Wine and meat

Right, well lots to report since last post. I have been sick so I have not written in a bit. Finally I am geting better so here goes (posting sick makes for whiny posts and no one wants whiny posts...). Tour to Cachi made for a very long day. Like 13 hours long- mostly in the van. But the people I was with (all native Spanish speakers- I think the universe is contriving to make me practice and, for the most part, that is good) were great so it made for a good day. The highlight was the national park toward the end of the trip, but we were all kind of tired so it was a bit anticlimatic. But lovely all the same- desert, colors, rock formations. I went to dinner with a couple of Dutch girls from my hostel, which was fun, and called it a night. The next morning, I rented the world´s second worst bike (second to the one I rented in NE Cambodia) and headed off to tour some wineries near Cafayate. The bike was so bad that I stuck to wineries within 2 km of town, but I did get to try some nice Torrontes (dry, sweet smelling white that I definitely recommend for summer). In the afternoon I went for a tour of the quebrada (canyon) nearby. There was more driving and less hiking than I hoped for but the colors in the canyon (red, yellow, green) were spectacular. The rock formations were pretty terrific as well, and we got to climb and scramble up them, which is always fun. Plus, we got a private concert in a natural ampitheater so yeah, no real complaints. What I will complain about is the 6 AM bus I had to take to Tucuman the next morning. 6 AM buses should be outlawed! And, after 5 hours in the bus station, I got to take a 13 hour bus ride to San Juan. Not so fun. San Juan was a nice little town but this is the off season for Argentina (which I totally don´t understand since it is high season in Bolivia right next door) so there were no other travelers there. I spent one day wandering around and checking out the town and then moved on to Mendoza.

Mendoza. Everyone has heard the hype and it is pretty well justified. This is the heart of Argentina wine country where 70% of the wines come from. You also have the Andes in the distance which makes for great scenery and, I hear, good hiking (but expensive hiking...). My first day in Mendoza I walked around (that´s kind of how I roll) and checked out the huge park in the center of the city (built to help with the aridity of the city). I had a nice communal dinner with some people in the hostel and crashed early to get ready for my bike ride to wineries outside of touwn the following day. What a comedy of errors. I started by taking the wrong bus which didn´t go anywhere near the bike rental place. I did not have change for another bus and where I was they did not sell bus cards (buses in this area do not accept bills or give change). Luckily I was near a winery on the biking route so I ended up walking the winery tour (none of the wineries had change either. Argentinian change is an interesting story- apparently they do not mint enough and bus companies make a profit selling it back to the government). I met a nice Irish couple (with bikes) who waited for me a lot that day so I had good company on my tour. I hit three wineries with them. The best was the third which only did wine by the glass (but was a much better bargain than paying for tastes at the others) and also had a nice outdoor BBQ with live music. We spent quite awhile there. The second winery was really cool as well. It is the oldest winery in South America to offer tours and as part of the tour you get to walk into an old aging container and down through a small maze made of other old aging containers. The first winery was a bit of a rip off. After the third winery I split off from the couple to head toward town where I could actually get change or a bus card to get back to Mendoza. There was one more winery on the way. As I was walking there, I was hailed by a police officer who was stopped to buy snacks at a local kiosk. He asked me where I was going, if I was alone, and if I was a tourist (duh). Apparently the area I was in was "unsafe" for me to walk alone (Mendoza area locals are notorious for being overprotective of travellers). So he did the obvious- loaded me into the back of the police van and drove me to the last winery. Yes, I got to ride like a common criminal to the door of the last winery where I was politely let out to do the tour. Priceless! You should have seen the looks on the faces of my fellow wine tasters! Honestly, that was a highlight of the day :). I made it back to Mendoza without incident and had a great story for my fellow hostelers.

I decided to have a chill day in Mendoza the following day which was really just that and headed off on Monday to San Luis. Oh but I must note that I have been eating quite a lot of the wonderful Argentinian beef since I have been here (went for the paradilla (BBQ) lunch special on my chill day) and it really is quite nice. San Luis was a nice town but like San Juan, there wasn´t much going on for the traveller (many tours do not run in the off season so getting to nearby parks is not possible solo and sans auto). Luckily here an Australian woman arrived the same day so we had a fun night out on the bar strip. Tuesday morning I got up early on little sleep to catch the 7 AM bus to Cordoba only to find out that, for some unknown reason, San Luis is an hour behind the rest of Argentina. So I really woke up at 4:45 AM, not 5:45 AM. Keep in mind that Mendoza is farther West than San Luis, but it is the same time zone as the rest of the country... yes, still bitter. To make my morning worse, it turned out that the hostel staff (there was no one in the hostel but myself and the Aussue girl and she was always with me) ate my sandwiches I had made for my 7 hour bus ride. Not happy. Ah well, travel woes...

Cordoba. I quite liked the city of Cordoba. Once again, no other travelers in the hostel, but it did have some locals so once again I got to practice my Spanish and I met some very interesting Argentine characters (a couple of older men with very different political views, a street performer, and a music professor with an amazing voice to name a few). Day one once again spent wandering the town. Day two I headed to Villa Carlos Paz- the Vegas of Argentina. I didn´t gamble (sorry Dad, much more fun with you there) but I did walk around the lake and then hike up the hill in the center of town to the large cross. That hike kicked my butt. It was hot and steep, but man, I am getting way out of shape (nothing to do with the wine and steak, of course). From Cordoba I decided to head to Paraná. After my hellish bus trip from Cafayate to Mendoza, I decided to do shorter bus trips to more places. Paraná is a nice lil town on the Paraná river. It isacross from the bigger and more well known Santa Fe. My cold was in full form here so I decided to splurge on a private room with bathroom and TV to recover in. Unfortunately my splurge room had bugs in the bathroom and uncomfortable beds (the TV was a nice change though) so I moved to the (empty, of course) new youth hostel the next morning. Walked along the river front and read a lot in Paraná and this morning I came to Rosario.

I was torn between skipping Rosario and heading directly to Buenos Aires and spending a night here. I am so glad I decided to come. Hostel is empty as usual, but I love this town! The flag monument is amazing! And I had a great day walking through the riverfront parks and watching the locals as they hung out and did kite boarding and Brazillain martial art demonstrations. I am going to stay another day and head to the river beaches tomorrow to try and get a little color before I head back to the US briefly for Tom´s wedding (love frequent flyer miles- a shame that I have no more :)). When I get back to Argentina, my parents join me for some time in Buenos Aires and a trip up to the legendary falls at Iguazu. To say I am excited is a gross understatement!!

Sorry about the length. Hopefully some people still actually read this. I´m still alive, well (cold notwithstanding) and loving this trip. More soon.