Santiago Hotels
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Salta, Mendoza, Bikes and Wines.
Entry 13 of 17 | show all | print this entry |
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Hola otra vez, mis amigos y amigas!!
I´m now back in Santiago, Chile after a bit of a whistle-stop tour of Northern Argentina. All is good and a little too much vino has been sunk. This will be my last entry before I start my conservation work in the Galapagos on Monday. I can´t wait to get stuck in to be honest and am really hoping that I am able to carry out some marine conservation as well as the work with the giant tortoise.
First overland South American border crossing
So, I headed from San Pedro de Atacama in Chile to Salta in Argentina and was treated to some absolutely amazing countryside. The terrain was constantly changing with the richest of colours being contrasted. From sand and sky to mountainous peaks, to oases, to salt flats and salt lakes. From the driest, hottest and most barren to the coldest and wettest.
We approached the Chilean border and everyone had to get off and go through immigration and passport control. Apart from it being a lengthly process it went without a hitch and within an our or so we were on our way again. The Argentine border was a similar story except there were sniffer dogs and the atmosphere was a little more tense. Again, within an hour or so we were back on the bus and on our way. Now the odd thing about South America so far is that they either can´t get enough of cheese and ham or they think we can´t get enough of cheese and ham. Every single sandwich or roll that we´re ever given is Jamon y Queso! On this particular journey we ate 4 ham and cheese meals. It was crazy. Food is food I guess but please, mix it up a bit. Maybe some beef and mustard or cheese and pickle. It´s kind of ironic in that when I was in Asia I was craving cheese....
Salta and the Simpsons
We arrived in Salta to some pretty bad weather so we decided to stay just 2 days before making the mammoth 18hr journey to Mendoza. On the 2nd night in Salta we joined everyone else and had a BBQ. The food was fantastic and the Malbec went down a treat. We met loads of fellow travelers and headed off to a late-night bar called Barney Gomez, a place with a Simpsons theme, cheap mojitos, foosball and good music. I almost got into a fight with this stupid Australian guy with a insecurity complex (I swung my pool cue in his direction to signal his turn and even though we'd been chatting earlier on in the evening, he decided that I made him look stupid in front of everyone - weirdo) but apart from that it was a great night and was probably the first time we're partied since Asia. We definitely needed it!
The next day we headed into Salta proper to see the sights with Nikki, Gaby and Sofi, three girls we'd met the night before. It was a great day and the sun shone in Salta! Later that day we said our goodbyes to the 3 of them and some lads from London and got on the night-bus in our first class seats....
1st class, 18hr Bus jouney, Argentine farmer road-blocks and wet baggage
We jumped on the bus at around 6pm and as this was to be the longest bus journey of our lives to date, we opted for 1st class. This consists of a completely flat bed, or coche cama as they call it, hot meals, champagne and wine. The journey was actually great as again we got to see some pretty good scenery as well as the rioting Argentine farmers (who held us up on 3 occasions). They are basically disrupting traffic in the countryside as much as poss as the Argentine Government has just imposed some pretty high taxes on them. Apart from burning tyres by the road and waving flags and looking menacing, they allowed us through without too much of a delay.
I slept pretty well considering we were on a bus and we arrived into Mendoza around an hour or so late, unfortunately to wet luggage! Somehow my bag had either been soaked by the air conditioning or from water penetrating the wheel arches and into the luggage hold. We arrived at the hostal (a place the girls in Salta had recommended due to the crazy host and the free Malbec) and unpacked to find that pretty much all of my clothes and quite a few other items were soaked (including my ₤200 Nikon 1.4 prime that Caroline bought me for my birthday - I haven't dared test if it still works yet....). Bastards! I've had to wash everything in my bag and dry everything else out.
We pulled off a pretty ugly maneuver yesterday in fact in that we handed over all of our washing to a Launderette that isn´t open today, instead trusting them to deliver it all to our hotel at 1pm today. It's now 15 mins past and I hope to return to my hotel soon and find it there. If it's not there, we're a little bit screwed as we fly early tomorrow morning.....
Drinking Games, Odd hosts and Bikes and Wines.
We kick started the day in Mendoza by being bought into the hostel-fold with a few drinking games, courtesy of a few lads from London. The place had a great mix of extremely funny Swedish guys, these lads from London and a few others. It really was a case of if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. The first game was horse racing and we all got a little messed up on this. You basically choose who you want to drink based on who wins. The second game was known, in as many words, as kill the dealer. This game was evil, and due to me helping a few people out along the way, ended in me being the one holding the cards at the end. We went out to a few bars and headed back to the hostel around 2am. All in all it was a great laugh and I ended up playing poker with the Swedes and London lot until gone 6am. Steve on the other hand was delivered back to the hostel at 2.30am and me and one of the Swedes put him to bed. When I went to the room around 4hrs later, I was greeted by a snoring Steve lying on his bed next to a nice pile of sick he'd deposited at some point on the floor.... nice!
The owner of the hostal was kinda weird too and he was addicted to party poker and porn. A few of the guys had noted him having a small window open on his PC playing back porn whilst he pretended to work.
I woke at 10am, 4 hours later, to knocking from this Israeli guy we´d met in the bus station and since referred the hostel to as well as a wine and bike tour of Mendoza. That's the funny thing about traveling. You meet someone in a bus station, help him out with his Spanish, tell him of a good hostel near by and then you end up getting hammered with him that evening and then biking around Mendoza the following day tasting fine wines....
The wine and bike tour was great. Steve sat it out as he was feeling a little fragile but as this was my first, and maybe, last time in Mendoza, I couldn´t possibly be there and not visit a winery! The deal is that this guy comes to meet you at the hostel and then takes you by bus to a place in the countryside where you pick up bikes. He then escorts you around 2 wineries and a chocolate/absinthe/crazy potion type place and then sticks you on a bus back to Mendoza Central later that day. No matter how bad my hangover was I loved being back on a bike again. It was no diamond back but it was still a bike! Erez and I bombed around from winery to winery. Great fun.
Back to Santiago
The next day we boarded a bus back to Santiago to get our connecting flights to Guayaquil and onto the Galapagos. The border crossing was a little more strict with sniffer dogs sniffing us and all our luggage as well as an x-ray machine for our main bags. It made me glad to have been padlocking my pack as you never know if someone's going to plant stuff on you....
Although Santiago isn´t the best city in the world it was still nice to be back in familiar surroundings and be able to do some last minute shopping for kit.
I guess from the tone of my last blog I must have sounded pretty down, as so many people emailed me and sent me facebook messages. I can assure you all that I am absolutely fine, apart from a sore throat and ear infection and I can´t wait for the Galapagos! Just to have a routine for a month will be great, as well as having somewhere to call my home for longer than 1 week! The family only speaks Spanish too so it's a fantastic opportunity to refine my Espanol!
Chau for now! I found out we have internet just 5 mins walk from my host family so I'll send my next installment from Isabella.
Stay well everyone and keep messaging etc!
Mike, get planning your route and what else you want to do when you come out for the Inca trail
Gav, let me know if you want to do Bolivia or Brazil!
Kimbo, well done on the new job and let me know what month you fancy coming out to join me!
Carlos, Bry, same goes. It´ll be great if you can get this sorted and join us for 2 weeks!
Photos here!
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| 13. | Salta, Mendoza, Bikes and Wines. - Santiago, Chile Apr 04, 2008 |
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