Mendoza

So I ended up going to Mendoza, Argentina!

Some of the guys I´d met in Santiago were spending the last 5 days of their trip partying in Mendoza and I thought I´d go and see them off.  I was also looking forward to the bus route which winds its way through the high Andes on the Chilean-Argentinian border.

After about 3 hours on the bus I could see the jagged, rocky mountains stretching up through the clouds and into the sky.  The road has some serious switchbacks and at some points it seemed like we were driving straight up the face of a mountain!

I thought Chile was hot....but as I got off the bus at 9pm I was hit with 40 degree heat.  Unfortunately for me, all the ATMs at the bus terminal were broken and I didn´t have any money.  It was a fun 2km walk into town to visit the bank....

Mendoza was levelled in the 1800s by an earthquake and rebuilt with wide streets and several plazas in order to provide some relief if another big quake struck.  These plazas are great to chill out in and have some nice statues etc.

I have to confess, I´ve been a rubbish traveller in Mendoza.  I´ve adopted the Chris D´Costa method of sightseeing.  For those who don´t know Chris, his approach to travelling is to go out and get drunk every night and see zero sights because you´re too hungover during the day....  I´ve been here 5 days and have taken 12 pictures.

Although not particularly cultural, I´ve met some awesome people.  This weekend was a long weekend in Argentina so most of the hostel guests were people from all over Argentina coming over to party in Mendoza.  All the clubs are open-air (it is around 28 degrees every night) and yesterday we partied up in the mountains with some locals!

I´d already planned to come back next summer when I do Argentina properly so I will see the sights next time, honest.  These include lots of wineries, the mountains and some beautiful countryside.  Next, I´m heading back to Chile to resume my journey North.  Until then, I´ll leave you with a picture of some women dancing with massive sunflowers.....just another normal night in Mendoza.....