Bikes and Wines

For those of you who may have missed my facebook status the other day this is what it said: Last full day in argentina! Thanks for the delicious steak, beautiful wine, and the gorgeous men! It's been a great 3 weeks. Which means I´m now in Chile!! Haven´t felt any aftershocks yet or seen any earthquake destruction either.

It was really sad to leave Argentina after spending 3 weeks there, but its always exciting to move on to a new place. We´ve had a great last week or so...


We arrived in Salta to the rain after just leaving the rain in Cordoba. After the nicest bus trip ever there (seriously, get on the bus, eat, sleep, wake up, eat, arrive) we ended up wandering the city trying to find our hostel since the map given out by them was terrible. The only way to be positive about walking an hour with 40 pounds on our backs would be to consider it training for the Inca Trail. We made the most of our time in Salta even in the rain since it continued the next day as well. Finally on our 3rd there we got out of the rain and took a day trip up to the Humahuaca Valley. Most amazing trip ever. We were driving in the clouds and suddenly they just broke and the sun started to shine and all the mountains were different colors. The picture is of me at the Seven Colored Mountain. There were cacti everywhere and I´ve never seen a real giant cactus in real life so I was obviously really excited! We spent the day enjoying the scenery and visiting little villages of the only ´true Argentines´ left. The tour was great too because it was only 4 people, the driver and the guide. In the afternoon the driver could tell we were dragging a little and offered us some cocoa leaves to chew. They help you stay awake and are meant to help with the altitude. It was not tasty, but not nasty either. And I stayed awake.

We left Salta ready for some great weather and we had some in the Mendoza wine country. Most importantly on the ride to Mendoza on the bus, we played BINGO! and Amanda won a free bottle of wine. We didn´t understand all the numbers, but I was right next to the guy calling them so I was sneak a look if we didn´t know what he just said. We had had some great wines in Argentina up to this point, but this ia the area where most of the vineyards and winerys are and a place that I have been looking forward to going since I booked this trip. We arrived and met up with Jo, a woman we had met in Cordoba, showered and couldn´t wait to get out to Maipu where many of the winerys are.


Maipu was fantastic! Most of the backpackers do a tour called ¨Bikes and Wines¨ and that´s literally what it is. We rented our bikes, got a map and took off to visit the local hot spots. First stop was an olive oil place that also offered a shot of absinthe. My insides have never burned so much, yuck! We also visited the wine museum to make sure we were getting some local culture as well. Not really, they just had a free tasting, but it was cool so see some of the old equipment. We rode a while down the road and then made the best decison of our lives, to eat lunch at one of the vineyards. I had the most delicious steak ever with carmelized onions and bleu cheese, mouth heaven. I wish I would have taken a picture of it so everyone who read this would be jealous of it! The restaurant overlooked the grape fields as well and it was just a great afternoon enjoyed amazingly delicious food and a bottle of wine in the sun.

We spend the next day wandering the city of Mendoza. There are many different plazas and squares in the city and then we wandering around this giant park that is there too. Kind of a lazy day, but definitely necessary after the wine the previous day. That night we met a friend of a friend that is part of a consortium of vineyards in Mendoza and they have a local tasting room which was right by the hostel. We went over there and met her and enjoyed a glass of wine. It always nice to be put touch with people who know someone that you know or another American since it helps with the homesickness which always arises at some point.


Our last day in Mendoza we had wanted to go out to another area of winerys and do a bike tour there, but we were informed the area was under construction and unable to ride bikes there. And really we wanted to ride bikes. So we went back to Maipu since we hadn´t made it to all the winerys out there. Really awesome day again! We rode further out and could see the mountains that surround Mendoza. We went to one really small winery that many don´t make it out too and had our own private tasting. The woman that worked there also told us about a beer patio that locals go to if we didn´t want anymore wine. We had lunch at the same place that we ate at the other day because the food was so good and it was our last day in Argentina and wanted to treat ourselves. This time I went for the chicken and brie with pesto. Yum! At that point we were done with the wine and went over to the beer patio and enjoyed a beer.


The next morning we boarded our bus to cross the Andes into Chile. The border crossing was a little scary. We all had to get off the bus and watch our bags go through a scanner and then we all had our carryons on a long table that a dog went back and forth in front of. I was nervous I wouldn´t make it across the border with my beef jerky in my bag, but I think the dog was looking for drugs and not meat.

We arrived in Valpariso, Chile and immediately were in love. The city sits on several hills overlooking the ocean. All the houses are painted bright colors and it has a real bohemian feel to the city. The hills are really steep too and there are 100 year old elevators that you can take up and down the hills. We wandered the city that afternoon and had a really great meal at a vegetarian place. We had spoiled ourselves here and upgraded to a double room. Best decision ever! Two single beds and couch. High ceiling and very cutesy decor. So glad we went there too because the breakfast was the best ever! Homemade rolls and jelly, scrambled eggs and a huge platter of fresh cut up fruit. I was happy to eat everything in sight! We visited Pablo Neruda´s home there and really just spent most of our time walking the hills, taking the elevators and enjoying the views and the graffiti murals.

Sadly, we had to leave and arrived in Santiago yesterday. On the bus here I didn´t even know we had entered the city because there are no highrises or anything. We walked around the downtown area and its nice but I´m glad we aren´t spending too much time here. Amanda is at the airport now picking up her friend Sarah that will be joining us for the remainder of our adventure! We have to run up the rest of Chile and across Bolivia into Peru for the Inca Trail by the 25th of this month so we have some busy days ahead of us!