Mendoza

Mendoza is a reasonably sized city that is built near several vineyards/bodegas. We took the city bus out to a little stand run by Mr. Hugo. And I tell you, this middle-aged, jovial man has it all figured out. He rents out about 50-60 bikes a day at $8 a pop, and serves free wine before and after. So his reputation for providing fun tours has spread throughout the backpackers of South America.

We first rode out to an olive oil factory, then hit up a few bodegas for wine and tapas. Next came the jam-liqueur-chocolate factories. This included a free shot of sambuca if one so desires (see the flaming sugar photo). All in all, this definitely surpassed our wine tasting experience near Santiago.

We also met many travelers along the way and continued the party into late night - which ended with an Australian/Asian nicknamed ¨the Oracle¨teaching me to do the jive. So consequentially, our next day in Mendoza was pretty unproductive before we hopped an overnight bus to Buenos Aires.