Mar 16, 2005 - Mendoza, Argentina

Argentina... Wine region... What a better way to explore than with bikes? On the way to Maipu, a small town full of wineries, or bodegas as they are called here, we hopped onto the highway by accident with our rented bikes. I guess it's not illegal because cops saw us doing it and said nothing. Of course, since we were going wine tasting, we needed ties. So we stopped at a little kid's school uniform shop on the way, and picked some up (pics will be up soon). They went nicely with our shorts and sandals. We got to Maipu after about 45...

Mar 5, 2005 - Aconcagua

This is the wildest camping place ever, with rabid dogs in bunches of twenty at a time and winds to rival a hurricane. But, there were some great sights, so perhaps worth it. We hired mules, wernt to thermal baths, saw the biggest mountain any of us have ever seen- by a long way. so it was all good.

Mar 4, 2005 - Mendoza

We spent a few days in mendoza, which is a great city, but we missed the wine festival as when we arrived, after a 23 hour bus ride there were no places to stay. The bus ride took so long as we hit a cow which made the front of the bus cave in, this was about 1am. But the bus driver just kicked the window through (after standing around discussing it for half an hour) then we carried on our way. Anyway it was really nice when we got there and we went round lots of Bodegas (wineries) and got some free tasting.

Mar 3, 2005 - Uspallata, Argentina.

Uspallata was an unexpected stop as we couldn't get a place to stay in nearby mendoza because of the wine festival! we are here now though and we are just about to go and get stuck in so bye bye wish you were all here to enjoy it with us, oh well we'll bring you some back, email us lots and lots of love helen and scottxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mar 1, 2005 - Mendoza

Hola Amy and Paddy- its off to the bodegas for some viticulture and wine tasting. HMMMMMMM Well, The Bodgas had to wait fro a few days, as e decided to hit the surrounding mountains where we went camping in Uspallata surrounded by hundreds of poplars and mountains. WE Hired bicicles and rode around in the blazing sun for a while, before we decided that it was only mad dogs and Englishmen that would attempt such stunts, and returned to the shade of our trees. We had great barbeques and drank wonderful wines, so had a great time relaxing and...

Feb 25, 2005 - Would you like wine with your Happy Meal? Mendoza, Argentina

Mendoza is the wine capital of Argentina and wine is everywhere, even at MacDonald's. That's right, you can order wine with your quarter pounder. Mendoza produces 70% of Argentina's wine. Both wine and fine food (not including Mac Ds) is of high quality and very cheap. A dinner with a bottle of wine runs about $9 USD for 2 people. It is the land of meat and wine which is is a welcome change after Peru, the land of potatoes and bottled water. Mendoza has been a pleasant surprise and it seems very European. We love it. The locals are so...

Feb 6, 2005 - Return to Santiago

Booked a ticket on the 6.00pm bus from Osorno to Santiago for the same day we arrived from Puerto Natales - this would be another 12 hours, but at least we would be back in Santiago and it was an overnight trip that gets us in to Santiago at 6.00am. A fairly uneventful trip that allowed us to catch some sleep. We stayed in Santiago until the trip north on the 8th Feb, and the extra time there allowed us to see some of the sites that we didn't get to see on our initial visit. These included the Pre Columbian Museum with an excellent...

Jan 22, 2005 - Mendoza

Meteo Grosse chaleur prevue initialement a Salta (env. 40 degres), que nenni, il fait 30º en ville, et 10º a 4170m (notre sommet a nous!) On nous a prises pour des delurees quand nous avons demande des velos a Talampaya, que nenni, un petit vent frais nous maintenait a temperature Seule verite: le soleil ne nous quitte pas... Sport Notre preparation fonciere hivernale en vue de la saison 2005 se deroule sous les meilleures augures: 1. portage du sac a dos (13-14 kg au depart, un peu plus aujourd hui)... pour la puissance au...

Jan 18, 2005 - back to Mendoza, Argentina

Mendoza. It's nice. It's warm (or hot, even). It has lots of nice, tasty food. If you would happen to come here, do not miss the tenedor libre (free fork literally, or all you can eat buffet, but with good food and a big grilled meat section and stations for freshly cooked pastas, stir fries, crepes...) at the restaurant called Las Tinajas (www.lastinajas.com). It might be our favorite restaurant in the 17 countries we've been to on this trip.

Jan 14, 2005 - Mendoza, Argentina

after 3 days of realy amazing views, we came back to Mendoza yesterday, to the same hostel that we were before. we changed rooms, so now Danit, Dana and I (the 2 guys are in a different room, there was no room for 5) have a big room with a giant bathroom! it looks like a bathroom of a 5 star hotel. too bad that there´s no air conditioning, becuase the little ventilator that we have doesn´t realy cool the room. i forgot to take a picture of the house we stayed in in San Rafael. it was realy beautiful. a real home. we even had a drive-way. on...

Jan 12, 2005 - San Rafael, Argentina

after 6 days in lovely Mendoza, we rented a car (a small Suzuki Fun - kinda like my Saxo) and drove to San Rafael, a small town 150 km south of Mendoza. before going south, we went north to see the Puente Del Inca - a bridge that was built by the Inca about a 1000 years ago. the view was specticular, and driving was so much fun! i miss driving... a part from the bridge, we saw the highest mountain in America (and the 2nd highest after the Himalaia) 6962 meters above ground. we got here, to San Rafael, at the evening, after almost 9 hours...

Jan 9, 2005 - Argentina - Mendoza

We hadn't booked any hostel in advance and had to look around as a lot were already full. Managed to find a place called Hostel Conferencia on av. espana. It is a nice place and is very sociable. The rooms are clean and we get fresh towels every day !!! Mendoza is a lovely town. We decided to have some Rest and relaxation in this town so we have been trying the good wines, sampling the amazing food and going on the odd tour as well. All of the streets are tree lined and although it is very hot it is very pleasant just to wander around the...