel the effects of altitude sickness (cold temperatures often bring it on more severely), and so by 8pm I was in bed with a blinding headache and nausea.

Day 43: Uyuni / Salt Flats day 1

We got up early, piling into three Toyota landcruisers, before heading out to the "Train Cemetery", just outside of Uyuni. Here, trains from the early 20th Century boom of the city´s mining have been left together to rust.


A few hours later, we arrived at the Salt Plains. They´re a very bizarre sight, unimaginable really, and a unique spot for persperctive-defying photographs; such as climbing out of a Pringles tub, or balancing on top of a cigarette packet. According to our guide, the plains themselves are roughly the same size as Northern Ireland, aprox. 12 million square kilometres.




Later that day, we headed on to "Fish Island", an island covered in cacti, so called because of it´s shape when seen from above, before continuing on towards the Salt Hotel where we were to spend the night, built entirely from salt bricks.

Day 42 - Potosi to Uyuni

We were boarding a 6-hour coach to Uyuni at 11.30, so I headed out early to find some breakfast, before searching the market for a souvenir - I eventually found a silver ring which the vendor told me was 95% silver, and she´d made it herself. Even if that wasn´t true, I was happy to pay the 70BS (7 pounds) she asked for.

En route to Uyuni, we stopped in the middle of nowhere for snacks and a toilet break, I picked up a couple of delicious potatoes stuffed with spicy vegetables and egg, deep fried and topped with a mild chilli sauce for about 20p each.

Arriving in freezing Uyuni just after dark, we headed almost immediately to Minuteman Pizza; an excellent tourist restaurant run by an American - allegedly Bolivia´s best pizzas; I have little doubt! A must if you´re in Uyuni, that´s for sure.

Potosi

Our tour of the mines began early, and after getting decked out in overalls and hard hats we stopped at the market to pick up some gifts for the miners, including dynamite (2 quid per stick) and some 96% proof alcohol (tastes like paintstripper).



Entering the mine, after a brief tour of the refinery, we often had to crawl through the narrow passages, stopping to see shrines to Tio (the Devil - miners worship the devil instead of God, since God cannot reach that far underground). As we descended to the 3rd level, the air got so much hotter and dustier making it really difficult to breathe at times, although when we returned to ground level two hours later, it was snowing. Here, we set off some dynamite - not as exciting as I thought - before heading back to Potosi and a much-needed shower!



In the evening, we went to another tourist restaurant where I had a fairly good Beef San Pedro (braised beef wrapped in bacon with creamy mushroom sauce) as well as sharing an excellent bottle of Bolivian Malbec with Dave.

On the way back to the hostel, some of stopped off at a small local bar, which had an extensive menu of four drinks - beer, chuflay (bolivian national drink), sangani (the spirit in chuflay), or hot chuflay! Nevertheless, it was good fun, playing drinking games until gone midnight.

Sucre II

In the morning, Mina, Dave, Richard and I headed back up to JoyRide to go Rock Climbing - it was great fun although it was extremely tiring; it´s been a while since I last did it!


After an early dinner we headed back to the hostel to have a few drinks, before heading out in Sucre with the rest of the group, eventually finding a few other English backpackers, before heading back at about 4.30am, completely exhausted.



The following morning, I had another lazy day, returning to JoyRide for a Desayuno de Chuchaqui (hangover breakfast, which turned out to be a ham and cheese omlette on a baguette), before watching the start of the Man Utd vs Arsenal champions league semi final (2-0 after 13 minutes).

In the early afternoon, we headed to Potosi, which appeared to be a fairly poor city despite it´s rich mining past. Still hungover, Kerry, Mina and I decided on a pizza from what was supposed to be the best restaurant in the city, 4060, before getting to bed at about 8pm!

Sucre: Capital of Bolivia

Most of Sucre´s colonial buildings have been white-washed, earning the city the title of Bolivia´s "White City".

After arriving from our overnight bus, we took a brief walking tour of the city before heading to JoyRide Cafe for breakfast, before having a lazy day just relaxing and uploading photos.

