So Another week or so has passed. We arrived in Bariloche in the Lake District to find our campsite closed (like most in the cocking guide book) but found a nice central hostel for 2 nights and got to grips with the town. It is set, suprisingly, on a lake and has the ambience of a European ski resort, complete with fondue restaurants and St Bernards to pose next to.
We managed to find a campsite in the national park 45 minutes south again, predictably, next to a lake. Here we found epic camping pitches #3 and #4. The place had so many good spots we had to try two.
Here, having now got the hang of camping, we went parilla crazy, as it was only a 4km round trip to a pretty decent supermarket.
The lake setting was stunning and the surrounding mountains made for some nice hikking.
The weather here is much warmer than southern Patagonia, but on our last day camping it rained continuosly all day so we packed up and went back to town for a night in the hostel before heading to Mendoza.
I had been really looking forward to doing a cycle tour of the vinyards in Maipu, on the outskirts of Mendoza (apperently so had every other tourist in South America the day we were there) which we did on the first day. This turned out to be rubbish. The vinyards are not as old or as interesting as those in Europe and set along a busy industrial road (the cycle route), the tours are cliched and uninteresting, and tastings actually cost money. We met some Americans from California who assured us that it is much better there, so something to look forward to.
That all being said, they do make some excellent wines here, especially the Malbec. Nikki and I got stuck in appropriatley. That night we had dinner in the hostel and got chatting to some Argentinians, Jose, Carlos and Santiago. They are awesome. They are from Cordoba, where we are now and have been excellent hosts. More of that later.
Were it not for what I am about to recount here our stay in Mendoza was fairly non descript. However, as you may have worked out by now, my biggest terror in life are spiders. My second? Heights. this is why I found it very strange being here:
Our hostel owner, Mario is also a paragliding instructor. Here he is with Nikki.
Also, here is a link so you can see Nikki in action. Watch her legs after take off. When he said dont stop running i dont think that is what he meant….
Nikki YouTube Link
Mario is the most charming Hostel owner/paraglide pilot/drinking partner you could hope to meet. His place, Hostel A, is awesome. I highly recomend it to anyone visiting Mendoza.
We are, as I mentioned before, currently in Cordoba, Argentina’s second city. Jose and Carlos took us out for dinner the other night at the typically Argentinian time of 11:30, followed by a 3:00am sight seeing tour of the city (all on a school night, they had to be in the office the next day at 8:00am).
Cordoba is a great city, with amazing architecture dating back to the Christian Missions of the 15th and 16th centuries.
We have one more night here then it is onto Salta, then Northern Chile where we hope to update you again. Until then, Be Prepared!
Before I go, back by popular demand, a quick update of “New Stuff I Like”
16) Milka Paradise. take 3 oversized Oreo cookies. Sandwich between them chocalate cream. Dip the whole thing in Milka Chocolate. Paradise.
17) Melonzita. Not sure whether Jose Carols and Santiago invented this one themselves, cant seem to find any reference online for it anyway. Take one Melon. Remove seeds. Fill with booze. Insert straw. Drink.
