To the east of Santiago the Andes rise quickly to the Argentinian border. On the other side is one of Argentina's most beautiful cities, Mendoza. We chose to take the bus rather than fly, not only because it's cheaper but it offers one of the most picturesque 8-hour journeys you can take in South America. We even spent an extra $5 each to get first class seats on the bus, ensuring we both got a great view of the snow capped mountains. Unfortunately we suspect that was the last time we'll travel first class internationally for a while.
Argentina generally, and Mendoza in particular, has a reputation for having plenty of steak restaurants, and after a few months in countries largely lacking that culinary focus (and after a long bus ride) we were desperate to get stuck into the biggest and reddest steak possible. We spent almost an hour looking for a suitable option but the only place open was a McDonalds-style fast food restaurant. When we returned to our hotel at 7pm the receptionist had a little chuckle before explaining that in Argentina most people eat between 10 and 11pm and restaurants won't even open until 8 or 8:30. That night, and most other nights in Argentina, we had a delicious steak meal at 8:30. Invariably our fellow diners were either fellow travelers or locals of significantly advanced years.
Argentina generally, and Mendoza in particular, has a reputation for having plenty of steak restaurants, and after a few months in countries largely lacking that culinary focus (and after a long bus ride) we were desperate to get stuck into the biggest and reddest steak possible. We spent almost an hour looking for a suitable option but the only place open was a McDonalds-style fast food restaurant. When we returned to our hotel at 7pm the receptionist had a little chuckle before explaining that in Argentina most people eat between 10 and 11pm and restaurants won't even open until 8 or 8:30. That night, and most other nights in Argentina, we had a delicious steak meal at 8:30. Invariably our fellow diners were either fellow travelers or locals of significantly advanced years.
Argentina has also developed a strong reputation as a wine producing country, and three quarters of the stuff comes from the Mendoza region. To take full advantage, we spent two of our three days in Mendoza on wine tasting tours. With the exception of one winery that produced very sweet wines (not our favorite style), we found that the quality of the wine, particularly the red was generally very good.
We found it hard to believe based on our experience (we managed to get three of the thirty cloudy/rainy days Mendoza gets in a whole year) but the city sits in the middle of a desert. As a result it features a huge and complex irrigation system and winemakers prefer to plant grapes that don't need a lot of water. One of these, Malbec, is the signature wine of the region. Although it's by no means bold (certainly by Australian standards), the better Malbecs we tasted had plenty of depth and character.
We found it hard to believe based on our experience (we managed to get three of the thirty cloudy/rainy days Mendoza gets in a whole year) but the city sits in the middle of a desert. As a result it features a huge and complex irrigation system and winemakers prefer to plant grapes that don't need a lot of water. One of these, Malbec, is the signature wine of the region. Although it's by no means bold (certainly by Australian standards), the better Malbecs we tasted had plenty of depth and character.
On our last day in Mendoza we went for a leisurely 2-hour horse ride around some lower hills and vineyards out of town. Toward the end of the ride we got our first glimpse of the spectacular surrounding snow capped mountains (some almost 6000 meters high) that we're told are clearly visible most days of the year. At night we sat around a campfire, enjoying a meaty Argentinian barbecue and plenty of Malbec.
What would otherwise have been a budget-blowing few days for us came in right on budget (despite many indulgences) courtesy of a currency exchange system that we still found baffling despite getting a heads up from fellow backpackers and coming prepared. The official exchange rate was eight pesos to one dollar, but a couple of years ago it was four to one. As a result locals have lost faith in their own currency and prefer to hold dollars (although government regulations make that difficult). The outcome for us was walking into an exchange house in Mendoza, taking note of a sign saying they'll offer 7.8 pesos to a dollar and having the guy behind the counter offer us 11.4. If official looking exchanges offering attractive rates like this are hard to find, as was the case in Buenos Aires, there are plenty of street vendors happy to pay a premium for dollars. Speaking of Buenos Aires, the Argentinian capital was our next stop - we'll have plenty to say about our favorite city in South America in our next post.
