Park Vendimmia Suites Hotel Mendoza

... managed - we dont have that time as we fly to LA in a day or so. So a quick panic at the bus station, a refund of tickets, a dash to the airport and we have bought our flight ticket for this afternoon. Bit of a sod really as flights are not cheap (it was actually 100pounds cheaper to by a return ticket than one way! So if anyone out there needs a Santiago to Mendoza ticket for next week we have a couple spare...) but, hopefully, all´s well that ends well.

... and luckily they let us come in without a reservation. Instead of taking the tour, we just jumped right to the tasting and then decided since we would not have time to make it to any more wineries, we would just buy some bottle and bask in the beauty of the vineyard (and it was truly beautiful). It was our destiny to only make it to 2 wineries a day. Afterwards we came back to the hostel and fired up an amazing grill for a big barbeque with some friends from the ...

... I´d sooner go and buy a bottle of wine (extortionately priced at a whole 3 pounds) and drink it in the comfort of my hostel garden. It certainly beats cycling for hours up hill, spending 20 minutes ´tasting´ (sipping actually) a meagre serving of wine and then being hurded back onto the bikes to rush on to the next destination.

When the group half walked half limped back into the hostel with severe saddle-****, I knew I had made the right decision.....

L

... afternoon over coffee and it was really useful. I am just getting used to the fact that I will be back in the UK in 3 months from now and need to start think about finding and applying for jobs. I spent some time looking at the adverts but there was nothing of much interest. I´ll keep looking and hopefully get something lined up. MONDAY Today was another great day. The weather was sunny and we headed to the huge San Martin Parque and walked around the lake. It was nice ...

... bed-bug bites on his face, arms and hands. Although I managed to avoid the physical trauma of their bites; I have however been psychologically wounded and I scratch my non-existent bites when thinking of them. Nasty little critters those bed-bugs. Due to a drug-related incident earlier in the week, the border crossing during the bus ride from Mendoza to Santiago took over three hours and every bag on every bus was thoroughly searched. Arriving in the dark in Santiago ...

... pasta and walked up an amazing street full of bars and clubs and restaurants both sides of the street. Night life doesn't get started till about 12 and dinner isn't till at least 9 or ten. Hard to get used to eating late, but we manage;) We meet some lovely people at the hostel - some pommies, lots of south americans tripping round during their uni hols and two aussie blokes from Brisbane.... small small ...

... and southern hemisphere, Aconcagua, which stands at over 6,900 metres. Whilst it isn't a technically difficult climb it is a 12 day expedition, which of course I don't have time to do. We have met quite a few people that have climbed it though, 5 people have died in the past two weeks attempting it, including a Brit, an American and an Italian. One of the dead is still a few feet from the summit and can't be moved until the ...

... drink with people I meet! I really enjoyed my last day in Mendoza. It was nice to have some alone time (for the first time in a while) and be able to reflect on my recent travels. I also got to do my own thing without having to worry about someone else. I like traveling with other people. I have gotten to know many wonderful people on this trip. However, it is weird when I think about how I went away on a trip on my own and have hardly spent any time on my ...

... to either point, or to say "una mas" (one more!) if the guy in front of me chose well!

I don't think I can adequately describe the vastness of the restaurant, or the width of the variety on offer, it was just mind-boggling.

The impressive thing was that so much of it was cooked to order, so it was all hot which is really ...

... couple of glasses and I was beginning to be able to distinquish diferent wines and how they were made. For lunch it was another bottle of wine between two people and more meat. After lunch it was off to the last stop in the tour, more wine by this time it all tasted good. The minivan stopped at the lodge along the way back and all our goodbyes were said, it is like we had become lifelong friens, or maybe we were drunk, who knows. The lodge did not ...