With a heavy head (terramoto hangover) I left for Valparaiso in Chile for Mendoza in Argentina. I really should learn to read maps. My original plan had me leaving Santiago in Chile for Argentina with Buenos Aires being my first stop, followed by Bariloche then Mendoza (wine country). Anyone who can understand maps would tell you that this made no sort of sense. Mendoza was closest to Chile. While in Chile someone told me how cold and empty Bariloche was, and I scrapped it off my itinerary. My main reason for going there was because I read the beaches were amazing - I had no plans whatsoever to end up in a coastal town during winter.....I also realized that it made most sense to get to Mendoza first then end my trip in Buenos Aires.
From my hostel in Valparaiso I took a cab to the bus-stop around 7am. Within 2 minutes of getting on the bus, I was out cold. I slept all the way till we got to the Chile-Argentina border hours later. The border process was a jistier version of the Kenya-Uganda border. We all got off the bus, went to "exit" from Chile then went to a different queue to "enter" Argentina. It was relatively painless as these were 2 countries in my South America trip I actually had visas for......heeee heeee. Tulivuka border - crossed the border.
At 4pm I got to Mendoza. The hostel was decent and it's main selling point was that they served free Malbec wine every day between 7-8pm. Malbec is a type of red wine whose origin is in Mendoza in Argentina. Think of it as a type as "Cabernet sauvignon", "shiraz", "merlot" etc are types. It's a bit of a big deal, but not found in general shops in our parts of the world. I went out to a nearby restaurant - ate pork, got back to the hostel and enjoyed lots of free wine and made good friends at the hostel.
I knew I would enjoy my time in Argentina!
