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Despite having already tried and tested a decent amount of Argentinian wine, arriving in Mendoza, the capital of Argentine wine making meant only one thing: A visit to the vineyards. I and four boys from the hostel headed out on the bus to Mr Hugo`s place, a family run bike rental business in the heart of the Mendozan wine district. Safety first, we donned our plastic helmets and at 11am reached our first vineyard Trapiche, one of the more famous and up-market wines) where we were given three glasses of wine which were swiftly knocked back. By 12 we were back on our bikes, a little less stable than when we had arrived and headed along to our next stop trying to avoid the kamakaze Argentine drivers. Here we had lunch and 3 more glasses making our choices from Malbecs, Cabernet Sauvignans and others and sat outside on beanbags with steak sandwiches in the sunshine. It really was tempting to spend the day sat there but we had to press on with our tour and decided to make one more stop before heading home. It was this final vineyard where we found our favourite wine and after half an hour of further wine tasting thought it would be a good idea to buy a bottle between the five of us and drink it in a field! Still capable of cycling in a relatively straight line, it was definitely a good time to cycle the 10km back to Mr Hugos place. All in all it had been a pretty sensible day all things considered, that is of course until Mr Hugo himself comes out the woodwork and invites us to sit down and have some free wine from a local producer friend of his. Five bottles later and after many new friends had added themselves to our loud table, we jumped on the bus back to town causing mayhem and swinging round the poles of the bus and trying to talk to the locals who were clearly used to this kind of behavior on a week day and who sat there bemused and possibly a little disgusted at all the drunken gringos. We decided to cook steak for dinner as you do a lot in Argentina however I went for a nap once we had reached the hostel and woke up the next morning! Probably for the best as the others stayed up until three drinking more and had a hangover to show for it the following day.
Mendoza is a cute city with the mountains behind including the highest peak (Aconcagua) in the southern and western hemispheres that is just under 7,000 metres high. My friends Joe and Gill were able to go into the National Park about 6 hours away and go hiking however due to my former injury I was still unable to walk and so opted for the more gentle Gaucho horse riding day. It was excellent and the weather was great so it was fun spending time in the surrounding countryside. There were four others on the trip and our guide was fun although possibly the only vegetarian gaucho you will ever meet! He taught us to herd wild horses and to canter which was a bit scary considering the stirrups were too long and my saddle was unstable to say the least. It wasn`t a pretty sight me bouncing uncontrollably through the countryside holding on for dear life.
During our stay in Mendoza, Joe and I had hatched a plan to travel round North West Argentina and rent a 4X4. Easily making a group of 5, Joe, Aurelie a french girl and I headed to Tucuman on the night bus to meet Andy and Australian ex Army tank driver and Gill (American Filipino guy whohad already been travelling for 2 years) to head on our travels. We all met together as a five for the first time in Tucuman bus station where our Toyota Hilux 4X4 pick up was waiting for us. Five minutes later, having taken an illegal left hand turn out of the bus station, Joe is pulled over by a traffic cop resembling a Miami Vice wannabe with fake raybans and an open shirt who seized the opportunity to try and extract large sums of money from the careless gringos. Joe is walked around the road and shown the not so obvious signs that say no left turn whilst the traffic cops shake their heads tutting at how serious the offence is he has committed. Suddenly Joe`s head pops at the window of the car and asks me to come and translate for him as it became apparent we were not going to be let off. As he had already handed over his documents, we were in a predicament. It turns out that they wanted 2,500 Pesos and were going to impound the vehicle until payment was made. 2,500 is about 500 pounds, probably less than the average Argentine makes in a month and therefore totally ridiculous and an obvious scam. Never to pass on an opportunity for good debate with greedy South American enforcement agents, I tell him that it is totally unreasonable and that actually I think he`s mistaken explaining that even in England this would be outrageous and he is trying it on because we are foreign. He denied this of course (quite a serious accusation here) however is smirking a little as if he can`t help but quietly rub his hands together thinking how much money he is going to get here. So, I ask if there is any way this process can be speeded up (a quick bribe to get us on the way) and he mentions 400 pesos would work although none would go to him of course as bribes are illegal and therefore he would pass the money over! He continues to smirk however and so I explain that I don`t appreciate him looking smug whilst demanding money at which point he lowers his shades and tries to look sincere which was just very comical. Very quickly, his colleague has arrived and pulls out his wallet to show how empty it is to show