In the late afternoon, most of us walked up to the Mirador to get a good view of the sunset over the city, before heading to a local restaurant - average food and appalling service; I had Chilli con Carne with Nachos.


Following dinner, we just had a few quiet drinks back in JoyRide, before heading home for an early night.

Tour Day 37 (2/5/09) - La Paz and Overnight to Sucre

Richard, Gemma, Hannah, Carly and I decided to take an open-top tour bus of the city, lasting three hours, including a tour of the Moon Valley - a natural rock formation south of the city.

It was vaguely interesting - a good way to pass the day really - La Paz had an almost straightforward history, being developed by the Spanish before expanding rapidly as the economy grew.

After returning to the hostel, Richard, Carly and I headed to Thai Old Town, a pan-Asian restaurant just across from the Witches´market. The food was excellent; I had an enormous 18-piece sushi platter to start, followed by teriyaki seafood with jasmine rice and miso soup.

We then returned to the hostel again to say our last goodbyes to the old group, before boarding the gruelling 14-hour bus to Sucre at 7pm.

La Paz Continued

We got up relatively early, considering the hangover, to say goodbye to Silvana, since she was heading back to Lima. Half the group were also leaving over the next couple of days, with the new tour starting in the evening.

After a great breakfast just over the road from the hostel, a few of us headed off to find the black market. It was fairly massive, despite it being Labour Day (May 1st), a bank holiday. I bought a pair of jeans for 8 quid, and a new hat to replace my ridiculous leather cowboy hat, for just over 3 pounds.

In the evening, we met the rest of the new group, consisting of Dave (London), Mike and Marlene (NZ), Kat (Manchester), Shayleigh, Shannon and Christie (all Sydney), Toyah (Melbourne) and Uriel, the new guide, from Cuzco.

La Paz

In La Paz, our hostel was in the Rosario district, close to alot of restaurants and shops - a fairly touristy area.

Early this morning, most of us headed off to cycle down Death Road, the most dangerous road in the world. After getting kitted out and having a short briefing, we headed off for about 20 miles of downhill on asphalt - nice and fast, with lots of tight corners - although there was other traffic using the road too.

The views from the ride were stunning, despite needing to concentrate hard on where we were going - alot of the road didn´t have barriers on the cliff edge. In what seemed like no time, we´d finished the tarmac section and were heading off on the dirt track. For the most part, it was simply a single track road; you could only ride in one of the tyre tracks, which made overtaking other cyclists potentially difficult.

The first lef was much slower, and more dangerous, so i was riding with the brakes on about half the time - yet I was still one of the fastest. As the day went on, I became gradually more confident, speeding up and gettnig mroe comfortable. Despite the sheer cliffs just a metre or less from where I was riding, I found myself mre worried about falling onto the gravel than over the edge!

After about three hours of downhill, we rolled into Yolosa village, at 1200m above sea level (we´d started at over 4000m), where we had a small uphill section, at the top of which was the end of the trip, and lunch.

Following a straightforward buffet lunch, we headed back up Death Road in the minibus (far more terrifying than cycling down it!), arriving back at the hostel at 6.30 with a commemorative T-Shirt and DVD.

Since it was (almost) Silvana´s 27th Birthday, and it was the last day of the tour, we all went out, planning a big night. Those that didnt do the biking had picked up a birthday cake and managed to sneak it to the restaurant, which was a nice Pan-Asian place, where Vikki and I shared chicken-filled egg rolls and vegetable spring rolls for starters, followed by Chicken Tikka Massalla and what was supposed to be Pad Thai.

After dinner, where Silvana had been moved to tears by the card and cake, we headed to Mongo´s, apparently "the" backpacker hangout in La Paz. It was pretty good, with good music, but it was relatively expensive compared to elsewhere in Bolivia. When it filled up, however, it was absolutely packed and fairly uncomfortable so we headed to a Salsa club around the corner. Most of us didn´t stay that late, however, and after a little dancing I headed home at about 2am I think.

