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.

Autumn in the Andes

To cross over into Argentina, we took a breathtaking route through the Andes mountain range. Since it is fall in the southern hemisphere, the folliage made the scenery extra gorgeous. Plus, the closer we got to Mendoza, the more the landscape flattened and several vineyards started to pop up.

Viña del Mar

This is another beach town that neighbors Valparaiso. We took the train over and really only had time for lunch. I found Viña to be a little more unscale than Valpo, with a surprising over-abundance of horse drawn carriages and more disappointly wasted coast line.

Valparaiso

Ay, a beach town

an hour and a half outside of Santiago. And apparently, a drinking town, evidenced by the fact that no businesses (and I mean nothing besides maybe one or two bottle shops) were open before noon on a Saturday! This was a really busy coastal town but it suffered a lack of habitable coast. Most of the shore was dedicated to the port and hundreds upon hundreds of shipping containers. However, there were some old tramways up the mountains that are over 100 years old and are declared UNESCO world hertiage gems. Other claims to fame of Valparaiso include Latin America´s oldest stock exchange, Chile´s first public library and

the third largest population in the country. And a quick boat tour will almost guarantee a sea lion sighting!

It also is a fantastic place to take photos (maybe too many photos?). And in terms of livability, I really enjoyed eating fresh seafood and avacado, drinking cheap bottles of wine from the nearby vineyards ($3.50 for a large) and breathing ocean breeze here.