Hotel & Spa Termas Cacheuta Mendoza

... took care of a couple of errands before heading back for another Hostel party night, this time an all you can eat Argentina style barbecue.
The barbie was amazing, consisted simply of fat chunks of steak and chorizo sausage. It was so good I had jaw ache this morning from all the beef chewing. I have now officially converted Ang from a ravenosemi vegetarian (chicken and bacon only), to a ravenous carnivore, well not quite but she was getting stuck into the steak ...

Finaly having a little relaxing day today. was going to go to the vinyardes bu Malwena (who I was going to go with is a day late!!!!) Oh well I think there are a few people from this hostel going tomorrow so that should be a good larf!

Another good thing is that I have got my shorts on! Whoo Hoo. a month and a half in ...

Well we are finally back in Mendoza after a terrifying bus ride from Cafayate to Tucuman and then a gruelling 15 hours bus ride from Tucuman to Mendoza. Tucuman is only 230km from Cafayate but the bus ride took nearly six hours on account of the most ridiculous switchbacks Ive ever seen coming out of the mountains. If it had been day light Im positive I would have spewed all over the snoring guy in front of ...

... we spent the day exploring glacial lakes and this famous mountain range - 'torres' meaning towers as the 3 towering peaks are so steeps they're more towers than mountains. We were so lucky with the weather - perfect blue skys and no wind meant the lakes were still enough to reflect the mountains...apparently these conditions only happen once every few months and it was truly incredible. Another 5 hours on the bus took us back to El Calafate ...

... we found out about the time as we may well have missed our bus we had booked for Thursday to return to Chile. We travelled then to the base of the Andes Mountains where we began a horse riding trek up into the hills on horses. The group was about 8 young people and us. We had a great time and the horses were lovely only mine would not respond to my commands. I am not a horse rider and I am sure they know this. The trek was fun and weather beautifully clear and ...

... onions matched with Cabernet Sauvignon * Roasted beef tenderloin with squash, wheat, sweetcorn & smash tomatoes matched with a Petit Verdot & their best Malbec Then to finish .... * Granite of c******nay, rosemary & honey (like a more solid sorbet, refreshing & light) * White chocolate soup with seasonal fruit & a nice cup of tea The food was fab but no perfect Malbec here either. 4) Renacer - a Chilean owned bodega - where I got to ...

... mineral deposits in the surrounding stone. A great trip but the high light were the Andes themselves - huge awe inspiring mountains and surprisingly colourful - sand stone, sits next to white and black rock with huge stripes of metal ore adding further dashes of colour. A nice couple of days but again time to move on, this time following the edge of the Andes northwards up to Salta - our last stop in Argentina before Bolivia.

... We have also been to a football match. Mendoza (Godoy Cruz) vs. Tucaman (San Martin), it was a big game as only the winners would remain in the first division. We were quite late arriving as it wasn´t as close as we thought and the directions we were got on the street weren´t very helpful. However, we made it and arrived with some of the away fans, who seemed very keen to take us in with them. There were loads of police which I was quite suprised ...

... rains a few days of the year, so trust us to turn up on one of them!), so we are off to explore this lovely city. We will post another update after the wine tours ..... Hic! and let you know what Mendoza is like - on first impressions, I think we are going to like it! One final thing, there are loads of companies here that offer various day trips and tours, and one that caught our eye was the Adventure Tour company called . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wanka! I kid you not!! Adios

... les hostals remplis de gringos (originelement 'Green Go' en reference aux americains) et autres europeens. PS: Ah oui j'avais oublie, la ville aussi est sympa, provinciale, a taille humaine, dynamique et assez bourgeoise... On s'y sent bien, les rues sont larges et pleines d'arbres, ses places sont joliement decorees, son parc (Parque San Marint du nom du liberateur de l'argentine sous l'opression espagnole) est immense.... C'est la ville que j'aurais le plus apprecie dans ce pays.