We spent one day hiking (or, more specifically, scrambling) up a riverbed to a swimming hole nearby. Other than that, it was lots of chilling sprinkled with some wine tasting along the way. Having found a hostel with a decent kitchen (not a common thing in Bolivia), it was also great to cook some dinners at "home" after so many nights eating out.
From Cafayate we headed to Mendoza on our first of the fabled Argentinean "cama" (sleeper) buses. They lived up to all we had been told to expect -- flat screen TVs, dinner with wine, AND if you ride the super posh line (which we took down to Buenos Aires), seats that go 180 degrees back and champagne after dinner. After 14 hours, we could have easily stayed on for longer :)
Mendoza is a city of about 100,000 people located not far from the Andes and the Chilean border. Before even considering all the beauty surrounding, the city itself is amazingly charming. Treelined streets, tons of hip cafes, and a 420-hectacre park in the middle of town... we could have easily spent a lot more time in this town.
We spent a day biking around to some of the local wineries which was lots of fun. The route we were on featured mostly small family run vineyards. Our favorite was run by a french couple who moved to the area knowing nothing about how to make wine just 10 years ago (anyone looking for inspiration?!).
Our other outing from Mendoza was to the town of Potrerillos which featured beautiful views of the nearby mountains and a lake where Nader braved the chilly waters for a dip.
So far Argentina is treating us very well... Off to an ex-pats election party tonight in Buenos Aires. Here's hoping for change.
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