The bus to Mendoza would have been like any other bus journey, except for the
exceptionally loud snoring from one passenger. It was the kind of snoring that
was deep and full of bass, leading me to think it was actually a guy. On closer
examination it turned out to be a rather large woman, much to the amusement to
the gentlemen in the seats in front on her!

It was an early morning arrival and I wandered around until the tourist office opened. The great thing with the Argentinian tourist offices is they have a list of all the current hostels, and even in some cities they list all their going rates.
Unfortunately they didn’t have the prices here and after checking out a couple
of places I settled on a more expensive hostel that wasn’t a dorm – I had
already grown tired of staying in dorms and after Neuquen wanted my own room.

Even though the hostel was twice the price of a dorm room, the breakfast more than made up for it. There were a pile of medialunas – sweet croissants – and what seemed to be a bottomless supply of coffee. Each morning I ate and drank enough to make up for any excessive cost of the room!

Mendoza is a tourist city, there’s no denying that. However it feels far from a tourist mecca; the cities defining architecture are its wide pedestrian walkways. Over a hundred years ago Mendoza was flattened by a severe earthquake, and in the rebuilding effort the council made the design choice to have wide streets in
case of another quake so that the rubble could safely fall into open areas
(well as safely as possible). This makes Mendoza a joy to simply walk around
and enjoy the openness of her streets.

To add to the openness there are several large plazas and a public park that is almost the size of the entire city itself. I had a map of the city and saw the sheer
size of it, but until you’re actually walking around it, it’s then that you
come to realise that after an hour you still haven’t even covered a quarter of
the green space. And on the Sunday that I arrived it was the Dia del Nino – Day
of the Kids. The park was packed with thousands of people, as though the entire
city had emptied and were picnicking here. Kids ran around like little lunatics
playing football and enjoying a concert performed by some Wiggles-esque equivalent.

Mendoza is the welcome point into northern Argentina, where prices for food drop dramatically and their love of booze becomes increasingly more apparent. On the morning I arrived I headed into a convenience store to grab a drink – it was only 8am in the morning and the store doubled as a bar of all things. I’ve never seen anything like it, a standard store selling soft drink, water, and chips,
but with an adjoining area still filled with people drinking beer this early in
the morning! I bought my water, looked puzzled over the early morning
revellers, and continued on my way.

Mendoza is surrounded by dozens of vineyards, making the wine capital of Argentina. So I was eager to head out on a wine tour and see some of the bodegas myself, and of course sample their wonderful vinos. After wandering around town searching for a tour agency all I could find was what the Lonely Planet recommended as the expensive fine wine tours – costing around $300-$400USD for the day.

There was no way I was going to pay this, despite those tour companies having incredible reputations for tailored wine tasting. My wine pallet isn’t that sophisticated and after some internet searching it became apparent there wasn’t anything for the curious wine lover. And after a brief search of whether it’s possible to visit the bodegas via public transport, the bus can get you to the valleys but you need to hire a bike to get around to each bodega. I wisely decided that riding a bike along a highway after sampling several glasses of wine wasn’t in my best interest.

Not that is really mattered, as local wine is abundant here. Mendoza reintroduced to me to the Menu del Dia – the set menu of the day. And for a scant $35-$40 pesos you can indulge in good food and a large glass of Malbec red wine. In fact the value is insanely good – for less than $10AUD you can get an empanada entrée, steak main, giant glass of wine, and a delicious walnut ice cream dessert. This, this right here, is what made me finally fall in love with Argentina!

While I was in Mendoza their friends to the north – Bolivia – had their birthday. And to celebrate they had a Bolivian dance in one of the plazas near my hostel. It was one of those pleasant surprises when you’re walking along and see a gathering crowd, to discover a public performance about to begin. What made it even more cool was the presence of two lovely ladies – Miss Bolivia and Miss Argentina!

After almost a week of enjoying the open spaces of Mendoza and indulging in steak, wine, and coffee (truly three of the greatest joys in life) I had made my mind up to travel to Tucuman next, a 15 hour bus ride north in the direction of Salta.  Unfortunately the bus prices didn’t get any cheaper
in the north like I was told, and I didn’t even get dinner on this bus! Hmm, complaining about no dinner on a bus… I think I’m getting spoilt here.