The transit into Argentina was smooth again, a little more complicated with a bit more of a thorough check, and they even had sniffer dogs, but that seems to be the theme that the more developed the country I'm going into, the more security there is. The bus journey wasn't too painful either, there were films being shown, I read my lonely planet, wrote my blog, gazed out the window and shnoozed.
Just the 20min walk from the bus station to our hostel made me love Argentina instantly. It was 8 o'clock on a Sunday evening and the streets were buzzing with families in the parks and food vendors lined the sides of the road smelling all sorts of yummy food. We made it to our hostel, checked in and then when straight back out again to find some food! We found a nice little restaurant where we could finally have some argentinian wine - probably the cheapest thing on the menu - and fill our stomachs having snacked on rubbish all day.
In Argentina, American dollars are worth a lot of money so they have a system with the 'blue dollar' which is where you can exchange your dollars for Argentinian pesos at a better exchange rate than the one banks give you. I had been told about this in advance so had got lots of dollars and was able to get a rate of 1 dollar to 13.35 pesos rather than 9 pesos, making the dollar almost equal to the pound for which I can get 14 pesos...so it was a great deal, even if a little tiny bit illegal!
On Monday we went up the cable car to a mountain at the side of salta and enjoyed that view, and then walked back down grabbing a steak sandwich on the way. I then caught a bus an hour and a half outside of Salta to a ranch that a friend had put me in contact with. When I first got there KT was very confusing because I had managed to find the farm and it was all open but I couldn't find anyone there! Eventually after half an hour I found someone working in a back room who showed me to my room and got me settled. K then spent the evening reading in the sunshine and eating a delicious, home made goats cheese salad. The next morning I wandered around the farm, introducing myself to the chickens, dogs, cats and goats before meeting Carlos, the owner, and arranging to ride some horseys.
I went for a morning and afternoon ride which were both absolutely lovely. It made me so happy to be back sat on a horse, particularly riding through the Argentinian countryside. I also loved the fact that I was riding in my primark plimsolls, leggings and no hat...none of the fancy equipment we have to use back home. We rode to a beautiful lake with mountains in the background, admired the view and then rode back. In between rides I sat in the glorious sunshine and read for hours which was so perfectly relaxing and just what I needed. That night there was an Argentina vs Paraguay football match in the Copa America so I watched that with the family, and it was dead exciting because they won 6-1 meaning Argentina are in the final on Saturday night!
The next day they had a big school group coming to visit the farm so I tagged along with them to learn about them the goat milking and with their visit to the tobacco and archeology museum before going for a little walk down the old train track and spending the rest of the day reading in the sun. I then got a lift from one of Carlos' sons back into Salta and met up with Sophie back at our original hostel. We made some veg pasta and then headed back to the bus terminal to catch our 19 hour bus down to Mendoza, the home of VINO!
The bus was actually surprisingly okay, there was a bit of drama near the beginning where we had to change buses but once that was sorted I managed to sleep almost straight through until 9am, made easier by having a double seat and waking up to find Sophie asleep flat on the floor at the feet of her chair which was very entertaining. I then dozed for another 2 hours and easily entertained myself until we arrived in Mendoza.
We walked what felt like miles from the bus station to our chosen hostel, particularly with the front and back backpacks! But we did eventually arrive, settled in and then went to find some pasta sauce and cheese, and of course a bottle of wine to accompany our pasta left from the previous night. We were also provided with free wine by the hotel, although they wouldn't let us do the Thursday night wine tasting because we hadn't told them early enough - sad face. Our pasta and wine was deliciously perfect though.
The main thing to say about Friday was the breakfast. Words cannot describe how goof it was, hands down the best hostel breakfast I've had and you have no ides how much that means when you've been travelling for 9 weeks and most hostel breakfasts are a bit of bread and jam and horrid coffer. This breakfast was a buffet with; orange juice, nice coffee, hot choc, orange slices, hard boiled eggs, sugar-coated croissants, fluffy bread, and incredible dolce de leche and banana crepes...it made me so happy. Having stocked ourselves up for the day Sophie and I headed out into Mendoza to find a wine tour. We didn't find a tour as such but a lovely woman explained to us how we could do a self directed tour, so thats just what we did.
We caught a local bus 40mins out of town to Maipu where there are loads of vineyards and bodegas. We walked to find a wine museum and tasting place. We payed our AR$90 (£6.30) for a tour, which is was a little horrified at, and it was a fairly interesting tour although all in Spanish making it a little harder. We then got to my favourite bit, the tasting section where we were given 2 glasses of different red wines to swirl, sniff and savour, both of which were delicious. The other people on our tour then, thankfully, informed us that we could trade our AR$90 ticket for bottles or more tastings of wine. I jumped at this opportunity and bought a similar red to the one we had tried and then a white, and only had to pay an extra AR$5 so it was a great deal and we came out very merry. Walked ourselves back to the main road where we found a much needed baño and some food before catching the bus back to Mendoza. Once back in the city we grabbed our bags from the hostel and headed for the bus station again to catch our 14 hour night bus on to Buenos Aires....
