Week 36 - Argentina - Mendoza to Bariloche

We set the alarm for 7.30 am on Monday so that we could be ready by 9.00 am for our day trip to the Hotel & Spa Termas Cacheuta. The minibus was the standard half an hour late (this must be some kind of rule in South America). To our delight we were the youngest people on the bus – this was a pleasant change because in most of the hostels we've been the oldest!! It was an hour's drive to the spa and off the flat plain into the foothills of the Andes.

The spa complex was just a simple wooden building but behind the complex was a series of open-air thermal pools overlooking the Rio Mendoza and with the Pre-Cordillera mountains providing a stunning backdrop. There was also an underground sauna (which we forgot to visit), pressure showers and best of all the medicinal mud. We smeared ourselves in terracotta coloured medicinal mud, and then sat outside on a deck to wait for it to dry off. Then we headed inside to the pressure showers and had it all blown off. Then we roamed between the pools which varied from 18°C to 36°C in temperature. The pools looked really natural as they were made with rocks and surrounded by flowers and cactuses. There was a wonderful buffet for lunch – various cuts of grilled meat and a wide selection of salads and vegetables. We had lovely stewed fruit for dessert with leche flan and a couple of dulce de leche (caramelised condensed milk) based desserts before heading back to the thermal pools for the afternoon. Keith went for a walk checking out the river, the water was freezing but there were large fish in the water. There was a suspension bridge with bits of plank missing which made it more exciting. The large pools of water were beautiful blue green clear cold. We spent most of the time chatting to a couple of UK doctors who were holidaying before starting a one year contract in New Zealand.

After breakfast on Tuesday, we headed off with Mike, Sara, Sean and Dave from New Zealand to the first winery. We drove out of Mendoza through the suburbs until we reached the Hacienda Del Plata vineyard which was surrounded by a big wall. Mike had to buzz the intercom to be let in and as the gates opened we saw a long driveway with vineyards on either side. We were welcomed effusively by Bacco (a very friendly boxer dog) and Paolo. Paolo told us about the vines, the irrigation (channel versus drip), American versus French methods of vine growth, the pruning, grafting, reproduction by placing stems under the ground and the predominance of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon grape types in Mendoza. We went from the vines outside to the tanks and barrels inside with Paolo's son Jaun. Juan had worked in France, USA and Barossa Valley. We tasted Shiraz, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon from the last couple of years and then finished at a table outside for their icon Malbec Reserve with bread, cheese and salami.

Next we drove to Bodega Ruca Malen for five course degustation lunch. Each course was paired with a wine from the winery. We ate lunch at a big table looking out at the spectacular views over the green vines to the snow capped Andes in the background. On the way to the final winery Kaiken, Suzie was struggling to stay awake. Kaiken was a very professional winery run by a successful Chilean group. Our hosts Lucia and Alejandro told us about the Villa Montes method of making wines from purchased grapes until the best grapes were identified and then an investment in those vineyards could be made, guaranteeing top quality wine production. We finished with a tasting of their rose, malbec and cabernet sauvignon. We all contributed towards a bottle of their Ultra Cabernet Sauvignon to enjoy back at the hostel. Back in Mendoza we went into the common area and drank the Ultra Cabernet Sauvignon together with Dave, Sean and Sara while enjoying a lively chat with some of the other travellers.

