Mendoza

Hola Gente Maravillosa!

Mendoaz was the final stop on our Argentinian leg of the trip and I had a cracking time here! After city hopping for the past three weeks it was nice to get to a smaller place where we could actually get out into the countryside. Not only did we go on a few day trips we had some cracking nights out in Mendoza, one of which let me sample the sights of an Argentinian A&E. Whoops.

We arrived blurry eyed and half asleep at 8am from an 18 hour night bus from Buenos Aires. Heading to our hostel we were preparing ourselves for a 4/5 hour wait before we could even check in. But oh no, we had somehow picked the best hostel in the world and were shown straight to our dorm and given a free brekkie. If you're staying in Mendoza I can't recommend Campo Base Youth Hostel highly enough! The staff were amazing as was the hostel itself. They have their own travel desk, so you can book any tour really easily and you get a discount if you book a few at the same time. They also arrange pizza parties and BBQ nights, which are all you can eat food, with free shots at other hostels around Mendoza. Not only is it great, cheap food, it's also great for socializing and having a cracking night! If you hadn't already guessed, I loved staying here... take me back?

I booked onto two of the tours on offer. Firstly we went on a sunset horse riding tour in the foothills of the Andes with a BBQ at the end of the trek. This all cost around £30 and lasted around 6 hours door to door. I have ridden horses for around 15 years, but the trek was completely suitable for people who hadn't ridden before. You could ride a bit quicker up front, or stay towards the back of the group and go at your own pace. The best thing about the horse trekking had to be the amazing views of the Andes, especially as the sun was setting. It was truly beautiful. As a veggie I wasn't expecting much from the BBQ, but it was amazing! There was steak (obviously) along with salad, potatoes, bread and roasted vegetables. I was also given an amazing omelet type thing as a meat substitute. There was also a bottomless supply of red wine. All in all, for £30 it was a cracking evening!

The second tour I went on was wine tasting. It's a must do when in Argentina really. This was a half day tour and also included a tour of an olive oil factory. I think the tour cost around £25 and included all transportation. Sadly, I was slightly (very) hungover on the day of the tour, so tasting red wine for 3 hours wasn't my idea of fun. The olive oil factory was cracking, as we got to sample loads of different types of oil and tapenade with crusty bread. Delish. We then went to two different wineries; a modern on and a more traditional one. As I'm not a massive red wine drinker the tour was pretty much wasted on me, but it was really interesting to see the whole process that is involved in wine making. 

Mendoza is a must visit when in Argentina. While it is a city, you don't feel like your're constantly trapped in the enormity of city living. The Andes are right on your doorstep and there are so many opportunities to get out and about to see more of Argentina than just another city.