Another overnight bus took us Mendoza AKA wine country. We checked into our hostel and over the next few days we realised that it was a crap hostel. The staff were rude ("My boss isn't here so I'm just going to lie on the couch - don't bother me with questions"), the music was blared into the TV room, the pool was green and the roof leaked.

The weather was glorious the day we arrived - Jimmy managed to get sunburnt sitting out in the garden. We explored the city with bikes, but found Mendoza a poor city for cycling. It was more important trying not to get knocked down than take in the sights.

We did spend a few hours in Parque General San Martin which is apparently one of the biggest parks in South America. It has a nice man made lake called Regata Lake. At the top of Cerro de la Gloria (Glory Hill) is a large statue in tribute to the man himself - General San Martin. The front of the monument has San Martin on a horse, standard fare for South America - if it's not San Martin on a horse, it's Bolivar on a horse. The remaining three sides contain a crest from Peru, Chile or Argentina and a frieze depicting different images related to the struggle for independence.

Jose de San Martin liberated Argentina, Chile and Peru from Spanish rule. Mendoza was where he formed his Army of the Andes and from where his army started their invasion of Chile, hence the connection. He sailed his army to Lima where he liberated Peru.

That evening a group of hostels put together a delicious all you can eat barbecue with chicken, beef, pork and salads. Including the copious amounts of red wine that I drank (when in Rome ...), there was an hour of free tequila shots - the night got a little hazy towards the end!

Saturday morning was lazy and the evening was when the storm and the downpour started. According to the locals "it doesn't rain in Mendoza" and the Internet tells me it's an arid region. It rained non stop until Sunday night. The storm on Saturday night had the hostel roof leaking. Sunday was a write off for doing anything given that most things are closed anyway and any markets that were planned were closed due to the weather.

Today was a massive improvement: we moved into a new hostel where, shock, horror, we could actually swim in the pool; the weather was improved; and we went rafting. The rapids were only grade 3 at a push, but we still had good craic going down the Rio Mendoza. It being spring, the glaciers and snow from the Andes are melting, so needless to say the water was cold!