Copacabana & La Paz

A good breakfast at the hostel was followed by a pleasant bike ride around the lakeside with Kerry. Our bus wasn´t leaving until 1pm so we had the morning to spare, and with our downhill Death Road bike ride looming, we wanted to see how hard it was to cycle at this altitude.

The bikes were better than expected, costing us just two pounds per hour. After cycling uphill to the Cathedral, we headed down to the lake and cycled around the bay for a good view of Copa, before returning the bikes and heading for an early lunch.

The bus to La Paz left at 1pm, following the lakeshore until Tiquina, where we had to disembark to cross the lake by ferry. Continuing another 2 hours to La Paz, we left the lake behind us as the end of the 1st leg of the tour approached.

At 3600m/12000ft, La Paz vies for the title of highest capital in the world with Tibet; although Sucre is officially the capital of Bolivia, it is La Paz that is the centre of commerce, finance and industry.

That first evening in La Paz, we briefly had a walking tour of the bustling city, including the Witches´ market, where you could buy various random articles, including dehydrated llama foetuses which are used for traditional ceremonies and rituals.

Bolivia / Copacabana; Islas de Sol y Luna

In the morning, we boarded a comfortable tourist bus for the 6 hour trip to Copacabana, just over the Bolivian border on the shore of Lake Titicaca. After 3 hours, driving through some stunning scenery of the lake and mountains, we crossed the border into Bolivia.

Copacabana is a small town, famous for it´s beautiful Cathedral which houses the Virgen de la Candelaria or Dark Virgin, a statue of Mary created by an Incan craftsman and believed to work miracles.

The afternoon of our arrival in Copacabana, a small group of us went on a boat tour to the Islands of the Sun and the Moon, on which were built pre-Incan temples as much as 1000 years BC. After a couple of hours we arrived at the Isla de la Luna, ehere we had a brief walk to see some impressive ruins, and the Temple of the Moon. Another 40 minutes on the boat took us to the Isla del Sol, where after climbing up the "1000 steps" (theres actually 205) we drank from one of the three Incan fountains which represented the three core values of Incan culture - Do not lie, do not steal, do not be lazy.

We crossed the lake back to Copa under the setting sun, providing us with some stunning views.

Lake Titicaca / Puno

At 6.30, we were up and helping to prepare breakfast; a kind of deep fried bread dough, similar to a savoury doughnut. An hour later and we had to say goodbye to our family, boarding the boat to Uros, the community of floating islands made from Rotora reeds.

The Uros originally built their islands to isolate themselves from their rival tribes, but now live there in peace. Everything on the islands are constructed from the rotora reeds that grow in the lake´s shallows, including the houses and boats.

After returning to Puno, Richard and I went out to find lunch - we ended up in a small local restaurant offering two courses for about 60p!

I spent a couple of hours online - this is where I first heard about Swine Flu - before we headed out together for dinner; our last in Peru. The restaurant that Silvana picked was expensive by South American standards, but it was fairly posh and had live music and dancing. Vikki and I shared a bottle of Concho y Toro Exportacion - a delicious Argentinian red - while I had Pejerrey (Kingfish) Ceviche for starter and Confit Guinea Pig for main. The Ceviche was good but not great; it needed more lime and alot more chilli, but the presentation was excellent. The Confit was served with quenelles of mushroom mash, sauteed vegetables and red wine jus - it was quite tasty, the flavours worked well together, but there was far too much jus and the cuy was undercooked - the meat was not tender enough and it was still fairly fatty. I also ordered dessert, purely because it sounded interesting - Mousse de Muña Sour en Terciopelo de Ayrampo (Andean Mint & Pisco Sour mousse in Ayrampo Velvet) It was, however, easily the most disappointing part of the meal. The Mousse contained too much mint, so as you cannot taste the Pisco, and it was far too dense. Ayrampo is a type of cactus seed, apparently, but I failed to recognise any type of "velvet", whatever it was supposed to be!

Although the music was good (traditional Andean music - pan pipes and guitars), it was too loud - overall though it was a good experience, very different from any other restaurants we´d visited so far.

Following dinner, a few of us headed to the "Positive Rock N Reggae" bar in Puno where the cocktails flowed until after midnight.