(For English, see furtherdown)

Saa kommer sidste del fra Argentina, nemlig dejlige Mendoza. Vi ankom sent paa eftermiddagen efter at have hygget os 12 timer i en bus fra Buenos Aires ;). Nogle belgiere anbefalede et hostel, og vi tog deres ord for gode varer - og det er vi slet ikke kede af! 'Hostel Lao' er verdens bedste hostel (i hvert fald i Argentina, fnis). Vi blir moedt af det soedeste menneske. Romina, receptionisten, tilbyder os kaffe i det oejeblik vi traeder ind ad doeren og viser os rundt paa det charmerende hostel. Udover dette overfaldes vi af 3 super bedaarende hunde, som blot vil kaeles for og leges med. Alle paa vores rundtur gennem hostelet hilser os paent velkommen og smiler. Vores vaerelse, paa trods af dets lille stoerrelse og en meget meget kort seng, er utrolig hyglig. I haven var der en lille pool, to haengekoejer til at chille i, et udekoekken til barbecue og adskillige lanterner haengende fra traeerne. Efter at have tjekket ind og lagt vores sager paa vaerelset falder vi allerede i snak med nogle canadier (som senere vil blive referet som 'Team Canada'). Det ender med at vi samme aften arrangerer en barbecue med det bedste argentinske koed man kan koebe, den stoerste og mest frisk salat, hjemmelavet hvidloegsbroed og selvfoelgelig grillstegt chorizo. Den hyggelige middag startede med os fire, men endte med at tiltraekke flere, bl.a. 5 norske piger og et fransk par. Til dette udsoegte maaltid skal det siges, at en del af Mendozas fineste vin hjalp med at skylle det ned ;). Den naeste dag vaagnede vi begge og ligeledes Team Canada med "smaa" toemmermaend og vi havde dagen forinden arrangeret en vintur. Saa den foerste del af vinsmagningen var haard :)! Men udover det var det en fabelagtig tur. Vi tog en bus til yderkanten af Mendoza, hvor vi saa lejede cykler, som vi koerte rundt paa ud til de forskellige vingaarde. Paa vingaardene fik vi en rundvisning og fik fortalt processen bag vinproduktionen. Til slut fik vi lov til at smage paa 3-5 forskellige vine, hhv. unge og aeldre. Derudover vine, som var lageret i egetoender vs. staaltanke. De mest populaere og dermed mest anvendte druer var Malbec, Cabernet og Sauvignon. Saa alt i alt, som I kan hoere, en fantastisk dag, OG vi laerte rigtig meget vin - tro paa det eller lad vaer :)! Paa 3. dagen i Mendoza var vejrguderne ikke med os, hvorfor vi drog til nogle varmekilder ude ved bunden af Andes Bjergene. Dette arrangement startede ogsaa ud med blot os to og Team Canada, men endte med 8 personer ekstra fra hhv. Australien, Holland og USA. Da vi ankom, saa vi adskillige bassiner, hvor mennesker sad og hyggede, plaskede og lo. Bassinerne havde forskellige temperaturer, saa nogle var iskolde (saakaldt vikingebad), mens andre var jacuzzi varme, saa man blev helt roed i skaermen, hvis man sad for laenge, fnis ;). Ikke nok med det luksurioese, at vi kunne bade i disse varme kilder, saa havde man ogsaa en faenomenal udsigt over bjergene. Da vi kom hjem fra varmekilderne (-og det skal lige huskes, at dette var dagen foer Rikkis foedselsdag) var der planlagt at lave et festmaaltid og fejre Rikki. Saa drengene blev hjemme paa hostelet og hyggede med masser af roedvin, mens toeserne tog ud og koebte ind. Paa indkoebsturen koebte vi ogsaa en foedseldagskage med lys og champagne, som foedselsdagsbarnet med overrasket med kl. 23.55 samme aften. Der blev spist, festet, drukket, sunget (Stuart, halvdelen af Team Canada, er musiker, saa guitaren var fremme) og rigtig fejret igennem :)!!! Den sidste dag, som ogsaa var Rikkis foedselsdag begyndte med en laekker morgenmad, hvor der bla. var panderkager med hans yndlingsis (hhv. jordbaer, chokolade og tiramisu), en minichampagne og frugt. Derefter loed turen paa western ridning oppe i Andes Bjergene, efterfulgt af river raftning paa Mendoza floden. Det var den fedeste dag. Og river rafting skal helt klart gentages!! Dagen sluttede igen med god mad, godt selskab og selvfoelgelig vin ;). Som I kan hoere har vi nydt denne del af vores rejse helt vildt. Vi har moedt fantastiske mennesker, spist absolut formidabel mad, drukket de fineste vine og haft de bedste oplevelser.

