Mendoza, Argentina

After the change to our itinerary for logistical reasons, we arrived in Argentina's wine region, Mendoza, with little/no plan of what was on offer (besides drinking wine) or how to go about it. Thankfully our hostel was opposite the bus terminal and could check us in promptly.

After some deliberation we disregarded the tours offered by the hostel in preference of treading our own path through the Maipu area on push bikes. We decided to go with Mr Hugo's bikes (one of a number inthe area) which turned out to be a good choice for only AR35. As a sweetener, Mr Hugo himself invites all his clients back to his place at the end of the day to enjoy some wine (more on this below). With transport at our disposal we were able to visit as many or little wineries as we wished. Our first stop was a small vineyard for a quick tour enroute to the wine museum which included a free tasting. Next up was a small boutique which manufactured a range of chocolates, spreads and liquors, including bonafide absinthe. We then headed over to a very random and remote beer garden down a gravel road in the fields of Maipu to sample some cold tap beer. To finish off our tour we visited the Tempus Alba and another adjacent winery, complete with their picturesque scenery.

On returning the bikes to our good friend Mr Hugo we were treated to some of the free wine. Said wine was stored in plastic drums down the blindside of his house, which was transferred into 'cleanskin' bottles for consumption. Mr Hugo seemed to find the situation hilarious. As seedy as it was we concluded that the plastic drum wine was probably from the wineries we visited in return for Mr Hugo putting them on his tour map. How did we conclude this? The Mendoza bike winery tour industry is fierce, even to the point that local bus drivers get kickbacks from operators for dropping tourists off at their office. Given this, there is no reason why the lucritive operation wouldn't extend to the wineries as well. Returning with no sunburn or injuries rendered this a generally trouble-free day. Thanks Mr Hugo!

With the Easter weekend in full swing we set about extending our accomodation so we could take a trip out to the neaby hot springs, some 1 hour from the Mendoza centro area. Our search didn't go so well and we quickly found out that every hostel in Mendoza was booked out. Tossing up with the idea of getting the inadvertent boot from town, we tried some budget hotels and were able to find a three person room for cheaper than what a hostel dorm would have cost us.

With this all in place, we set off to the Parque de Agua hot springs for the day. Although being essentially a public swimming/water park, the hot springs are nestled within a valley at the base of the Andes Ranges which provides a stunning, yet somewhat over the top back-drop for a swimming pool. Entry set us back AR25 due to the Good Friday holiday (usually AR20) and there are a number of pools on offer ranging from a chilly 18 degrees up to 36 degrees that pretty much sends you to sleep.

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Our final day in Mendoza saw Nick head off again to the base of the Andes for a trek, only to return 2 hours later due to safety concerns about the trail and pending down pour, while Sam and I ventured around the Centro area to explore the many plaza's on offer, namely Plaza Independencia and Plaza Espana all of which are conveninetly located within the compact centro area.