Day 25 - Mendoza to Santiago de Chile

We wake very early on our last day in Mendoza to catch the first bus to Santiago. Packing our bags and happily saying goodbye to this hostel, we emerge into the dimly lit streets and head to the bus terminal. The streets are barren save a few early risers heading to work. After about a half hour walk – our big packs on our back – we reach the terminal, filled with bleary eyed travellers and, appropriately, coffee vendors.

The bus arrives and we grab our large, comfy seats. The ride from Mendoza to Santiago is a beautiful one, traipsing through the winding roads of the Argentinian Andes. Rising gently from lush green valleys into the snow-capped peaks, we reach the Argentina – Chile border, notorious for very, very slow service. We were fortunate it only took us an hour and a half, though the snow did start to surround us as we waited out the security checks. We were told the crossing often takes 6+ hours and we were indeed fortunate to cross at all, as the border was shut the day before due to heavy snow fall.

We make it through security with little difficulty and enjoy the ride as we pass now through the Chilean Andes, down into similar scenes – brown, desert like hills, then finally into lush green valleys.

Santiago is a very large city and like many large cities in South America, the outskirts are home to the ‘favela’-like houses, that is – homes made from scrap metal and other found objects, housing the poorest of the city. As we drive further in to Santiago we’re met with more development, high-rises and skyscrapers lining the streets. The bus terminal is in a very ‘local’ part of the city – and the apartment we’d rented was about an hour walk into the heart of downtown. We saddle up and begin our walk. The streets in this area are filled with street vendors and sellers of various bits and bobs, barbecued foods, and empanadas. As we walk through the vendors, we begin to become teary eyed. The air burned our lungs. Suddenly we’re concerned we booked a week’s stay in a heavily polluted city! Tears rolling down our cheeks, our lips burning – we walk faster to get away, if we could, from the mysterious noxious substance. It wasn’t until the following day that we learned there was a protest near the bus terminal that got out of hand and the police spread tear gas onto the populace. We just happened to be collateral damage!

As we wandered away from the invisible antagonist our eyes eventually became clear and our tongues stopped burning. A short, more enjoyable, walk later and we arrive into the ‘Bellas Artes’ area of downtown Santiago. This was much nicer. Cafes and restaurants littered the beautiful streets, surrounding parks, churches, and museums. Feeling relieved that this area had no poison air – we arrived to our apartment. A massive 20 story building standing firmly in the centre of the area, towering over the surrounding shops and bars. We hesitantly get into the elevator – dubious after our Rio free fall, and head to the 7^th floor. We arrive with no incidents (phew!) and open our door to find the apartment was a beautiful 3 bed mezzanine with more space than we possibly needed. Dropping our bags off, we head out the door and begin to explore our local area. We decide on an Indian restaurant for dinner – our first real non-South American food since we arrived – and it was amazing. Capping the night off with a local craft brew (Quimera Imperial Stout – very nice), we head to our room and call it a night.

Day 24 - Mendoza to the highest mountain in South America, Aconcagua

Day 4 in Mendoza – we arise early for a full day trip through the Argentinian side of the Andes. We board a bus (last) and discover we are once again the only English speakers...

 Our guide, a wizened old woman with a funny sense of humour, leads us through the valleys and mountains of the surrounding Andean range. We sat next to a lovely couple who offered us the traditional, social, drink of ‘mate’ (pronounced mah-tay), which is essentially a large clay pot of very strong tea. I’d been wanting to try it for ages, but as restaurants don’t sell it, you must wait for a local to offer it to you. Finally! It was nice and strong, like a pot of green tea that had been steeping for ages.

Anyway, our tour of the Andes was beautiful and the video below will do a far better job of describing the journey. Driving up the winding roads we see small grey, then tall white snow-capped peaks. We stop off at a famous bridge (San Martin crossed it?), view Condors flying gracefully thousands of metres high in the air, pass by an archaic iron-rich British owned mineral spa, drive by a ski resort (only just out of season), and finish in a small town high up in the mountains.