Mange vinknus herfra

So to the final stop in Argentina, the lovely Mendoza. We arrived late in the afternoon after enjoying a 12 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires. Some people from Belgium recommended a hostel and we took it upon ourselves and tried it - and it was the best decision ever!! 'Hostel Lao' is the best hostel in the entire world (or at least in Argentina, ha ha ;) ). We were met by the sweetest person ever. Romina, the receptionist, offered us coffee the minut we stepped into the room and with a hospitality (that only 5 star hotels aspire to have) she showed us around the hostel. Besides the obvious charme we were 'attacked' by three cute dogs, who just longed for some affection and playmates. Besides the animals we were also met by friendly people greeting us as we walking through different parts of the hostel. It just started out great. The last stop was our room, which despite its small size and length of the bed, was so cosy and nice. With a view over the garden and its small pool along with two hammocks to chill in, we couldn't be happier. The garden also had a nice outdoor kitchen for barbecues and from every branch of the garden trees hung varied types of lanterns, just adding to the charm of this ever so darling hostel. After checking in and placing all of our stuff in our room, we already start chatting with some canadian guys (later known as 'Team Canada'). This results in us, the same evening, arranging a barbecue together and buying the best Argentinian meat you can buy along with a huge, fresh salad, home made garlic bread and of course grilled chorizo. This feast started with us four, however ended up attracting more guests from the hostel, 5 norwegian girls and a guy and a french couple. To this amazing feast we also had Mendoza's finest wine - you know, just to help us digest the meat better ;)… The following day both us and Team Canada woke up with a 'small' hangover. And of course the day before we had arranged for a winery tour. So the first couple of hours of the tour were quite challenging, but it turned out great anyway. We took a bus to the province of Mendoza, where we then rented bikes and toured different winyards. On the wineries we got showed around and told about the wine making process. At the end of each tour we got to taste 3-5 wines, some being young and others being older. Also wines who had been stored in oak barrels vs. steel tanks. The most popular and therefore mostly used grapes were Malbec, Cabernet and Sauvignon. So all in all, as you can hear, it was a fantastic day, and WE DID LEARN a lot about wines - believe it or not. On the third day in Mendoza the weather wasn't all that great, which is why we decided to go to the hot springs at the base of the Andes Mountains. We started out only being four going (us and Team Canada), but ended up being 12 going from Australia, Holland and the States. When we arrived, we saw a lot of pools with people sitting and relaxing. The pools had different temperatures, so some were ice cold (so called 'viking showers') and others steaming hot, so if you were in there too long, you would both look and feel like a overcooked prawn, ha ha ;). To top this off, you had the most amazing view of the mountains as you sat there in the pools, absolutely stunning. When we returned from the hotsprings we had already planned on making a gorgeous dinner to celebrate Rikkis birthday (eventhough it beeing one day to early). So the boys stayed home at the hostel sipping red wine, as the girls went out and shopped for the feast. At the supermarket we also bought a birthday cake with a '29' candle along with a bottle of champagne with which the birthday boy was suprised with at 23.55 the same night. So the evening was spent with good food, partying, drinking, singing (Stuart, half of Team Canada, is a musician, so the guitar was out) and just a real celebration :) !!!! The last day, which also was Rikki's real birthday, started out with a lovely breakfast (prepared by his beloved girlfriend), which both had pancakes with his favourite icecream, a minichampagne and fresh fruit. The rest of the day was spent horseback riding, western style, up in the Andes Mountains followed by river rafting on the Mendoza River. The coolest day ever. And we are definitely river rafting again, no doubt! Again the day ended with good food, good company and of course wine ;). So as you can hear, we have really enjoyed this part of our trip. We have met some really nice people, eating great food, drunk the finest wines and had amazing experiences.

Many wine hugs from us