Fri- So I (chloe)arrived in Mendoza with an awful stomach ache picked up in Cordoba. I refused to move from the hostel for long periods of time so we spent the day in the hostel and went to the BBQ (not that ill) that eveing. Was really good, they brought so much good meat over and me and Rory defo ate our moneys worth. The bar was pretty lively and they were pouring tequila into peoples mouths, not for me however!! Our room can only be described as a cave. There is no natural Light, they have crammed 8 beds in, 3 bunks high and the room is en suite to the kitchen and doesnt lock and the hostels luggage store is in the room, so people are coming and going at all hours. And they love to cook at 11 here so banging and shouting. Yeah.. the greatest room ever.

Sat- Officially D Day- both me and Rory were affected by whatever we ate in cordoba so spend another whole day spent around the hostel- rory was not complaining though as the football was on! The hostel on hostelworld claims to have a swimming pool, no such luck!

Sun- The city of Mendoza is really beautiful, wide avenues and lots of plazas, there is a massive park to the north of the city, we went to rent bikes, but being Sunday in Argentina it was closed. So we walked it instead which was a bit of a mission! It took three hours to scale the “small hill” at the centre, which ended up being 1000m above sea level!!! There was a massive beatuiful statue at the top dedicated to San Martin, some revolutionary nut over here, well worth the small trek (in flip flops)! In the evening (as a reward) we sort out a mexican resturant that actually had some spice to it, as over here you cannot find a chilli for miles, except the country of course! Bloody lovely meal!

Mon- We went on a excursion to the Pre-Andes where we trekked up a massive hill, surprisingly me and Rory were at the front of the group (earger beavers) the entire way up! Loving my walking boots, very supportive! Three dogs from the town followed us up the mountain, they were so cute, although on the way down I was using their backs for support, handy little things! The way down was more tricky though, there were killer cactuses on one side , these bloody dogs constantly under your feet and the path was really steep and everyone kept slipping! However the worst was still to come! We then went rapling! Which is absailing! 3 times, 12m, 6m and the 48m!!! Well I was terrified, got all straped up in the harness, Rory had the camera filming and I couldnt get my body to move over the side of the cliff! Coupled with the fact the guide spoke broken English, I wasn´t feeling the safest! I was very close to tears, so Rory went to “show me how its done”, he was over no problem, bouncing down the rock face. I had a second attempt and still couldnt do it. At this point I was watching how the dogs were going to get down and contimplating going with them. Eventually a Brazilan took hold of the situation and talked me through it. The 6m one was fun and I was dreading the 48m one. This fancy pants show off girl who had been fine on the previous two went to do the 48m and was really scared, pulling faces at me, like “ you really dont want to look down” stupid cow, made me even more nervous. One my turn, I refused to look down and just stared at the wall in front, it was so steep and high, to get myself through it I was talking to myself out loud, I did look a bit mental but I made it one piece. Again Rory just scaled the thing in about a mintue- show off. After we went to the natural hot spring baths, which I think are heated from the volcanic activity around there. Completly exhausted that night, so had steak and salad and went to bed.

Tues- I encouraged Rory to sign up to a High Andes tour, which drives you around the Andes. It seemed like the granny wagon at first but the tour ended up being great, the Andes are really beautiful, and we saw mount Aconcagua – the highest peak on the continent. We drove up to 4000m to a point where Chile and Argentina interesect, my eyeballs felt like they were popping out! So the inca trail is going to be a barrel of laughs! We also went to a natural bridge covered in sulphur deposit called the Incas Bridge (beacuse they once walked over it). The guide was really good, and the olds were actually really nice, Im sure one of them was a freemason, he had this ring on- but I was too scared to ask him!

Wedne- We got a bus to the Maipú region of Mendoza where all the vine yards are and met two girls on the bus. We all rented bikes together and did the wineary tours, it was so much fun, we went to the musuem and they show you the old way of making wine and then the new, we went for lunch and had a bbq which was heavenly and had 2 tastings there, the wine Rory chose first was amazing so we all got one for our second glass! The road is really long to cycle and not that well paved so the journey was a bit arduous, however the frequent wine tasting stops made it worth while. Rorys bike gave up on him after lunch so we called Mr.Hugo out (what a legend) to swap the bikes and we carried on to two further winearys! We found a lovely ginger kitten at one, which the girl jen carried around during the tour! We visted the last vine yard which was one of the biggest and really in personal compared to the others we had been too. Once again though one of the bikes had develpoed a puncture so we called my Hugo out again! Although cunningly, as me and rory were leavig anyway I offered to take the duff bike and wait for mr Hugo so they could carry on, knowing full well he had a van big enough to drive me and rory home! Haha! Prefect! Didn´t have to cycle the last leg! SMART! The bike shop also had a kitten which we played with before we left! Brillant day! Caught our bus to Salta at 8 for a 21 hour journey!!!