We grabbed a hot lunch, had a little explore of the snowy landscape, and then headed back to town.

All in all a very picturesque and worthwhile venture into the longest mountain range in the world.

Day 23 - Mendoza, Horse riding through the wine valleys

Our third day in Mendoza. At this point, we’re fed up of the hostel. Little flying ants would randomly appear here and there – the room would remain damp after using their tiny shower – and at one point I had to dispose of a cockroach. Blegh.

Anyway, day 3 brings us on our first excursion – a tour of the valleys surrounding Mendoza, by horse, finishing at a local vineyard. We are picked up by a well-spoken, well-travelled Argentinian named Carlos, who would be our guide for the day. We drive for maybe 40 minutes into the countryside and arrive at the Bodega.

Carlos shows us to the horses, beautiful large creatures, strapped with traditional Spanish riding saddles. We climb aboard our steeds and head out into the warm, beautiful valleys – trotting at a comfortable speed amongst the thorny cacti and craggy rocks. We ride for around 2 hours, just relaxing and taking in the beautiful views. We ride through, across, up, and down many winding trails, eventually finishing at a small vineyard (small being a few hundred thousand bottles a year). We have a short tour through the winery – having explanations of how they generate their various vintages – and end up in the cellar where we’re given three lovely wines to taste.

After getting sufficiently inebriated (not actually), we jump back on to our horses (Rach with a little less finesse than before) and head back to the Bodega. Awaiting us back in the home is an Argentinian asado, or barbeque, with of course, more wine. Having a lovely late lunch with Carlos – discussing the state of Argentina and various political agendas throughout South America, we call it a day and head back to Mendoza.

After having such a large lunch, we take it easy in the parks of Mendoza, enjoying the people watching, and eventually grab a small dinner and call it a night.

Day 22 - Mendoza, Free Walking Tour

Our first night in Mendoza was a peaceful one – that is, until the morning light poured through our tissue thin curtains. Waking early, we grab a bite at the paltry breakfast offering. Not the finest hostel thus far.

We begin our day by having another stroll through Mendoza – this time heading toward the newer end of town. Mendoza was much larger than we thought, and even after an hour of walking it seems like we barely touched the new town. After taking a quick peak into the local casino (mostly slots, not my style) we headed back into the old town.

We head toward a small plaza, where we meet up with a ‘Mendoza free walking tour’ guide. Just Rach, myself, and a Danish traveller were on the tour today. The guide took us around the many plazas and squares of the town – explaining the historical significance of this and that (much of what he articulated overlapped with the Buenos Aires tours, but it was still enjoyable). After about 2 hours (our shortest walking tour yet) – we still had itchy feet, so continued to explore Mendoza.

Eventually stumbling upon a beautiful restaurant laden street – we choose an upmarket establishment for a nice meal out. We ended up having the traditional Argentinian barbecue – which included various cuts of steak, liver, kidney, intestine, and even a testicle of some animal. It was… an experience. Fortunately – we had an excellent bottle of Mendoza’s finest to wash the various flavours down.

After the gargantuan meal we slowly crawl our way back to the hostel. Interestingly, in South America – dogs are omnipresent. Literally everywhere. Fortunately they are mostly clean(relative), and friendly and will follow you around happily just for a bit of attention. We were chaperoned back to our door by a beautiful black dog, who would even wait at road crossings for us. It was an endearing finish to a peaceful night.

Day 21 - Arriving from Buenos Aires to Mendoza

Our first experience travelling on an overnight bus wasn’t too bad. Slightly chilly, slightly cramped, slightly noisy – but overall not a bad experience. Fortunately these busses also have toilets so midnight pit stops were possible.

The bus arrives to a small town at around 6am, where we’re offered complementary medialunas (small, sweet croissants) and coffee. After about a half hour break we’re back on the bus for the last short jaunt to Mendoza.