We had another early start on Wednesday morning and headed off with Ginny from London after breakfast on our day trip to the Alta Montanas (High Montains) and Aconcagua – the biggest mountain in South America. We drove into the first range of dusky brown Pre-Cordillera mountains and stopped at a massive blue water dam powering a hydro electric scheme. We passed a spa resort similar to Termas de Cacheuta where we had spent Monday and then continued on the main Route 7 highway from Argentina to Chile overtaking many trucks. The highway followed an ancient route through the mountains used by the Incas and at one point the ruins of Inca houses made of stone lay between the road and the river. The river had carved a path through the mountains and beside us also ran an old railway line with bridges and tunnels all gradually subsiding back into the desert. The landscape was pretty barren except for occasional trees and shrubs along the river including the jarilla shrub, useful as firewood. There were many different colours in the rocks of the mountains ranging from gypsum greys, copper greens, ferrous reds, lilac porphyry, black lava and sulphurous yellows. We stopped briefly at the small village of Potrerillos lined with poplar trees in the only green valley we came through. We stopped at a viewpoint of snow capped Cerro de la Plata, an extinct volcano. We left the highway and travelled a short distance on the old road to scenic Puente Historico de Picheuta with a willow tree and a stone bridge over a stream. General San Martin's army camped here on their way to liberate Chile and Argentina from the Spanish in the 1800s. Next was Los Penitentes ski resort named after pinnacles of rock looking like monks with their heads bowed. Lastly was the Aconcuaga National Park with views of the mountain and a sobering cemetery of dead climbers. We stopped for lunch of hot chocolate and toasted sandwiches at Las Cuevas just before the highway goes through a tunnel under the mountain into Chile. On the way back we stopped at Puente del Inca where a sulphurous thermal spring ran under a natural bridge next to the site of a ruined hotel, crushed by a flood in the 1940s. There were some handicraft markets but the quality of most of the goods was poor. Back in Mendoza we bought our bus tickets to Bariloche for tomorrow night and a couple of delicious empanadas to tide us over until dinner cooked by Celeste's (the owner) mum.

At about 9.30 pm Celeste turned up with a car full of food from her mother and we helped to set up the chairs and dish out the food. The pasta was delicious - it was handmade and came with lovely meatballs and really melt-in-your-mouth slow-cooked beef. We had a really fantastic night enjoying the food, wine and socialising and we didn't go to bed until 2.00 am.

We enjoyed a lovely sleep on Thursday morning and checked out of the hostel after breakfast. We spent some time in the lobby catching up on our emails and then went out to spend our last day in Mendoza walking around town. We walked towards the Parque San Martin which contained the zoo, a lake, tennis courts, golf course, a hill, the Cerro del Gloria, with a monument to the Andes army of General San Martin, a soccer stadium and numerous tree lined avenues with fountains. We walked through town past the Plazaletta Italia to the park. We walked around the parklands which required a map to follow all the roads and eventually climbed the hill. The walking and the water we drank cleared our heads foggy from the red wine the night before. We walked out past white horses of Carrara marble and the wrought iron front gates made in Glasgow with Andean condor over the top. We walked down Avenida Emil Civit and found somewhere open to eat lunch at 5.00 pm. After lunch we walked to the pretty Plazalettas Chile and Espana. We went back to the hostel for a rest for an hour before we walked to the bus station (with Holly from the UK) tired but happy that we had had a great time in Mendoza.

On Friday morning, the bus attendant woke us up early with the usual selection of sweet biscuits on a polystyrene tray and a cup of tea. We looked out the window at the endless flat green scrub and then managed to go back to sleep for a couple of hours. When we woke up we were driving through beautiful scenery of rocky mesa outcrops, long lakes and flat plains of scrub. As we got closer to Bariloche, the scenery started to change and began to look alpine in appearance. There were glassy looking lakes surrounded by mountain slopes of pine trees with snow capped mountains in the background. The mountains close to us had enormous chunks of rock sticking out of them of all sizes and shapes. There were fantastic shapes and some perilously perched. When we arrived at Bariloche bus station, we noticed a definite drop in the temperature. We booked our bus to Puerto Madryn and then caught a bus into town. We checked out a couple of hostels before settling on a room at Periko's Hostel. We went to the supermarket to buy a snack of roast chicken and cherry tomatoes and some bread, cheese, salami and tomato for our day trip tomorrow. We chatted to a couple of English girls back at the hostel before heading off to Dias de Zapata Mexican restaurant. After dinner we had a chocolate and passionfruit ice cream at Helados Jauja and then went for a brief walk to the lake, past all the chocolate shops (which were still open even though it was late) and up through the main square with its graffiti spattered monument to the Spanish general who won the war in the desert.

