Leaving Mendoza for Buenos Aires

Having gotten home at 7am from the club after my last day in Mendoza, I needed to check out by 10am at the hostel. My bus to Buenos Aires wasn't until 5:30pm. I woke up around 9:30am to pack and shower, but could barely get out of bed. Loud drumming was going on in my head. I stumbled to my water bottle - took a few gulps and realized I was now asleep standing up. The Kikuyu in me had to make a tough decision. I am generally good with money, and don't make unnecessary purchases - especially when backpacking for months - and there is a real risk of being broke and homeless in Argentina towards the end of my trip. That morning though I did not even think twice as I walked to the reception and paid for an extra night's stay so that I could sleep in till 3pm. 

I went back to bed, passed out till a more decent hour - woke up and ate some leftovers I had in the fridge, quickly dressed, packed and left for my Buenos Aires bound bus. Calling the bus a "bus" seems like a bit of an insult. That bus was like a plane - no kidding. I had the largest seat I had ever seen on a bus. I was welcomed on the bus with a glass of champagne. There was food served on the bus - inclusive of real cutlery. The seat reclined almost fully and I was able to have a great night's sleep. I read for a few hours and must have fallen asleep around 9pm to be woken up the next morning around 9am once we got to Buenos Aires. I took a taxi to the hostel and that is when I realized Buenos Aires was massive. 

The Japanese garden, Palermo

                                  Tango in San Telmo

                                   One of the tombstones at Recoleta cemetery

Pink House - the mansion and office of the President of Argentina

Buenos Aires is split into at least 5 distinct parts with the main ones being "Centro" famous for having a 67m Obelisk in the middle of it and also housing various famous Cathedrals, theaters and Government buildings (including the "Pink House" - the mansion and office of the President.) The second area is "La boca" that is famous for its artsy vibe including various museums. The third area is "San Telmo" famous for it's huge flea market and wide walkways where on Sundays couples (young and old) can be seen dancing to tango in the streets. The fourth area is "Recoleta" best known for it's  beautiful and massive cemetery in which Eva Peron "Evita" the former first lady of Argentina and the most famous Argentinean woman to date is buried. The fifth area is "Palermo" well known for it's beautiful lakes, forests and gardens."

Having driven across town from the bus station to my hostel after a 15 hour journey I was really looking forward to getting to the hostel to rest. I got to the hostel around 10am and was bummed out when I was told that check-in was at 10am. I spent quite a few hours on the lovely chairs in the hostel lounge as I waited for my room to be ready. I blogged a bit and was really happy to discover the wifi was great.

Finally - going on a Vineyard tour...about time..

This was a successful day. I woke up, had lunch next door to the hostel and was in great condition to go wine-tasting. Yes, I had to pay again, but that is the price for foolishness. I was happy that my nice German roomie - Barbara and another fun Dutch girl we had met at the hostel - Esther - would be joining on the vineyard tour. 

Our first stop for the day was Bodega Domiciano - a family winery that had been in Mendoza from 1919. We started off with a tour of the vineyards and an explanation of when the best malbec grapes in the area were ready for harvesting - the delicate balance that was needed between sunlight and rain to end up with grapes that were not too watery but also not excessively sweet. After this we were taken to the cellars where the thousands of liters of wine were preserved in oak barrels. The aging process was a delicate one that requires significant amount of time, investment and expertise. At this winery, wine was aged both in the barrels then later on in bottles all underground in the cellar. 

The next part was the most exciting - the wine tasting. Unfortunately we were not given a proper tutorial of how to taste well at this winery, but this was fixed at our last location. We tasted around 4 different types of wine at each place - there were generous servings - at least half a glass per wine. 

Our next stop was an olive farm. Again we had a tour of the farm, followed by the processing section and finally a food tasting session. That was some delicious olive oil!

Our final stop was a winery called Don Arturo. This was my favourite winery. I finally learnt properly how to "taste" red wine. We started off by placing a white napkin behind the glass to see if we had a truly red color. A "brownish" color would be a sign of too much oxidation, and that is a wine that you do not want to drink! After this we swirled the wine in the glass for 30 seconds or so to let it breathe and to see if the wine had "tears." At this stage we looked at the glass to see if there were "streams of tears" coming down the glass after the swirling. In the words of our guide, "If the wine doesn't cry, you will do the crying the day after drinking it." Having ascertained that our wine was enough of a cry baby, the next step was to sniff the wine. You were to let your senses take in the different aromas, flavours etc. and mentally prepare your palate for the tasting. Next, I took a large sip. You were to keep the wine in your mouth for a few seconds and try and really taste it. It was such an enjoyable process. We went through this for quite a few different types of wine. Their wines were great and well priced. I think each of us left with a bottle or two. 

We got back to the hostel in time for free wine. Our refined palates were now able to discern that the wine at our hostel was not all that great (when compared to all the others we had been drinking at various wineries, but likely still more superior than most wines we had drank in our lives:-).....It is from a wine growing region in Argentina after all......I suspect that some of the wines I have drank in my younger years had never ever contained anything from a grape...perhaps they were vodka with red food colouring....) Back at the hostel, everyone was in a good mood. It was an American girls's birthday and her friends were making a huge dinner. They invited all of us to join in and just asked us to bring drinks - which we were more than happy to. I love the communal nature of hostels - can you imagine something like this happening at a hotel? Heeeee heeee! 

