Time to head for the wine regions of Chile and Argentina. :-)
We were a little delayed in leaving due to Pete throwing a box up to the wood locker at the top of the truck.....then when it missed the box and gravity took over, catching it....with his face. 5 stitches at the local hospital and we were off. He was fine really and Kirsten looked forward to removing the stitches in a week's time. We're trying to persuade her to make it a group activity.
Stopped at Salto del Laja, a beautiful waterfall where it seems locals come with their families to enjoy the cool, refreshing spray and take a dip in the pools. Then a 2 minute drive to our campsite, which overlooked a similarly beautiful waterfall. We set our chairs out as though we were watching TV. More addictive then Emmerdale.
Temperatures are now in the 30s so we are starting to get swimming pools at some sites. Much needed after a day in a hot truck, tent set up and bag sort. If the showers are a bit ropey/cold/outdoors then I'm starting to regard a swim as 'getting clean'. It's funny how one's standards change according to environment. Rather than aim for 'clean' with my clothes (hand)washing, I now find myself using phrases such as 'cleaner' or 'clean enough'.
I nearly floored myself by joining the trip to a Chilean vineyard at 11am.
Pished? Ush?
Duncan & Francois dressed up for wine tasting
Mucho barrels
The vineyard owner's personal collection below. Nice.
Our hosts at the Balduzzi vineyard were generous and so I slept in the truck while some of my fellow overlanders went to another vineyard in the afternoon. Tired and dehydrated, I was mucho unimpressed to find that our next campsite had lots of huge horseflies, which took a liking to me, biting me through my clothes FFS! I can't explain why but anything that would crunch to crush freaks me out, even to swat away, so after 6 bites (them) and a fair bit of shrieking and swearing (me) I was about ready for a good cry. I settled for an early night and escape to the tent instead.
Santiago was explored on foot and after a fair bit of camping, we had one night in a hotel. Hurrah for real beds. Not the prettiest of rivers running through its centre......
Willy Wonka's chocolate factory?
....but we found a good spot to while away a few hours over a late lunch in the Bellavista part of the city. Only particularly memorable observation other than that was the number of couples smooching in the parks. They were everywhere! Good on em, I say.
Getting from Chile back into Argentina took us through the Andes, with some crazy views and roads and a border crossing at about 3200metres high.
17 switchbacks (or something like that) on this bit of road
Mendoza saw us take in 3 vineyards and one olive oil production place....an oliveyard? I thought it wise to pour out some of the wines into the spit bucket this time (sorry Rachel/Amanda, I know, I should be ashamed, but in my defence, it was hot etc and I don't fancy one of my hangovers on a truck). I picked up a rather restrained couple of bottles of wine and some olive paste (like a pesto) and dried roasted tomato paste, which now awaits a picnic opportunity. The tours round the vineyards were interesting but we probably looked a bit disinterested for our last guide. I wonder if he heard Ken saying "just give me the booze" at the back of the group. Ha.
Luckily for us, the campsite we wanted hadn't responded to emails and so we were in a hotel in town again. 4 beds and a lot of stuff in a small room, a wet room bathroom (ie, shower over toilet), electricity that turned off now and again, but a bed nonetheless.
Dinner out for many of us and Vanessa managed to clear a steak that wasn't far short of the size of her head.
Unbelievable. Seriously warm here. Midnight took us off to a bar which advertised a drag show at midnight. On they came at 2am, but only after some of our gang had entertained us with their attempts on the pole on stage.
Introducing myself to the drag queen and showing her some pics of my fellow overlanders' skills proved later to be a mistake when she asked me, during her show, in fast and (to me) unintelligible spanish whether I would participate. "Just say 'si'" shouted my 'friends' and I assumed she was asking if I was having a nice time in Mendoza. So, I was suprised to find myself pulled on stage for a dance off.
First the fear
Oh! THAT dance Duncan!
Duncan (see Bariloche post for background) and I were each paired with a local, but when "Gangnam Style" came on, which is clearly Duncan's signature tune, it was game over for me and my partner. Despite the disappointment at the clear flagrant rigging of this 'competition' by Duncan (ahem ha ha)I was slightly relieved when the music started as my Argentinian partner had told me it was the "horse song" which when not written down, could be interpreted by a terrified brit who has just unwittingly entered a dance contest as the "whores' song"!
Mendoza is a totally dead ghost town during siesta (which the Argentinians like to stretch from about 1pm to 5pm, so it's no wonder the economy here is a bit shaky) but come the evening, it is packed......
Busy
Much of the activity is based round the biggest of the city's 5 squares, with families flocking to have ice cream, watch performances, or dip in the fountains. I'm starting to get a bit sleepy at midnight but the toddlers are still going strong. It's so hot here, it's very strange to think a few weeks ago we were looking at Glaciers. Mendoza generally gets rain once a month, but it's had no rain for 5 months. Craziness.
We spotted an unfortunately titled tour bus....
