Howdy Folks,

After the culture overload of BA, we hopped on a short bus, 11hrs to Mendoza. It lies Northwest of BA and incase you didn´t know, is world renowned for its wine!...we thought it worth a visit!

We stayed at another HI hostel, the Mendoza Inn, and found ourselves in a small 4 bed dorm with 2 other randoms...the joys.

First impressions of Mendoza were positive, with wide tree lined roads, and clean fresh mountain air. The pace of life instantly felt smoother and calmer after BA, and after spending a few hours wandering around and getting our bearings, we felt very comfortable!

Our friendly Hostel hostess told us on arrival, that tonight was a pizza night, where the Mendoza inn and the 2 sister hostels all get together and their guests get to mingle, & enjoy the great home cooked pizzas!...Due to booking on hostelworld, this was also free for us! No great surprises, we booked it in!

The following day, after being rudely awoken by the loud chilean girls we were sharing with at 6am (we have discovered that people on average are inconsiderate!), we decided it was time to experience some of Mendozas best and booked a winery tour.

As the mini bus pulled up outside, we quickly realised that not only were we the youngest on board, but the margin was a good 20 years...Baby boomers love their wine in all nations!! The tour consisted of visiting 2 wineries, an olive oil factory and finally a chocolate and spirit producing factory! This being the strangest of all, as they produce any liquor you would desire (from Absithne to Whisky (not bad!) and all in between), from scratch and also very good chocolate! Considering we had spent the last few hours drinking good wine, then tasting fresh bread with great olive oil, this was the icing on the cake!

Mendoza, aside from being a wine capital, is famous for great white water rafting so after researching my options the previous day, I packed up my change of clothes, and best adrenaline junkie face, & hopped in another mini bus! Life in South America rarely runs smoothly which is why after the 4th time the bus had broke down in the middle of nowhere, I was still unconcerned!

We arrived at the base of the mountains, where the rafting centre has a wonderful wooden cabin, and after being seperated from the other "spanish as a first language" tourists I was placed in a small group of 5...with 4 young danish girls. Not normally an issue I hear you say, however I quickly realised that being stuck in a rip in grade 4 rapids, in a 6 man boat with these companions, this was far from ideal! As it turned out, we eventually got into the rhythm which is so desperately needed and had a great time. The water was freezing, and the sun wasnt shining as it had but with the mountains in the background and bouncing off the water, I was in my element! This was until we got back to base and I was having a chat with the driver and my boat expert, who was praising me for my quick thinking of grabbing the rope thrown from the side when we were in trouble while the driver kept interrupting us with cries of "Pollo, pollo". Eventually with the help of Oso, and my broken spanish, I was able to determine that the driver was was telling me...."you have strong arms...but the legs of a chicken"!!!...I hope his van broke down on teh way home...

After opting out of the potentially dangerous activities on the river, Jac had decided to take it a little easy and stayed in town to watch the start of National wine harvest festival, (Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia). This took the form of a parade through town, with each local Estancia (Ranch) proudly showing their horses and wearing full Gaucho dress. It travelled up past the Hostel and finished in the large (420 hectares) Parque General San Martin.

We were deciding whether or not to cook at the Hostel or not this night, but thankfully in my absence, Jackie had put our names down for a BBQ party! As per the Pizza night we met up with the other hostel, and shared a wonderful BBQ. Perfect end to the day.

It was our final day in Mendoza, so we packed up our bags, checked out and went for a walk in town. Unfortunately it was a Sunday which meant most shops were shut, so were limited for activites! We did manage to find a nice wine shop and a cafe to while away the hours before our bus left. We eventually made our way to the bus station at 9pm only to be told when boarding...Manàna. For those of you who have ever learnt any words of Spanish you will of course know that this means tomorrow. In my haste to confirm our bus, it appeared that I got our dates confused!!! There was a small silver lining to this dark cloud, in that we loved Mendoza and were sad to be leaving so were happy of an extra day, and as Jac finally got through to me, it could have been worse... I could have booked it for the previous day! We quickly jumped in a taxi to one of the hostels in town and were lucky enough to be able to book a room for the night. A glass of whisky and I finally calmed down, note to self, check the dates next time!!

Our final day in Mendoza, no really it is this time, we ventured off on a local bus to see more of the famous Mendoza wineries. There are over 1000 wineries in the area, so choice was plentiful. We had read good things about the Chandon winery, so made a reservation, and off we went. Unlike other wine regions in the world, where it is very easy to turn up and tour, Mendoza vineyards require reservations for tasting and tours.

On arrival at Chandon, we were asked if we would mind sharing our booking as another party of 3 turned up. Of course we didnt, and as it turned out worked in our favour. Mitch and his 2 friends were studying the wine industry and were working at a local vineyard, and for their days off were travelling the vineyards of Mendoza. They were very knowledgable, and were happy to educate us, and didnt mind us asking for a lift for the rest of the day! Due to the fact that we got the bus in, we were limited in our movements, thankfully these guys were driving, so we teamed up! We visited one other winery after being knocked back by 3 others due to our lack of reservation, but it was worth it! If any of you get the chance, try a glass of any Achaval Ferrer! This was a boutique vineyard with much smaller yields than Chandon, where quality is a high priority, and reflected so in the wines. Mmmmmm...We parted company and in our haste to catch a bus, we left a bottle of Malbec we purchased at the bus stop, perhaps we had too many tastings! Hopefully one of the locals enjoyed it with their evening meal!

We picked up our bags back at the hostel, and after I re-read the tickets a few dozen times to confirm, we finally jumped on the bus and said good-bye to Mendoza. Next stop Cordoba...