Huentala Mendoza

... this place that Charles Darwin camped at many byears ago, a bit of a legend here in Argentina. Also saw an old railway line that would have been one of the worlds best when it was open, was built by th English over 100 years ago but closed since the 1980Žs. Saw some weird rock art as well, while learning some Spanish swear words as they described the people that had recently graffitiŽd the area.
Finally though, after lunch we got to jump on the bikes. They were ...

... at 2am, the actions speak louder than words personality of the gauchos, the tropical environment and colosal waterfalls at Igazu, the tango of Buenos Aries, the whales of patagonia, the beauty of the Lake District, but everywhere we have recieved unexpected, truely welcoming and heart warming hospitality. Travellers here are very lucky, you are constantly amazed by the place and its people.

Now we are back in Mendoza, we await ...

... of his Ž02 Cab Sauv. so buy it up. After this we ventured over to Ann and PeterŽs hacienda for some meat, veg and sweets. Yep, the sweet, sweet BBQ(asado). My lord IŽm starting to develop the dreaded gout. We have a crazy weekend as my friend is getting married, I turn 31 and we are leaving for the south to Bariloche. IŽm sure weŽll survive..... Take Care, Rob

... first thing you notice is the European influence on the city's architecture. Back at the hostel I joined a group of British, Aussies and Canadians who were buzzing as they returned from one of Argentina's infamous football matches - I put this straight on my to-do-list! We began the weekend celebrations in our hostel bar before heading out (at 1am! everything happens so much later in BA) to 'Pacha Club'. My first night in BA was great fun ...

... to find change for the bus ride back to Mendoza city on the first day, we decided to buy a bus swipe card the next day which would overcome our problems of coin change and give us more 'wine time'. The theory behind our decision to rent a bike on the second day was to allow us maximum time to fit in as many winefarms as possible. Ironically, the bike we rented from the recommended company broke down after three winefarms and meant we had to walk over an hour back with a ...

... addition to drinking, we were given tours of the vine yards, wine museums, and given tips on how to taste the wine properly - check the colour, viscosity, smell & taste of the wine. The vine yards were great and you normally paid a couple of quid and got to sample 3 different wines. After trips to 4 of the 12 vineyards I learnt that I liked dry white wines, learnt that Argentina makes excellent C******nay and ...

... and suspension was no existent so you felt EVERY bump! All in all about 15kms of riding but at a very leisurely pace mind you, esp after lots of wine tasting. We got to have lunch at the one and only organic winery and it was lovely. Basically ham and cheese sangas but whoŽd have thought they could be so tasty and exotic. I guess anything would seem exotic when you are eating it surrounded by vineyards and old ...

... city has very large leafy avenues and a wonderful park, a great place to stroll. There is also a bar strip that looks like something from a Greek or Spanish holiday resort, bars and restaurants spilling out into the streets on both sides for about 5 blocks. It doesn't get kicking until about midnight and on Saturday night we stayed out until nearly 5am and when we left it was still pumping. There seems to be a lot of young people ...

... donc la feuille nŽest plus a jour!).
In the afternoon we went for a tasting tour. We started with a small wine producer. We visited the vineyards and the rooms with the various machines to produce the wine. They prick the grapes around March, April (Southern hemisphere!). And all the production goes to the US. The owner also made a special wine for the wedding of his daughter but this one was not for tasting unfortunately. The other ...