We purposely took the day bus to get to Mendoza from Santiago, knowing that it would cross through the Andes, expecting to see some awesome scenery.

Needless to say we were not dissappointed, the Andes are truly incredible, no matter at what point you cross them. After a long journey we finally arrived in Mendoza, ready for some wine tasting.

We had previously booked into the Hostel International hostal in Mendoza, so we arrived and headed straight for our room. Previously we had met our friends Henriette and Mikkel down in Puerto Natales after our initial meeting in Rio De Janeiro. For some reason I mentioned to Reet that it would be uncanny if for some reason we were to bump into them again here in Mendoza. Anyhow thought nothing more of it and we headed back out to the reception area where lo and behold they were both stood.

We spent that afternoon catching up, this was great as we were all going to be spending the next couple of days together in Mendoza which gave us time to catch up and do some things together.

The following afternoon we decided to do a sunset horseride which was to end in a typical ´parilla´ (BBQ). We were to be picked up at 4.00pm giving us plenty of time to get to the mountains and begin our horseride as the sun was starting to go down. In reality the bus arrived at 4.30 and we still had to pick up the rest of the busload. This in turn meant that we didn´t arrive at the ranch until it was already almost dark. Anyhows we decided to set off, Ben placed with a black stallion resembling Black Beauty and Reet with a smaller horse, nonetheless a lot more sizeable than the ones we had ridden in The Pantanal. We hadn´t gone more than 100mts before Bens horse decided it wasn´t going to follow the rest of the pack or pay any attention to his commands, neither in English or Spanish. As he bolted off, one of the gauchos chased after and brought him back into the pack. The ride lasted best part of 90mins, with the only stars to lead our way. Towards the end Reet´s saddle became loose so she had to come hers and walk with one of the gauchos back to the ranch. When we finally got back the barbie was blazing and steaks coming off by the dozen, only problem being the two groups before us were still sat there gorging themselves on both meat and wine. So much so that when we came for a dine, there was little left. Either way the day was much enjoyed finished off with a nice drink.

The following day was time to visit the vineyards. We did this alone as our friends had already done a similar tour on the first day. We visited two vineyards, one which was classed as a family run artesanal one and another which was classed as a boutique vineyard. Both had very nice wine so we decided to buy a bottle from each.

We then spent that evening with our friends again, eating some nice food and having a few drinks afterwards. Overall a great time spent in Mendoza, now ready for next destination - Salta.