that they don`t take bribes. I tell him that his wallet is empty because all his money is in his back pocket. By this stage, a scene has occurred and a local woman has appeared to see what the fuss is about. She quickly sees the scam for what it is and starts shouting in the street calling the officers corrupt thieves and telling us not to pay a scent and how she is going to write an article to the local paper. She also calls her sister in law who works within the fines department of the local government office to see if what they say is correct. Miami Vice and his friend are getting agitated and annoyed with us, a bribe is now out of the question so we have to try and negotiate the documents back and so suggest we go to the Police station and see what they have to say. Always a gamble but better than the alternative. At this point, the officers dodgy colleague arrives in a tow truck and tries to attach the vehicle. Andy drives it away and the officers tell me that if we flee the consequences will be much worse and that the crime committed, as any traffic offence no matter what, is a very serious issue! I explain that whilst they have been away from their duty watching the road, three other cars have done the same illegal turn and they hadn`t even noticed so busy they were trying to take money unlawfully. This wasn`t actually true but they didn`t know that and with the threat of real Police involvement Joe suddenly had his documents in his hand and we agreed to follow them to the station. We didn`t of course and once all five of us were back in the car we decided to hit the road ASAP and here started our time on the run. Nothing happened as Miami Vice and friend are really only human traffic lights after a quick buck. From there on we made the pact to stop for nobody without a gun!
We made it to Taffi del Valle in another county and settled for the night in a hostel and spent our first night together as fugitives. Being first in the dormitory and as we always fight over the bottom bunk, I dived in to the first one and looked smug. The following morning however I was not so pleased with myself as I was covered once again in bed bug bites all over my face, neck, back and arms. It was much worse than before and not a great way to start a 7 day road trip with new people. Fortunately I still had the scabies cream from the previous attack although I think a sheep dip would have been a better option. It was so ugly that people either came and asked me if I was OK and what had bitten me or walked as far away as possible. The owner of the next hostel we made it to saw me as he came on duty and went straight to the room I had stayed in and checked it for bugs looking at me with suspicious sideways glances as if I had been accused of stealing his life savings. This is what leprosy must feel like.
Here we were in Cafayete, an unbelievably picturesque town famous for the white wine called Torrontes which is just lovely. We headed into the Quebrada de Cafayete which is a canyon of many colours which is just awe-inspiring. After a lunch of empanadas we headed to view point one out of seven. Rather than leaving the car on the road and walking, the boys insisted on driving it into the woody area which turned out to be marshland and so as soon as we all got in the car, it sank into the ground where it then remained for 2 hours until we were finally rescued. Fortunately the drive from here on was less chaotic and we managed to see everything we wanted. Arriving in Salta where the car had to be returned, we stayed in a great hostel where the owners put on a BBQ. This is where we met this English guy with a strong Lancashire accent called Michael who is a conspiracy theorist who now lives in NYC having married an American woman. Turns out he is now separated from her having discovered after marrying her she is slightly unstable and takes hardcore antidepressants. Surely you find this out beforehand? Well, I ended up sitting next to Michael and it turns out he was in the Navy for ten years as an Engineer. I had a bit of a scratch of my still itchy bed bug bites at the table which made him look round and say "what happened to you?" I explained what had happened which made him very excited and he proceeded to tell us all how the cure for any bug bite in the Navy was Ajax and general potent abrasive solutions such as oven cleaner and that I should scour myself with it. I explained that this wasn`t such a good idea as I have sensitive skin, am not in the Navy and have my very own medicated scabies cream. He wasn`t listening. Ten minutes later I walked in to the kitchen area where he was talking with Joe and Andy and he says "ah, there you are" and grabs my arm pulls me towards him and squirts oven cleaner up my arm and tries to rub it in whilst Andy and Joe look on in shock, motionless. I tried running away and he chased me round the kitchen with this stuff until I managed to get away and hide before he tried to catch me with the scouring pad. Fortunately he went out not long after that and I was safe although stuck with a bright red arm that not only was covered in bites but now was sore due to the reaction to the chemicals. I never saw him again thankfully!
From here our group separated with Joe, Andy and I catching the 1am bus to the Bolivian border for the last country on my list. Argentina was truly amazing and the last two months were great. Lets hope Bolivia treats me as well (minus bed bugs).
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