We spent a few days in the dozing city of Mendoza where there is not much to do in the low season except visit a snake pit, oops! a serpentarium, an aquarium and of course tour the famous bodegas (wineries). We chose a bike and wines tour in the hope of a somewhat romantic affair slowly pedalling our way?in a glorious countryside made of vinyards - hair in the wind and sunshine on our smiling faces - and stopping now and then to be treated to the best wines of the region. Well not so. Soooo not so.  The road where most of the wineries are aligned is a major artery into Mendoza city for trucks, double decker coaches and smoking old mobiles that should have been removed from traffic half a century ago. Additionally it being the low season, the road itself is being repaired and re-asphalted. So we ended up riding our bikes (which had seen better days as well) trying desperately to dodge racing buses and enormous trucks, not to fall in the ditches and water ways alongside the road, all while being smoked like salmons by the fumes of traffic or the road work machinery. When, huffing and puffing, we eventually made it to the first winery which main building had been designed after a crematorium apparently and a white-clothed bearded man opened the door, we almost fainted! But the exertion and unpleasantness all but disapeared after a few sips of the local Malbec, or so Django tells me. I still dont drink anything outside fruit juices. A few guided tours and tasting sessions further,Django a bit wobbly on his saddle (poor man felt he had to drink for the 2 of us!), we headed back for the city feeling the world of Argentinian wines held no longer any secret. Django even bought a bottle of an outstanding blend - winner of some sort of national competition - in a small winery called Carinae, owned by a Frenchman. With a bit of luck, some back muscle and iron will to resist temptation, the bottle might just make it back to London.

After leaving Mendoza, its snakes and wines, we headed to Salta, capital town of the province furthest north of Argentina.  A beautiful and atmospheric town in the heart of a splendid andean countryside made of deep and colourful canyons, lush valleys, spectacular rock formations, lunar landscapes.  Again we are mesmerized.

We took a 2-day excursion in a car with a guide (please, please may our budget forgive us this folly!) to visit the Calchaquies valley, named after the inca folks that used to live there.   Impossible to describe the 14 hour long trip.  The Lord of the Ring trilogy could have easily been filmed here. The landscape literally changes every few kilometers, colour, shape, height; leaving Django jumping for his camera every few minutes and getting a tennis elbow type injury in the process!   If we can we will try to upload some pics before getting into the Bolivian jungle but Django´s efforts of today were pretty unsuccessful.

Tomorrow we head up further north towards the Bolivian border with a stop over in a village called Iruya, carved out of the Andes mountain side. 

!Hasta luego a todo!