After dinner we decided to go clubbing. By this time our group had grown larger to also include a few French backpackers. We got lost walking to the club. We asked a random stranger for directions, and they asked all 6 of us to jump into their car - and drove us there......This was definitely not Nairobi. Reminiscent of Valparaiso, I got to the hostel at 7am even though I had an almost 14 hour bus ride to Buenos Aires the next day......That is a story for my next post:-)

The aftermath of wine country

                                   One of the reasons Thekenyanexplorer needed to reflect on her life

After my fun day in Mendoza - going out to the park, making friends over free wine, going out clubbing and discovering what I believe is the worst drink known to humans - Fernet, getting home at 6am....I woke up at 12:30pm.....Suffering. This was to be the day of the vineyard tour. I had already paid for it and I was not about to lose my money. I showered, drank lots of water and tried to look as functional as I could given my poor state. Around 1:15pm we were picked up from the hostel for the vineyard tour. On the itinerary were two vineyards and one olive farm. The van spent the next 45 or so minutes picking people from various hostels. I was already starting to feel unwell but thought I would survive the day.

Our first stop was the olive oil farm. We were escorted to a lovely room with all sorts of  hors d'oeuvres that either had olives or were to be dipped into different types of exotic olive oil - ginger, garlic, pepper flavoured....everything that would normally entice my senses. I felt a gag reflex. I promptly fled from the room, went and ordered a taxi (that cost me a pretty penny) to get me back to the hostel. I blame fernet. I spent the rest of the day so so sick. At the hostel I was advised to take some flavoured soda water to at least fill my stomach. I couldn't eat anything all day. I bought the soda water, went to a little park opposite the hostel and reflected on my life. My reflections were as follows: "Silly silly girl! You should know better! What is wrong with you? Why did you have to take so much wine, beer and fernet yesterday?" Having self-flagellated to an acceptable extent, I went back to the hostel. I joined people on the patio for free wine at 7pm, but sat there drinking my flavoured soda water. That day we were determined to find the buffet place, which we finally did. By that time (around 9pm) I was ready for my first meal of the day. I stuffed my face at that nice buffet place on Lazarus street. Haiya! I just realized how ironic that is. I felt like I was brought back to life from the dark place I had been during the day...on Lazarus street of all places. 

All of us went back to the hostel and watched "Taxi driver" followed by "The others." That reminds me I need to watch "The others" again. I love horrors!

Heeee- so this is wine country!

Picking grapes off the "roof" at the hostel patio

The park close to our hostel in Mendoza

In my first official day in Mendoza I woke up at around noon. I was in a 6 person room and was woken up by the sounds of new people moving in. I jumped out of bed. This was late! I had planned to go on a vineyard tour that was to depart around 1pm. My two new roomies turned out to be a really great German guy and girl. We instantly hit it off speaking German and hearing from them about their adventures in South America. I believe the standard list of questions for other backpackers I had met along the way was 1. So where are you coming in from? 2. How long will you be in South America for? 3. What does your itinerary look like. We quickly got up to speed with Max and Barbara. The best advice they gave me was to change the hostel I planned to stay in Buenos Aires. 

Max and Barbara: It is a party hostel

Thekenyanexplorer: Sounds like my type of hostel.

Max and Barbara: No, really! It is full of 18 year olds who don't know how to drink. You will wake up to puke on the floor. You can never sleep as people party 24 hours a day.

Thekenyanexplorer: Uh huh! Ok. Time to cancel my "Milhouse hostel" booking and change to this Eco Pampa place you guys have recommended.

They also had plans of doing the vineyard tour, but we quickly discovered there was a nationwide strike that day. Everything was closed. This actually became quite common during my stay in Argentina - nationwide strikes. The weather was rainy, but we all decided to go to a park nearby that was meant to be quite pretty. We waited at the hostel for a Norwegian friend of theirs and together we went to the park.

It was half an hour's walk away, and we spent an hour or so walking around at the park. I was so thankful for all the speed-walking I have been doing at Jaffreys as this was no normal stroll in the park. We were walking quite fast - which I actually enjoyed a lot. I am one of those people who get irritated when I am in Nairobi CBD and people are walking slowly as if they are in a wedding procession. 

After our cardio session at the park we went back to our hostel and had a few beers as we waited for the 7pm free wine. Now that I think about it, I don't think we ate anything that day other than some yummy chocolates that Jonas (our Norwegian friend) bought us. After the beers, we had lots and lots of wine. More and more people streamed onto the patio and at "free wine time" was when I realized just how many people the hostel had. Friendships were quickly made - lubricated by bottle's of wine and cemented with memories that none of us would clearly remember at a later date. The patio was something from another planet. I only realized that the plants hanging from the patio "roof" were grapevines, when we were provided with bowls to grab as many grapes as we wanted to have with our wine...Yes, true story!

At some point someone mentioned there was a great buffet place that cost around $10. We all walked there - by this point we were a group of around 15 or so very loud tourists. We never found the place and ended up eating somewhere along the way - no real recollection of where exactly. At some point Jonas mentioned he knew a cool hip-hop club in the middle of Mendoza. Off we went! I was out till around 6am and clearly remember hearing Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby got back," in Mendoza:-) Wonders never cease. My one poor decision for the night was having a few shots of some Fernet - an Argentinian liqueur. It was a decision I would really regret all of the next day. 

Going to Argentina baby!!

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!