We left Buenos Aires on a bus in the afternoon, supposed to be arriving in Mendoza at around 8.45am, the day before we had spent at La Boca which was so beautiful and I definitely have to return to get more presents! The night before we went out to Rosebar, which although expensive for entry was an okay night out. We were all dead for the journey though! Slept immediately as we got onto the bus and woke up for dinner! We got food surprisingly, but louise said don’t say anything just incase they made a mistake but apparently they didn’t which was great. (Woo so we saved our pasta for lunch). We got sort of lost on the way to the hostel, I was worried that it was a scam hostel as we found it on couchsurfing and we were only paying 15 a night! Luckily we found it (and it is so hard to miss as it is painted every colour that they could fit!) The owner and receptionist were soo lovely, despite being so early we left our things in the room and planned our day.
LA BOCA
Being anywhere on a Sunday is awful as EVERYTHING is dead. Sunday and saturday are the worst days of the week (despite being the weekend) as every city turns into a ghost town. It was also Fathers Day on Sunday so it meant everything was even more dead that usual. Obviously we had absolutely great timing as we didn’t make it to any wineries!
That day we went to the beautiful plaza and San Martin park which were both lovely (despite being the only people around), but unfortunately the potentially beautiful lake had turned into a muddy swamp river surrounded by leafless trees so the view of the park wasn’t great. Although, I can imagine that in summer it is actually really beautiful!
The fountains and seating areas were pretty though, so winter hadn’t completely destroyed the park.
After walking home and making an amazing dinner, we went to bed really early, obviously after spending a while catching up with our fellow warriors who were in Florianapolis, Brazil. We were supposed to go skiing in Los Penitentes but unfortunately it hasn’t been snowing, so they haven’t started ski season yet! As we had been planning this since like January this was quite upsetting but we managed to turn our frowns upside down and plan to head to Santiago, Chile instead!! Obviously we just couldn’t resist the extra time with our best pal Nick who was also off to Santiago.
The next day we slept in until about 10.30am (which is the biggest luxury!) After a huge breakfast and overload of cereal, we lounged about until 2.30pm where we had booked a wine tour and olive oil tour. Our american pal didn’t manage to hitch hike North so also joined us for the day which was cool.
Monday was so lovely, the weather was beautiful and the tour was amazing. First stop was an Olive Oil tour at a place called PasRai (Pasas are raisins in Spanish, and the other half of the word is Raisins). They also make raisins and dried fruit hence the name. The tour was really interesting as I have never really hthough about how olive oil is made and despite not being able to concentrate on the girl speaking (as I was being blinded by the sun and couldn’t position myself in the shade) the process looked really cool. The smell of olives was so strong as we walked into the factory and saw them making the oil. However, I definitely overloaded on tester breads when tasting the 6 or 7 different types of oil. The best was probably the garlic oil and then the sundried tomato paste (of which I bought a jar of course!)
The next stop was a lovely boutique, family run winery which only produced red wines. Obviously Argentina is known more for its red wines and Mendoza especially for its Malbec. I definitely prefer white to red wine but the tour and tasting was amazing and I slightly regret not buying the more expensive bottle of Malbec (however the one I did buy was so lovely as well). The tour guide told us about how, for his daughters wedding gift, the owner created a special blend of wine. The bottle was rated one of the best bottles in Argentina, similar to those selling in America for up to 250 USD.
Mendoza wine tasting
The last one was a cute sparkling wine company with liquers and dessert wines. They were good and the woman was such a cutie! This day was our last with Nick so was a nice way to spend our last day in Argentina (doing something its well known for) before going out to a meal together.
The next morning I was woken up by Louise as Nick was about to leave. I really cannot believe that its already time for us to split up! Although we will probably see Nick in Santiago or Valparaiso, it still is the end of our time together! Louise and I literally have like 10 days left until flying off which is so sad! I’m not gonna lie the note he left us literally made me cry so much, it has been such an incredible few months travelling together with him and Louise!
We got on the bus that left two hours later for Santiago, booked our hostel in the morning and bought every long haul bus ticket we would need for the rest of our trip. Productive gals! The bus trip from Mendoza to Santiago has the most incredible scenery ever, we drove through the snowy mountains (and past a snow-less ski resort) which were so beautiful! I am definitely looking forward to the drive back where we have front seats (woo0o0)!
Andess
Like always, Louise and I think we should have a good bus snack, especially if we are on the bus for about 7 hours. Normally we don’t finish everything but have left overs for the next few days, so we bought a pack of oat raisin biscuits. Obviously we didn’t realise that we would have to finish all our food before we got to the Chilean border (if we wanted to avoid a fine) so I can safely say that I have eaten enough raisin biscuits to last me a life time, and cannot even look at a packet without feeling slightly nauseous.
We arrived slightly later than intended, about an hour and a half later, so obviously this cancelled all our day plans as by the time we arrived at the hostel it was 6.40pm. Not really enough time to do anything! We weren’t sure if it was a real hostel as it had no sign outside and just looked like a regular building, but luckily it was (thank god). I think our hostel in Santiago, Landay Barcelo was one of the nicests hostels we have stayed in. It was a boutqieu hostel, so it was really cosy and the rooms were so great. Such a contrast from the hostel we had stayed in the night before. The receptionist Mark was also so helpful, considering we actually had not planned our Chule trip in the slightest, he gave us loads of free tour leaflets and plans for the next day. He also gave me a free bubble tea (not sure how to describe it) as we had the same birthday (win!). This guy probably thought we were on something as we werejust laughing so much at ourselved for being so unorganised and were clearly delirious from no sleep. Learning about the culture and history of Santiago sounded so great, if only it wasn’t for the girl we got chatting to who told us about FOUR blocks worth of thrift shop. We didn’t even have to consult each other on cancelling museum plans as our next day was now sorted.
After an amazing dinner (but smoking out the whole kitchen), we had an early night so we could get to the shops at a good time. We had breakfast which was standard toast and jam but I was offered whittard tea by receptionist (who I should have accepted on behalf of Louise). There was a guy playing guitar throughout our meal which was soo nice and relaxing! After faffing about loads (which we have got so good at) we left to thrift shops!
I can only describe these shops as some kind of vintage heaven, everything soo nice and so cheap, bought jumper, shirt and some small bits, will be soo good for uni but nothing fits in my rucksack! There is loads of like Ralph Lauren, I saw some Michael Kors, and other designer brands. Apparently this is all stuff that has like fallen off the back of a truck and sold in Chile (great for us!)
after shopping
SANTIAGO
We got back to hostel a bit later than intended and after more faffing and trying to desperately shove everything into our bags, we were off to the bus station. We took the metro (wooo was just great) and got the bus that left 10 mins later to arrive in Valparaiso an hour and a bit later. We obviously hadn’t thought our trip out properly because as we arrived it was getting dark so we basically took the trip to Valparaiso to stay in the quirky, empty hostel.
It was such a shame that we didn’t manage to actually see Valparaiso as even in the morning we had to leave before sunrise to catch our bus to Mendoza! The views from the bus were amazing still with the sun rising over the sea, but not gonna lie I managed to sleep through to journey!
I will try to post once more before I leave for home on the 28th!
See you sooon!
Sabina xxx
