I am known for being chronically in stress, always hurrying from one thing to another. Scarcely completed an activity I am eager to embark new ventures.

This quirk was repressed during the joint traveling with the relaxed French and Italian for a few days. However, as soon as we parted company, hurry was knocking on my door again.

So after leaving Bariloche and arriving to Mendoza - in the Andean west of Argentina and known as the wine capital of Argentina with colonial flair - I was so full of enthusiastic initiative that during three of four days I had even no time to go to supermarket to buy something to eat (that means no food except for the hostel's breakfast for two days)

Therefore I can proudly present to you a few new highlights of sometimes breathtaking Argentina :)

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The first day was rather non-exciting, except for the arrival. After 17 hours in the bus I finally got to Mendoza. As usual I had not reserved any hostel believing that it would sort out anyway as soon as I stay in front of the hostel's door. Normally hostels have vacancies as autumn is not high season in Argentina. Unfortunately I was unlucky this time and had to wander around with my huge backpack for around 1,5 hours to find an internet café for looking up hostelword.com and to arrive at the hostel. It is not advisable to wander around in an Argentine city with a huge backpack so after doing that I decided to reserve BEFORE leaving town.

The following hours were just the usual city sightseeing and disappointment that 5 of 5 sights (e.g. museums) were closed. Theoretically I am already used to Siesta (practiced in all Argentina except for Buenos Aires) which causes all shops and most of the other institutions to close between 12 am or 1 pm until 4 pm and 5 pm (depending on the city). But there is still the weird fact that even if the opening hours state something different you have to be prepared to stay in front of closed doors. Additionally you might have timed your arrival unfavourably so the chance to get to a museum right on the only day of the week when it's closed should be considered too.

The next day I visited Maipú, a little town nearby Mendoza which consists mostly of wineries, olive oil, chocolate as well as liqueur manufacturies. As a tourist you have two options to discover this place: 1. an expensive guided tour taking you with a private bus there 2. getting there by public transport and renting a bike of one of the numerous, competing bike rentals. I decided to do the second and met "my girls" from Torres del Paine again by chance. I joined their group, consisting of more then 12 people, most of them longing for getting drunk.

In the following hours we visited one olive oil farm and three wineries, tasting

- 4 types of olive oil

- 4 types of marmelade (including pumpkin-cinnamon)

- 3 types of spicy sauces

- 2 types of liqueur (including hot pepper brand)

- 3 types of chocolate

- 10 types of wine like Caubernet-Sauvignon, Torrontés, Merlot, Cuvet, ... (red, rosé and white)

After all I was not really drunk, just a bit merry. By contrast, some of our group enjoyed full bottles of wine and one of them was even taken back to the bike rental by extremely friendly policemen. This was - of course - the highlight of the day.

Despite tasting so many different types of especially red wine I left Maipú still being a lover of sweet white wine...

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On my third day in Mendoza in the morning I walked to the huge park (17 ha) Parque General San Martín in which each and every plant (except for the cactus) survives only due to the artificial irrigation system using water from the glaciers of the Andes. In this park is also included: a football stadium, the university campus of Mendoza, a zoo, a comprehensive sports complex, a drinking water treatment plant, a theatre, a museum, a hypodrome, a camping place, scientific laboratories, a tennis as well as a golf club and one or two things more.

Usually I am not so fond of "artificial nature" but this park really impressed me.

Right after this I looked in the tiny Museum of Contemporary Art of Mendoza situated UNDER the main plaza in the centre of the city. Although very little I saw some really interesting pieces of art.

Hardly having eaten my meal I had to rush to get to my horseback riding excursion in the afternoon. This was definitely one of the highlights of my journey so far: riding a horse in the semi-desert of Argentine west watching the sun setting between the Andes. We were also lucky seeing a giant wild Tarantula crossing our way. The excursion ended with red wine and an Asado, the typical Argentine type of BBQ, and songs sung and played on a guitar by our guides, the Gauchos, in front of the fire under the star-dotted sky.

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On my last day in Mendoza I made an excursion named "Alta Montañas" (High Mountains). Besides having a pleasent chat with an Argentine couple and a group of girls from Germany volunteering in Argentina I also got to know very interesting facts about the Andes, the climate they influence, the different types of stone, the animals inhabiting this area (e.g. condors, pumas, foxes...) and the train once connecting Chile and Argentina, everything told by a guide. I am really happy to understand Spanish quite good because the English translation is always awful ;)

We saw an old stone bridge which was by far not so impressing as the "Puente del Inca", a natural arch that forms a bridge over the Vacas River, a tributary of the Mendoza River.

Puente del Inca is also the name of the nearby hot springs. Scientists speculate that interaction of extreme elements like ice and hot springs was involved in the origin of the formation.

In the early twentieth century there was a big thermal resort and Spa that used the hot springs to cure some illnesses (a spa still survives further down the river at Cacheuta). Now only a ruin is left.

Because of the high content of iron in the water this rock formation shines in yellow, orange and ocra.

I was amazed by this sight...

Eventually we also stopped at a viewpoint hoping to see the highest mountain of the Andes, Aconcagua, about 6790 metres high, but unfortunately clouds were hiding it.

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Back at the hostel I decided spontaneously to catch one of the last buses of the day to San Juan, located 2,5 hours by bus north to Mendoza. I arrived there around 10 pm and got safely to the hostel I reserved just a few hours before.

So 4 days full of action in Mendoza found its end in a nearly empty bus on the endless roads of Argentina...

PS: I will upload more pictures after having returned to Austria!!