Mendoza

So i woke up at the expensive 50 pesos a night hotel in Villa Mercedes - i could not be bothered to find somewhere cheaper, my feet were hurting and i was falling asleep just walking along the road, a hard day's hitching had taken it's toll on me.

I left the hotel 40 minutes after they knocked on my door indicating that my time there had ran out (i had only paid one night, so until 10am). I made my way to the ruta 7 which goes past Villa Mercedes through San Luis city, La Paz, and eventually Mendoza. I asked around the petrol stations if there were any trucks heading out west, with no luck i waited and waited, walked from one side of the ruta 7 which was itself more of a dual carriage autopista, after about four or five hours waste and having got no where i got tired of waiting around in the hot sun and dry dirt. I had an asado from a nearby parrilla for 20 something pesos and went over to the bus terminal, 3 hours and 53 pesos later i was on my way to Mendoza, the 'easy' way.

I hope to hitch more in the south but it seems people over here are not as keen to pick up strangers, still, Salta to Mercedes wasn't a bad experience for my first time doing it - some 1200km.

In Mendoza i arrived at about 11pm, found a nice hostel near the bus terminal which similar to the one i was staying at in Salta, it's 35 pesos a night and has a swimming pool. Cristian, the main man here, let me know about a tour you can do in Maipu with some wineries, you basically hire out a bike for the day and cycle from winery to winery tasting different wines and foods. I don't even like wine but i thought it'd be cool to try it since Mendoza is famous for it's wines. Now that i've done it i'm glad i did because not only has it opened my mind into wine, which i have come from never drinking it to now possibly ocassionally drinking it, but i also met some fun people on the tour, everyone seemed friendly and talkative with each other even if no one really knew anyone. There were people from Norway, Oregon, Canada, and many other places which i now fail to remember. I hung around with a group from the states who were visiting Mendoza for just a couple of days as their last trip in Argentina. Justin, Amy and Rebecca were studying spanish in Buenos Aires since July and are going back to the states at the end of next week. We cycled back into the bike hiring place about half an hour late and went into the city to get some food. At their apartment they were renting for the weekend we cooked up some chorizos, milanesas and prepared a salad which was washed down with Quilmes and Mate, a very nice combination and a very sociable night. They're heading back to Buenos Aires at the end of today but as Becky is staying an extra 10 days just to 'travel' for a little more around Argentina i suggested she came to Bariloche at the end of her week in Buenos Aires, by this time i should also be in Bariloche and we could once again meet up.

For the rest of today i'm gonna chill by the pool get some things organised and just rest.

Tomorrow i'm heading out to some of the mountains in the area, in specific the base of mt. Aconcagua, at over 6000m it's the highest peak in the western hemisphere, and whilst i don't plan on taking it on right now, it will definitely be interesting to visit the basecamp as i would like to climb it in the next few years.

I will probably end up heading further south to Bariloche on Tuesday but i'll report back on here after my day out to Aconcagua on Monday.

Thanks again for reading!

Santiago.