MMMMM...Mendoza!!!

David, Sebastiaan and I continued the journey and boarded the LONG 18 hour night bus from Bariloche to Mendoza, the land of milk, honey and indulgence. Not to worry, the bus ride included a hilarious game of Spanish BINGO, barely edible food and some of the finest dubbed movies!

We came to Mendoza to take in the gorgeous scenery and sample some of the worlds finest Malbecs. Mendoza is the largest producer of wine in Argentina (and Argentina is the fourth largest exporter of wine in the world next to France, Italy and USA). There are some amazing wines to be experienced so after a day of wandering Mendoza groggy eyed after the long bus ride we took to the streets of Maipu to do a bike tour of the wine region. The biking was a flop with broken bikes, crazy roads, crazier drivers, long distances and a shady bike company, BUT the wine was great. We most enjoyed the French owned Carinae bodega (vineyard). It's named after a solar consolation that is only visible during the wine harvest in Maipu. The sampling is always the highlight but the tours were interesting and I learnt a lot about wine making. I now understand why wine costs so much (it costs over 700 euros for one oak barrel to make the wine in)!

Mendoza is not only about wine, it is home to Cerro Aconcagua is the highest mountain (6962 meters high!) in the Americas and the highest mountain outside Asia. We were able to bask at its glory on a day trip to the area. The tour also stopped at a monument on the Chile/Argentina border at 4200 meters above sea level. Although we were short of breath the view was unbelievable.

David and I headed back to Maipu for one more day of wine sampling minus the bikes! We toured three wineries including one organic one. The lunch was out of this world and with unlimited malbec wine we enjoyed it more and more as the time passed. What a lovely day to learn about wine making and sample some of the finest the area has to offer.

To quote a friend what makes a travel destination really great is not the destination itself but ones company. I have to say that I have had more than a blast travelling with David, Sebastiaan and Monica. We laughed until we cried, were able to poke endless fun at each other (with highly sarcastic tones) and enjoyed seeing some amazing Argentinian sights together. Some of my favorite memories of Mendoza were sitting under the sun and people watching, chatting with the crew and enjoying a glass of wine or a submarino (hot chocolate). I'm off on another never ending 20 hour bus journey to Salta!