The bus pulls into Mendoza terminal and it’s a manic grab for the bags (unless you tip the baggage handler – in which case you get your bag first). We get our packs and head straight to a bus operator office to buy our tickets into Santiago, Chile. This time we buy an early morning bus, as the Argentina – Chile border crossing is notoriously lethargic. After purchasing the tickets – we suit up and walk into Mendoza proper. 

During the 30 minute walk to our hostel ‘Wine Aparts’ – we notice a distinct lack of people. There was no one. Admittedly it was a Sunday, which means your life will be more difficult in South America – but Mendoza was literally a ghost town. Wandering through the beautiful, wide, tree covered streets of Mendoza we were immediately attracted to the serenity of the place. Finally arriving at the hostel we drop our bags off and head into town.

If you can picture a horror movie where an entire town’s population has mysteriously disappeared – this was it. We walked around the plazas and squares for an hour or so and came across maybe 5 people. Eventually, we stumble across where the majority of people seemed to have been hiding (in plain sight), at a protest. There was a new politician or something being inaugurated, so naturally people were happy/angry and were being vocal about it! 

At around late afternoon, restaurants and cafes began to open and Mendoza sprang into life. We stop at a warm patio restaurant and have a nice relaxed meal, of course with some famous Mendoza Malbec.

Finishing our meal, we were determined to find a tour operator that was also open – fortunately we found one and booked a trip into the Argentinian Andes later that week. Having completed our mission – and having literally nothing else to do in town – we head back to our hostel and call it a night!

Day 20 - Buenos Aires, Zoo - then night bus to Mendoza

Our last day in Buenos Aires. We have booked a 9 o’clock bus that travels overnight to the Argentinian town of Mendoza – about an 11 hour bus ride. In the meantime, we pack our bags, grab some breakfast and head out for our last wander through our favourite South American city thus far.

We immediately head to the bus station, about 40 minutes away – and attempt to store our bags in the lockers. Ridiculously, the locker system has no signage (Spanish or English) that we could find – and it was operated by unique bus coins (not cash) that, eventually after half an hour, we figured out we had to buy from an obscure candy vendor in the middle of the terminal… More inane South American inefficiencies…

Anyway, having already completed two brilliant walking tours of the city, we decided to do something different and visit the Buenos Aires Zoo! About an hours walk through neighbourhoods and parks we hadn’t visited before – it was a lovely morning, strolling through the glorious sunshine. Arriving at the zoo, we’re immediately faced with the reason why the venue got such mixed reviews online, firstly, it was expensive (about £10 each) – and it looked old. By old, I don’t mean antiquated, I mean dilapidated.

Upon entering the zoo we’re met with rusty bars, brown walls, and most unfortunate, small enclosures. It’s difficult to appreciate a zoo when the aim appears to be more on exploitation than preservation. Moral dilemmas aside, the zoo actually had a very wide range of animals, from all the usual reptiles, birds, small mammals – to the more exotic big cats (lions, tigers, and jaguars), elephants, giraffes, hippopotamuses, rhinos, condors, etc… All in all, it passed the time well – and it was still lovely seeing these beautiful creatures up close.

Exiting the zoo in the early afternoon, we wander back through the parks we’d passed earlier. Having a little play on the outdoor gyms (that are so prevalent in South America) – we pass even more time revelling in our final few hours. 

Arriving back at the bus terminal, we proceeded to our bus company. It’s important to note that in South America – there are hundreds of bus operators in the terminals offering their individual (and equal) services – rather than one central office selling tickets (which would be so much more efficient…). We show our bus cubicle man our ‘e-ticket’, however, in Buenos Aires (and potentially other terminals) they have print shops below all the tour operators – forcing you to pay more money to have a physical ticket. Having sorted the ‘real ticket’ out, we board our first overnight bus. We paid a few extra pounds for ‘cama’ service – which is essentially a wider, more reclining seat than the regular (semi-cama – which are also very comfortable). We snuggle into our cushy seats, wrap up in the included blanket – and take off into the night.