Our final hoorah in Argentina

Following from our amazing experience in Cafayate we were sad to leave but also excited about heading south to the wine region of Mendoza. After numerous bus journeys including an overnight stop in Tucuman (nice hostel, boring place) we had finally arrived.

Hostel Lao (which had been recommended to us) was the perfect home to explore the region, the staff and the honest information they provided was the best we've had so far.

The city is the 3rd biggest in the country so it's a bustling place with impressive main plaza and the best indoor market with fresh produce we'd found in Argentina.

After an afternoon of exploring the city we thought it was time to investigate the real action....the wine! Back at the hostel we were talked through various wine regions we could reach by bus and then rent bikes to visit all the various vineyards. Before we new it we were already planning to do the same thing as a few other people in the hostel so planned our day together.

We left the next morning for the Lajun / Chacras region by public bus, and were happy to see the hubub of the city being overtaken by more leafier small towns. Arriving at Plaza Chacras we found the bike rental company (Baccus) who gave us a map and had arranged the relevant tastings for us. So of we set (5 Brits, 2 kiwis, 1 Colombian...on bikes!)...

While we were definitely away from the big city the scenery wasn't exactly as we'd imagined it (especially coming from remote Cafayate which was just that), the mountain backdrop was pretty but the areas around the vineyards were pretty built up. But on reflection this can only be expected from the largest wine region in the country.

We were not disheartened and all was forgotten when we arrived at our first stop, La Garda. The winery was opened in 1897 by a Portugese family, they were experts at producing "table wine" the only wine produced in the region at that time, very low quality with very high quantity. But as the market changed and wineries focussed on quality instead the business was sold to an Argentinian family who still own the winery today. Classed as a boutique winery they pride themselves in quality and it would be hard to find many of their wines in the UK. They also make sparkling wine, using the same methods as in the Champagne region in France. We sampled 3 wines and 1 sparkling. The first being a Torrontes white from their entry level range and the second a Malbec DOC from their mid range and finally the star on their tree...Henry... a blend of five grapes it takes 4 years to make a vintage and uses the best french oak barrels for ageing the wine for 2 years. Needles to say we were impressed and off we went on our bikes for our next stop, which we were already late for!

We arrived at the Pulmary organic winery where we had a reservation for lunch...."Disco Beef" was very popular and we decided to share that and also the special of the day, Rabbit Gnocchi. The food was delicious and the wine also too and before we new it we had to hit the road again. Our next stop was Alta Vista, a brand common in the UK, they are medium to large in size which was quite a difference to the two previous visits. The winery was high tech and had all the mod cons - including the laboratory for blending! The wine itself was nice with the Bonarda standing out and being described as the "next Malbec". We were late, yet again, for our final and most fun stop to truly finish us off....an artisinal preserve and spirits producer specialising in Absinthe!!! Needless to say our bikes weren't going in a straight line on the last leg back to the rental company!! All in all it was a fantastic day, while we felt let down by the scenery the wines made up for it and more importantly we had some great company which really made the day.

Our growing friendship circle in Mendoza became even stronger as news of a nationwide long distance bus journey strike broke and it was apparent no one was going anywhere for a while. We made the most of it though and this resulted in a group night out to a local Mexican restaurant (with killer margheritas) followed by a club (which didn't 'get going' until 3am!)...needless to say the next day was a bit of a write off, although we did manage to cook our new friends (all 12 of them!) spaghetti bolognese as a treat that evening which was enjoyed by all.

By this point we had "mendoza  fever" with no solid news of when the bus strike was going to end we and two others decided to head to Upsullata which even though was 2 hours from Mendoza was still classed as in the region so local buses were still travelling there. When the city cleared and we began to head into the mountains we were so happy to have left the busy city, the scenery was breathtaking and we were excited about having a few days outdoors.

Upsullata was an extremely small town on the main road that leads from Mendoza through to Chile through the Andes and we had made a reservation at a hostel 6k from the centre. Well the hostel was remote to say the least and the manager didn't have the warmest of demeanour, also there was no one else staying, so we were very happy to have the company of our two travelling companions. (Think of a horror movie set in the mountains and you have our abandoned hostel!)

Our first adventure was renting bikes for half a day to see some of the beautiful spots in the surrounding area...no big deal you say...we forgot to mention that Quin one of our travelling pals has just ridden across Patagonia and the other, Gunther not only cycles 60k per week across London also swims and is a boxer. We were slightly behind them in the fitness stakes and coupled with the increase in altitude it made for quite a physical challenge! We weren't put off though and managed to see the sunset from the top of a boulder with ancient hieroglyphics as well as seeing the milky way for the first time, it was breathtaking..literally!!

The next day we took a 1.5 hour bus ride to the Aconcagua national park. Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the whole of the Americas with the highest peak reaching nearly 7,000m. As bad weather was starting to draw in most of the trails were closed however we were able to take a nice trek closer to the foot of the mountain where we stopped to have a picnic and also saw some Condors and Mountain Hares. The sky was clear and no one else was in the park for most of the time we were there so it really felt like "ours". After this we walked a few kilometres to Puente del Inca an impressive bridge which also housed hot springs. The best bit being the walk there via a disused railway line and also an abandoned bus which was pretty cool.

We then got confirmation that buses were running from Mendoza to Chile so already being quite a few days later than planned we sadly left Quin and Gunther in Uspullata while they did some more super sporty stuff and headed back to Mendoza to make our connection.

So we finally leave Argentina having seen, eaten and drunk as much as we can handle. Watch out Chile you've got a lot to live up to!