Well we all survived the 19 hour bus ride which was a bonus. Suprisingly it really wasn't that traumatic an experience - reclienable leather seats and the downstairs of the bus to ourselves felt more like a business class flight than a rickerty South American bus journey - think I'll get something alot more like that in Bolivia though!

Having arrived rather tired despite the luxury of the bus we weren't so keen on the lack of private bathroom in the hostel (I know we're the ponciest travellers ever!) anyhow after a bit of negotiation the rest of the hostel were locked out of our bathroom - hehe! Felt a bit bad for being mean as the hostel owner is the nicest guy in the world - having gone out and bought a router so I can have wireless and helped us with everything we've done!
Our first adventure was a day trip which involved hiking and absailing in the morning and then a spa!! We hiked (well more like scrambled) up a massively steep hill and then had to slip and slide halfway down the other side - and I'd ignorantly assumed the climb was so I could absail down! Not sure if Tom was pleased he went in front of me or not although I certainly was as managed to tumble into him a couple of times! Safe to say the guides one piece of advice was to be careful on the steep bits if you had to put your hands down as there were cactuses - I really don't think I need to go into any detail of what I did!! The absailing was pretty cool too, the first one was a pansy 10 metres but the 45 metre sheer rock face that greated me round the corner was a little intimidating. Managed to survive though even though got stuck talking to Augustus Gallop (seriously he was his twin) for ages! In the afternoon we headed (well dragged Tom) to a spa. It was lovely, firstly we had a sauna which you had to climb down a stiarwell into the rocks for. It is the only natural sauna in Argentina and the steam from the ground literally seeps through the rocks to heat the cave. We then moved onto some hydrotherapy before covering ourselves in mud and relaxing in some jacussi pools. Not sure you were supposed to put the mud in your hair but oh well we looked cool! Lisa and I both then paid a massive £5 for a massage each. Given my stiff back I was treated to hot stones - think Lisa was a little jealous! The careful minibus driver then picked us up and crashed into the flower beds and a sign as he reversed out of the carpark. Upsettingly the next morning realised I'd lost my jumper but a quick phonecall discovered I had left it in the 'traffic'! Think this is a dodgy translation for mini bus given the suprisingly immaculate state of my returned jumper and the fact the tour company had it!

Our second adventure was white water rafting. Here I have some important advice for you - ALWAYS check where the water comes from. If it's from melted snow from the surrounding mountains this should clearly imply to you that the water will be like ice!! Although had fun given the temperature and the mildness of the rapids compared to the ones in Zambia the boys dragged me down wasn't as exciting. Did get to do some cool wave surfing in the boat though - which involved little me in the front being pretty much completely submerged! After refusing to wait around 5 hours for three of the group to do a hike (which wasn't even an option on our trip - love South America urgency!) we got a public bus back to the city and headed out for some food. Managed to get a little muddled by the fact a road name here doen't appear to be overly unique - i.e. 4/5 with same name is the norm! Eventually found some food though and headed back to the hostel rather tired from the walk. The evening ended with a Japanese pillow dance - I blame my mother for being insane!

Adventure three rocked! Any winery trip that involves 4 wineries and a chocolate factory in a day has to be good. The first winery was the most traditional and had one wine from 1977 which you could only buy at the winery. It was so cool and not even expensive but given the lack of shipping options I'm afraid wasn't able to treat you all! The winery had the largest oak barrel which is in use in Mendosa - holding a mere 44,000 litres of wine. The other wineries also showed us the fascinating process of how they make the wine, which differed slightly in each place, and of course gave us some samples! Was suprised how much care, detail and expense goes into producing each wine, even the ways in which the vines are tied is carefully planned so the leaves shade the grapes from the scorching sun - we're here right at the beginning of Spring and it's already 30 degrees! Thanks to Nick's mums little e-mail of wine advice I even looked like a pro when one tour leader asked what the regions pride wine is and I was the only one that knew - Malbec - oh yeah! Safe to say I am now a wine connesoeur (although can't spell it) and will be available to educate you all in precisouly which colours, aromas and bodies of wine are the way forward! Intrestingly also went to a rather smelly olive factory where I discovered olive oil is made from olives - I'm not gonna lie somehow that had never before clicked! We also popped into a distilery and smelt pure alcohol - although I couldn't smell it - worrying! Once the guy gave it a swish though and I got a little closer - well that could certianly knock you out! The guy complained about strict new laws they have hear - didn't seem to think the fact they'd been introduced as one guy had tried to make the alcohol stronger and killed 15 people a few years ago was a valid reason!

Oh and learnt how to taste wine properly - going to look like such a pro in the restaurants!!

Anyhow that's about all the fun we've had time for in Mendosa so next stop is Salta before we head into Bolivia. Miss you all lots, and see you soon. xx