Just the 20min walk from the bus station to our hostel made me love Argentina instantly. It was 8 o'clock on a Sunday evening and the streets were buzzing with families in the parks and food vendors lined the sides of the road smelling all sorts of yummy food. We made it to our hostel, checked in and then when straight back out again to find some food! We found a nice little restaurant where we could finally have some argentinian wine - probably the cheapest thing on the menu - and fill our stomachs having snacked on rubbish all day.
In Argentina, American dollars are worth a lot of money so they have a system with the 'blue dollar' which is where you can exchange your dollars for Argentinian pesos at a better exchange rate than the one banks give you. I had been told about this in advance so had got lots of dollars and was able to get a rate of 1 dollar to 13.35 pesos rather than 9 pesos, making the dollar almost equal to the pound for which I can get 14 pesos...so it was a great deal, even if a little tiny bit illegal!
On Monday we went up the cable car to a mountain at the side of salta and enjoyed that view, and then walked back down grabbing a steak sandwich on the way. I then caught a bus an hour and a half outside of Salta to a ranch that a friend had put me in contact with. When I first got there KT was very confusing because I had managed to find the farm and it was all open but I couldn't find anyone there! Eventually after half an hour I found someone working in a back room who showed me to my room and got me settled. K then spent the evening reading in the sunshine and eating a delicious, home made goats cheese salad. The next morning I wandered around the farm, introducing myself to the chickens, dogs, cats and goats before meeting Carlos, the owner, and arranging to ride some horseys.
I went for a morning and afternoon ride which were both absolutely lovely. It made me so happy to be back sat on a horse, particularly riding through the Argentinian countryside. I also loved the fact that I was riding in my primark plimsolls, leggings and no hat...none of the fancy equipment we have to use back home. We rode to a beautiful lake with mountains in the background, admired the view and then rode back. In between rides I sat in the glorious sunshine and read for hours which was so perfectly relaxing and just what I needed. That night there was an Argentina vs Paraguay football match in the Copa America so I watched that with the family, and it was dead exciting because they won 6-1 meaning Argentina are in the final on Saturday night!
The next day they had a big school group coming to visit the farm so I tagged along with them to learn about them the goat milking and with their visit to the tobacco and archeology museum before going for a little walk down the old train track and spending the rest of the day reading in the sun. I then got a lift from one of Carlos' sons back into Salta and met up with Sophie back at our original hostel. We made some veg pasta and then headed back to the bus terminal to catch our 19 hour bus down to Mendoza, the home of VINO!
The bus was actually surprisingly okay, there was a bit of drama near the beginning where we had to change buses but once that was sorted I managed to sleep almost straight through until 9am, made easier by having a double seat and waking up to find Sophie asleep flat on the floor at the feet of her chair which was very entertaining. I then dozed for another 2 hours and easily entertained myself until we arrived in Mendoza.
We walked what felt like miles from the bus station to our chosen hostel, particularly with the front and back backpacks! But we did eventually arrive, settled in and then went to find some pasta sauce and cheese, and of course a bottle of wine to accompany our pasta left from the previous night. We were also provided with free wine by the hotel, although they wouldn't let us do the Thursday night wine tasting because we hadn't told them early enough - sad face. Our pasta and wine was deliciously perfect though.
The main thing to say about Friday was the breakfast. Words cannot describe how goof it was, hands down the best hostel breakfast I've had and you have no ides how much that means when you've been travelling for 9 weeks and most hostel breakfasts are a bit of bread and jam and horrid coffer. This breakfast was a buffet with; orange juice, nice coffee, hot choc, orange slices, hard boiled eggs, sugar-coated croissants, fluffy bread, and incredible dolce de leche and banana crepes...it made me so happy. Having stocked ourselves up for the day Sophie and I headed out into Mendoza to find a wine tour. We didn't find a tour as such but a lovely woman explained to us how we could do a self directed tour, so thats just what we did.
We caught a local bus 40mins out of town to Maipu where there are loads of vineyards and bodegas. We walked to find a wine museum and tasting place. We payed our AR$90 (£6.30) for a tour, which is was a little horrified at, and it was a fairly interesting tour although all in Spanish making it a little harder. We then got to my favourite bit, the tasting section where we were given 2 glasses of different red wines to swirl, sniff and savour, both of which were delicious. The other people on our tour then, thankfully, informed us that we could trade our AR$90 ticket for bottles or more tastings of wine. I jumped at this opportunity and bought a similar red to the one we had tried and then a white, and only had to pay an extra AR$5 so it was a great deal and we came out very merry. Walked ourselves back to the main road where we found a much needed baño and some food before catching the bus back to Mendoza. Once back in the city we grabbed our bags from the hostel and headed for the bus station again to catch our 14 hour night bus on to Buenos Aires....
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