After breakfast we caught a local bus which wound around the huge lake with spectacular views of distant snow capped mountains over the water and forested slopes nearby. After about 17 kms we got off at Cerro Campanario. This was a steep hill with a ski lift to the top but we walked up the track, unlike most. The track was dusty but a few spots of rain damped it down, and as it was spring there were many beautiful trees and plants in flower. We were sweating and exhausted by the time we reached the top but the panoramic views were worth it. We were surrounded by lakes and mountains and it reminded us of Switzerland. It was spitting rain and a bit overcast but even so the clouds were high and moving so the views were great. We went to the cafeteria and saw what the view looked like on a clear day and at sunset on their postcards. We clambered back down and caught the same bus onward to Hotel Llao Llao. This was a massive golf resort with snow capped mountains in the background and another lake in front with boat tours leaving from the lakeside harbour. We walked along the road for a few kilometres until we reached a track for Villa Tacul which was a beach on the lake. We walked for a few kilometres through forests of enormous conifers and bamboo forests below. We had lunch of bread, ham, cheese, tomato and some peanuts looking over a pebbled beach covered in driftwood with snowy mountains basking in the sun. It was a bit eerie as there was no one else there and it felt like we were the last two humans on earth. It felt very old and there were hardly any animals. One seagull and one cormorant was all we saw until we walked along the beach and saw a few tiny lizards. We got directions from a little Spanish woman living in a small house with her dogs nearby. We couldn't understand much but she pointed us down a dirt road and we walked off to find Lago Escondido. As we walked down the road the weather changed and we could hear the trees creaking and groaning as the wind got hold of their tops. Again it was quite eerie and at night would have been quite disturbing. We found the track for the Lago Escondido and it was a beautiful smaller lake with brown grass growing out of the water. From here we tried to walk around to Bahia Lopez but we couldn't find the track so we settled for a bay before it. It was another beautiful spot with not a single person around and picture postcard views when the sun came out again. We ate our apples and contemplated the silence. On our way back we explored another track and when we emerged onto the lake front there was a beautiful large duck who seemed unfazed by our appearance.

After this we took a track to the Puente Romano, a small bridge in the forest and then walked along the road until we took a track to the large Lago Moreno, a viewpoint, and then a beach before we turned for home. Walking back to Hotel Llao Llao along the road we realised how tired we were as it was 6.00 pm and Suzie had sore feet. Luckily we had a little dried fruit before we caught the bus, and the sun was still shining. The bus got really packed on the way back to Bariloche and a real gypsy character with few teeth got on and sang and played the guitar but sadly got only applause as far as we could see. We had a much needed shower at the hostel and got ready to meet our friend Holly at El Boliche de Alberto's Parilla in town. We walked to Holly's hostel to collect her and then walked to the Parilla where we ordered lamb, lomo (eye fillet), mixed salad and chips with a Trapiche Malbec. The lamb was tasty but a little disappointing while the lomo was delicious. We ended up ordering another portion of lomo and we sat around and chatted for a while before heading off to Helado Jauja where we ordered ice cream and a submarine (piping hot milk with bars of chocolate to melt into it).

After our big day yesterday, we were exhausted and slept in until 9.00 am on Sunday morning. After breakfast, we checked out of the hostel and then walked into town. We had to shop for thermals as it was cold enough here, but we were headed towards El Calafate, a 38 hour bus trip further south, to see the Perito Moreno glacier. We spent a couple of hours shopping for thermals because we had to find a shop that was open, work out our sizes and then what material we preferred – in broken Spanish. Once this was done we were free to wander around town. We walked up and down the main streets browsing through the numerous chocolate shops and then we went to the main square to eat our remaining peanuts in the sunshine. The main square had a few large St Bernards with the barrels around their neck – their owners were trying to get tourists to take pictures with them for a fee. We walked along the lake front to the cathedral and walked back through town to the hostel. We did some reading and admin until we had to catch a local bus to the bus terminal outside town for the overnight bus to Puerto Madryn. We had booked the seats right at the front of the bus so we had a beautiful view of the lakes and mountains in the afternoon sun as we drove out of town.