Vinos in Mendoza
For the full experience, view online!
The bus from Santiago to Mendoza was our most impressive yet. Climbing to an altitude of 3300m with endless peaks towering over us and 28 switchbacks during the final 10km up. I fumbled my phone in the heat of the moment, missing the best view of the turns but captured a few here.
Tunnels took us from here through to Argentina where we were greeted by the usual chaos of border control and customs. At one point we were ushered out of the bus to a queue before following the crowd through customs. We managed to do a full loop back to the bus without greeting a single officer and without our bags undergoing any form of scanning or inspection. Nonetheless we had officially been through customs and were ushered back on the bus!
Down the Argentinian side of the pass we caught a view of both Aconcagua and Puente del Inca (Inca Bridge). We arrived in Mendoza late, signing up for a pizza night hosted by the hostel for dinner. We fell asleep looking forward to seeing Mace in the morning.
We woke to discover Mace had impressively arrived ahead of schedule on her overnight bus from Bariloche and was waiting for us downstairs. We had a slow start to the day with plenty to catching up to do, exchanging stories and lessons learned over brekky.
We spent the first day together wandering the town and grabbing a bite to eat, before returning to the hostel once the heat got to us for a swim and sunbathe.
The following day we set off with some new friends Eddy and Elise from the UK on a self guided bike tour of the Maipu vineyards. To keep costs down, we only selected three stops: two vineyards and an olive oil producer.
Squad roll out after our first few wines.
Arriving at our second stop we noticed some small signs on the table saying “zona agua” (wet area) and couldn’t figure out why. I decided that since we were next to the pool they just meant swimmers could sit here wet. We soon learnt the true meaning though as sprinklers installed above doused us in a mist of agua! Although our stuff did get wet, we were pleased to be slightly cooled by this periodic spraying.
The heat of the day was quickly sapping both our energy and hydration so that when we arrived back to the bike hire shop in time for happy hour, we promptly turned down the offer of free wine and opted for water instead. A few of us did eventually accept the offer of wine though mostly because it was free more than actually wanting it.
Our third and final full day together (and in Mendoza) was filled with a walk to San Martin park and a bus to the small town of Chacras de Coria, known for its markets and cafes. The park was nice, though the town had no markets and very few open cafes. Unsure how we managed that, potentially it was siesta o’clock? We did have a delicious Asian lunch here though that made the trip out worthwhile.
Some local Mendoza rowers making use of the lake.
That evening we got with the spirit of the hostel and drunk a few wines (among other beverages) with some games of cheat, beer pong, and giant jenga to keep us sipping.
The following morning we awoke feeling sorry for ourselves and having to say goodbye to Mace as she left for Santiago. A few hours later we were on the bus to Salta.
How lucky we are to have been together in this corner of the world. We hope to see her again soon in Bolivia!
Links & Lessons Learned
[ MENDOZA, ARGENTINA ]
[ Argentina ]
[ South America ]
Featured Tracks
