Mendoza, Argentina

Oct 13-17

Mendoza: wine town! As someone who doesn't generally drink wine, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from Mendoza... But it certainly did not disappoint.

Sebastian and I arrived in the morning, having survived yet another overnight bus. The long walk to the hostel was well worth it when we discovered the pool (we're back in warm-ish weather! Yay!) It was also located in a really nice area.

Not wanting to waste our day, we showered, ate and set off for the wineries. We didn't have as much time as we would've liked, arriving to Maipu (the wine region) at about 2.30, with all the wineries closing up about 5.30/6ish. We hired bikes from Mr Hugo and set off for La Rural, which came highly recommended by both the hostel and the bike rental. However, it was more of a museum than a winery, so not really our favourite spot. We had a little look around and tried a Savvy B! Not too bad.

Next stop was the La Botella, a gorgeous little shop run by the friendliest man in the world. We were treated to a tasting of 5 different wines, all Malbec, and recieved a bottle each to take away with us...all for less than AU$5!! This might be the first time I've ever enjoyed red wine! Not bad at all.

The last place we managed to squeeze in was Mevi, an actual winery. It was stunning. We sat out on the patio, in the sun, tasting a variety of wines until they began closing up shop, at which point we raced our bikes back to Mr Hugo. We were a good half an hour later than they had requested, but they didn't seem to care, just offered us pineapple juice and asked us about our day.

In the evening, still a little drunk from all the vino, we explored a couple of the nearby bars, but couldn't find much going on.

We had a lazy, yet somewhat productive, day the next day. Between long naps, we booked buses and hostels and activities for the coming days. I had wanted to go roam around a local park, where there is apparently a view over the town, but the grey skies scared me away.

Mendoza is situated just near the Andes, which divide Argentina from Chile, so we hopped on a bus the next day to go and explore the mountains. The drive was stunning, even before we got properly into the mountains. 

As it turns out, we took the exact same road a few days later to get to Chile..but doing this little tour meant we got various stops to explore and take some snaps.

The ski season has just recently finished, but there was still plenty of snow on the mountains. 

A few condors flew by, not far above us, as we were driving. They're massive!

At one point we could see the highest peak of the Andes, which is the highest mountain in the world outside of the Himalayas.

We also made a stop at Puente del Inca, a natural arch that formed over a hot-water river. Scientists are not even entirely sure how it formed but it is thought to have something to do with the hot water interacting with the icy cold climate... A mystery!

The following morning we met up with Tim, an Aussie guy I met briefly way back in Guatemala. Having decided that one day at the wineries wasn't enough, we spent our last day back on Mr Hugo's bikes, exploring the Maipu wine region. As it turns out, none of us were really big wine drinkers...so we started the day at a beer garden. Beautiful little spot.

Just around the corner we stopped at Trapiche, where we sampled a delicious sweet white wine and split a bottle of Rose. The view there was stunning. A nice place to relax in the sun with a glass of vino! 

While we were there we met Nessi, who joined us when we set off for the distillery. At Tierra de Lobo Distillery we were greeted by a very chatty Swiss man who showed us around, explaining how he makes various kinds of liquor. We each sampled three different liquors, one of course being dulce de leche! Tasty!

Before we knew it, we'd run out of time and had to return our bikes. 

We discovered that La Botella was still open and stopped by again to sample a few more vinos! This time he chucked in a white wine...thankfully. I can only handle so much red wine...

I don't think I'll ever be a red wine drinker (sorry to disappoint you, Dad!) but it's safe to say that Mendoza has given me an appreciation for white wine. 

One more snap from the beautiful drive through the Andes, into Chile: 

Adios Argentina!