So I made it to Mendoza. It took about 7 hours from Valparaiso which would have been a great chance to have a good nap...but I couldn't - the views driving through the Andes were incredible.

I was lucky enough to be on a bus with a couple from South Africa who were staying at hostel Mora too, so we all headed to the hostel together. They were good at Spanish (I guess you would be after 1 year of travelling in south america) so they were able to ask the locals to point us in the right direction. Its so nice to be able to communicate with the locals having seen them chat to them, I am desperate to learn this language. So I have my app on my phone which is actually prety damn good and a phrase book so they are my teachers fornow until I get to Bolivia where I think ill take some lessons.

For my first full day in Mendoza I had a bit of a catch up and a wonder around the town through the various plazas that surrounded the centre. It was a ghost town strolling around...but forgot that it was a sunday. I thought I just went for a walk during siesta time but when I returned and asked the receptionist when things open again and she said not until tomorrow because its sunday. Ok so maybe the small shops dont open on sundays in england, but when you're in a fairly big town like Mendoza, you would expect the main shops and restaurants to be open. So I didnt really feel the city vibe that day but it was nice to check the place out anyhow.
As I was sorting out my photos back at the hostel a couple who i met in Valpareso arrived to check in. It was a lovely surprise to see them...we got chatting away finding out what we had done over the last few days. They were really great company so we decided to go and check out the vineyards the following day.

On Monday I enjoyed my free breakfast again which included cornflakes, boiled eggs, pancakes, bread rolls, fruit, croissants, tea, coffee, hot chocolate and juice! You sure cant complain about the free breakfast here in this hostel. After finding some men on the streets to change Benedict and juans US dollars to Argentinean pesos we headed to the bus stop. Every bus passed by but ours...half an hour later it eventually came! We then discover that you need a swipe card to pay for the journey but the bus driver was nice and let us on anyway. We got chatting to a guy on the bus who let us use his card to pay and we just gave him the cash. I say we, I should say Juan and Benedict were the ones talk ing to him as no hablo muy bien espanol:(
We managed to find the bike shop but to our horror it was closed! Ops. Juan was able to chat to the lady next door and she kindly called them for us and within 2 minutes the owner was there welcoming us in (even though we were meant to have booked with them the previous day). He was so kind, he let us hire the bikes for us$10 less as we only had them for the afternoon, he called the vineyards to check that they were open and to let them know we would be arriving at some point and then highlighted on a map a suggested itinerary:) he couldnt have been more helpful (especially due to the fact that I think he may have got confused wuth money and gave me $50 too much, I think...when I paid for my bike hire. Opsy. The afternoon in Baccus was really enjoyable, with lovely owners of the vineyards, great private wine tours and of course flippin good wine. It was a lovely sunny day and it felt like we were the only three people touring the vineyards (apart from seeing one couple at one of the vineyards and a group of people who were just leaving the chocolate, jams, salsas and spirits tour.) We had a great laugh cycling around from vineyard to vineyard. We were feeling rather drunk from the first tour which was not only due to the fact that we hadnt eaten lunch, but also because the lady was rather generous with her wine so we pretty much got 4 full glasses of wine! I wonder if we didnt get as much in the other places because they could tell we were drunk. Even though the last two places were meant to have closed by the time we arrived, we were in luck....they were both still open and let us take a tour! We ended up eating all the tasters in the chocolate and salsa place...I think we needed food!! So on our way back to drop the bikes off it was getting a little dark, so dark in fact that juan didnt see a chain rope that was right in front of him so he ended up cycling straight into it and falling over his handlebars. To me, I felt like I was watching something in slow motion!! And then I didnt even really register what happened but luckily he was ok and just scraped his hands. We made some pasta and tomato sauce back at the hostel and I headed bed pretty much straight after. It was about half 10 so not too late but it was a long (but fun) day and I needed my bed.

Tuesday was an organising day booking my bus and hostel, researching...and so on. I went for a nice run in the afternoon around the park. It was great running around the park because everyone was there to exercise or do sport. I bought some vegetarian food from down the road which was delicious and only cost 20 pesos. There were some cool people in the hostel so I spent the night chatting to them whilst enjoying the hostels free wine :) (LOVE this hostel ey and the staff are lovely and so helpful.)

Wednesday 4 September was my last day in Mendoza so I decided to catch a bus to Potrerillos. It was so nice to be on my own, there was knowone around, i walked around the lake and climbed a hill (i dont think i can really claim it to be a mountain) experimenting with my camera. I made one friend on the bus, a man who couldnt speak a word of english wanted to come and walk with me. He also showed me a load of money he was keeping in his pocket which also freaked me out so in a kind manner I said I want to walk around on my own and take photos and that i was a fast walker! This was all said in a few spanish words, which i think he understood :). He seemed to accept and be ok, luckily. I just had to accept his telephone number so I took it and said thanks. I made two other friends whilst climbing the hill...they were perfect friends helping me find my way up, One stayed behind me and the other showed me the way at the front. They walked with me to the top and walked me back down too. Yes ok they were both dogs but the cutest dogs ever and they kept me company :) I may have had to run back down the hill because I had only just double checked my ticket to find that the bus was leaving at 2.15pm, not at 2.30pm as I had thought. Opsy. But its all good - I made it back in time, and made it back to the hostel with enough time to have a shower and make an early dinner before my 14 hour bus to Buenos Aries. And so here i am on the bus typing away. Its all good I have 2 seats to myself so ive made myself quite at home here. Im looking forward to seeing the lads I met in nz. We are going to arrive in ba at the same time! I think I might attempt to watch a film on my tablet now. See how long I stay awake through this film.

Buenas noches amigos x x