The hostel was like a hostel in some ways, but like a hotel in others. We had a private double room with bathroom, and it was in front of the back garden so perfect for us. You could use the kitchen to cook meals so that was a bonus as well. After the journey we were still a bit knackered, so toyed with the idea of a siesta but after showering we were back in the game. Despite being in a kind of desert-like landscape, Mendoza is very green, trees line the streets and there are plenty of plazas and mini plazas. We'd picked a restaurant for lunch from the Lonely Planet, and were treated to some amazing pasta. We headed up to the huge Parque San Martin afterwards to find a playground, and ended up having a cheeky siesta in the rose gardens overlooking a lake - we all zonked out and it was one of the best naps we've had. Luis also began taking his own photos......
We found the playground, which also had an inflatable bouncy castle thing so the wee man burned rubber for the next half hour or so. We'd picked another restaurant from the guidebook for dinner that night (we'd worry about the budget tomorrow), which was famed for it's meat. The book even recommended which dish to have, so like good Lonely Planet disciples, we obeyed and were not disappointed. The matambre de cerdo (a fine cut of pork) was cooked on the open fire grill in front of our table and when it came, we were drooling. Add some chips, some fine wine and ooh, ahh, ooh, ahh jenny skelly get it in yer belly. Christ it was good. Come the bill and oops, we didn't have enough money and they didn't take cards, so I took Luis to head to a cash point. The one the owner had given me directions for didn't work, so I had to find another. Having arrived that day I was still getting my bearings (excuses begin....) so kind of wandered around a couple blocks to start with before deciding to head to the main shopping street where I'd be sure there was one. All in, I was away 40 minutes and Maria back at the restaurant was giving birth to her first (of several) litter of kittens. I got the 3rd degree when I returned, and the worry of the whole restaurant (well, 3-4 people), but I explained my predicament. I blame the wine, Malbec of course.
We'd kind of planned our week, so for the Tuesday it was the tour of some wineries on 2 wheels. We booked it through the hostel (later found out we'd have been better off getting a bus to the area outside Mendoza and hiring bikes ourselves), and it was a case of being taken to the bike hire shop, getting kitted out with maps etc then after seeing how many wineries you can fit in, and having lunch, being picked up around 5pm. Somehow, I managed to leave our sunglasses in the taxi, so the bike hire shop very kindly phoned up and asked for them to be taken to the hostel, and also gave us some they had lying around - mine were a slightly broken pair of sporty Nike shades, but Maria's were glam-tastic, white rimmed with some plastic bling touches, very Jody Marsh, very Essex! The only thing about the cycling as we quickly found out was that some people drive like nutters, driving way too fast and sometimes too close. Maria especially wasn't impressed, was having several more litters of kittens, and it was such that we nearly canned it there and then! But we saw we were near the first bodega so headed there to sample the goods. T'was a good tour and we sampled some good wines so all in, pretty good. After lunch we headed to another bodega, which we'd been told was more modern and had a terrace overlooking the vineyards so sounded ace. We were warmly greeted by this guy who might have been the owner or the manager, he seemed a bit half cut, but he went all goo-goo over Luis, and then I got welcome peck on the cheek. I'd just arrived upstairs so not sure if Maria got one as well, so didn't think anything of it, but I got a combo deal on the way out (kiss + hug) as well! Ah well, you've either got it or you don't. The wines were good by the way, and the views stunning. We met a dutch couple we'd seen earlier back at the bike shop and we ended up all getting a lift to the wine museum which we wanted to squeeze in before the end of the day. So, a pretty good day all in, maybe would have been better if we'd done it ourselves but hey ho.
Wednesday was our day at the thermal pools. We wanted to go to the water park, which is the public one, as it would be better for Luis, and so it proved. He was practically dancing through the gates when he saw what was in front of him. Set up in the hills, it is a beautiful setting and the various man-made pools are set into the sides of the valley. It was pretty busy, a mixture of families, elderly folk enjoying the warmer waters, and school groups, but not too manic, the kids were all really well behaved. As soon as we got in the first pool, a 6-yr old girl called Martina took Luis under her wing so Maria and I could pretty much relax! The waters were lovely, there were one or two hot ones, some warm ones and others which were cooler. On any other day, Luis would have gone into these, but after being in the warmer ones for a while, no chance. And the kiddies pool bit, which had slides might as well have been an ice bath, it was baltic! We had some beautiful freshly made empanadas for lunch then spent the afternoon exploring all the pools and the mini moat that runs around the site. It was easily the longest time we'd spent in water and as it was warm water most of the time, we were all like prunes when we finished. It was also nice to sit and chat to people, and we met this lovely family from near Buenos Aires who were visiting family nearby, so Luis had plenty of company that day. So did Maria, I think she managed to talk to pretty much everyone. It was a lovely day, and back at the hostel we were making friends and it was great hearing about what people had been up to that day.
No rest for the wicked, Thursday was our trip towards the Andes. We booked a tour with an agency and left early doors, with plenty of sights to see en route - Uspallata, Puente del Inca, a good view of Mt Aconcagua (2nd biggest mountain in the world behind Mt Everest) and Las Cuevas amongst others. I guess you take a chance with organised tours like these but this was a good one, our tour guide Alejandra was cool and although it was in Spanish, I was pretty much getting everything, occasionally having to ask Maria some things to fill in blanks. We stopped for lunch in Las Cuevas, a small village just before the tunnel which leads out into Chile on the other side. The great thing about the place we were having lunch was that they had a St Bernard dog, I don't think we'd ever seen one in the flesh, and although not enormous, Cleopatra was lovely, all soft and cuddly. Luis, super excited to start with, soon got a wee bit feared but she was pretty big compared to him!
When we got back to the hostel, suddenly there was another child, a wee girl, and within seconds, Luis and her were motoring around the place like eejits. It is great meeting other families who are travelling, especially with a child of a similar age as Luis, as you have this automatic connection, and exchanging stories and information can be so valuable. Thomas, Francisca and wee Myleen were from Berne in Switzerland and were travelling for a couple of months as well, first Argentina and then Cuba. The warm, friendly atmosphere in the hostel was getting better by the day, hell, why hadn't we gone budget earlier!!
We decided to stay an extra night - originally we were going to spend a couple of nights in the village of Maipu (yep, you heard) where we'd already done the wine tour - so as we'd seen round there, it made sense to stay in Mendoza. Friday and Saturday were spent sorting logistics for travel and accommodation for the next chapter in Salta and beyond, and we also managed to make it up the Cerro de la Gloria, which is a hill in Mendoza which has great views of the surrounding area but not Mendoza itself as there are trees in the way, rubbish. We booked our nightbus tickets to Salta for Sunday night, a mammoth 18 hours, now, we figured if we could do this we could do anything. But, that was merely a fart in a hurricane compared to the 36 hour trip a couple of friends from the hostel had ahead of them to Iguazu, madness.
We had until Sunday night to take the bus so we hung out with Thomas, Francisca and Myleen most of the day, heading to the park to roam around, then head back into town for lunch. We'd really enjoyed hanging out with them and the kids had had a blast and it was sad to say goodbye to them, as with everyone else at the hostel, especially Lorena who worked there as she had given us tips on where to go and where to stay, not just in Salta but for the places we were going afterwards. Hostelling with a 2 year old, not easy on paper you'd think, but with people and places like at Hostel Alamo, it pretty much is.
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