On leaving Mendoza, there were two more stops on our itinery. Cafayate and somewhere of insiginificance. Spur of the moment on behalf of Jono our driver a question was raised. Would we prefer to go directly to Salta or do the other two stops? Salta it was and a 15 hour drive day commenced. There were a good number of excursions to do and with some of them coming very highly recommended, this turned out to be one of the more expensive stops so far. Horseback riding with asado (BBQ) one day with massive party in town that evening. White water rafting followed by zip lining the following day. City tours. Oh, and some of the “best steak in South America”. We were all kept rather busy but had a great time.

Read more »

Mendoza, the wine capital of South America and producer of some of the best wines in the world. We spent two days in the Hostel Independencia and enjoyed lots of steak and wine (in my case, beer mostly). I have never been a wine drinker as it takes me back to the “poor” student days of cheap wine and bad hangovers but I decided that since we are in world famous wine county, it would be wrong to skip out on a winery tour and wine tasting excursion. More on that soon. There are tonnes of other possible excursions here (more than we have had available in other places) but we only had two days here which I feel was half of what we should have had. Rock climbing, hiking, sky diving,vineyards and a multitude of museums make Mendoza a very tourist friendly spot.

Read more »

It is as if a tornado ripped up a city in Switzerland and dumped it in Argentina. Everything from the architecture and Saint Bernards to the chocolate is present. The city is intricately built between a mountain range and lake as you will see below. There were a wide range of activities and excursions which could have been done but with only 2 full days available here, had to pick and choose from all the options (views from Mt. Otto and entering into the Guinness World Record books being some of them). I will briefly mention some of the other options just so you know what Bariloche has to offer at the end of this post but for now, on to Bariloche! Read more »

El Calafate. A quaint little town. Streets paved with bricks. Log cabin styled restaurants and shops. But to be honest, there is not all that much to do here… In my mind, the only reason El Calafate exists is because of the Perito Moreno glacier which is the main attraction here. I’m currently writing this from El Chalten which is basically the same. What gives El Chalten its fame however is Mt. Fitz Roy. This mention of El Chalten and Mt. Fitz Roy will be the last unfortunately. Only had a day here and spent it trying to find a decent internet connection in order to throw these posts online so can’t really go into much detail. Anyway, on to the Perito Moreno glacier and the boat ride and nature walks which were done by us all. Read more »