Wellness

Stayed in bed until late in the morning. Had an appointment at 10 for massage. Malene was first and after 1½ hours it was my turn to get the best massage for a long time. Hot stones and holistic stuff - and good massage. It is a tough life to be backpacking.

Took a walk to town in the afternoon to get some practicalities sorted. Money, food, finding the place for tomorrow mornings departure. Went back to the hostel and relaxed some more before packing backpacks and having late dinner - home cooked.

Hiking to Cerro Otto

Decided to do a small hike today. To the Cerro Otto ski lift. Some 6 kilometers out of town. Nice weather for our walk but a bit windy. When we arrived at the ski lift in the afternoon, it turned out that it was also too windy so it was closed for the rest of the day.

Walked back towards Bariloche and had lunch at the pirate restaurant. Nice salad and Tiramisu. Just made it back to Bariloche before the rain started. Read a bit in the afternoon and booked massage for tomorrow.
Headed out for dinner at 9. Found this nice restaurant yesterday that is supposed to be really good. Couldn't book a table tonight due to some privat party there but we were told to just show up.

The place was full but we waited for some 45 minutes in the bar, sharing a nice bottle of wine from Mendoza with some local meat and cheese for starters. Got a table, ordered steaks and mashed potatoes - and another bottle of red wine. Delicious. Unfortunately no room for dessert.
Staggered home - went to bed.

Another great day in Bariloche

Stayed in bed until 1 in the afternoon. Only got out of bed for breakfast at 9 but headed back again after a pancake and some scrambled egg. Nothing fancy but enough.

Relaxed the entire afternoon in the local park. Picked up some food on the way there and found a nice spot on the grass where we had lunch and later enjoyed the sunshine. Headed back for hostel and relaxed the rest of the afternoon on the roof terrace overlooking the lake. Headed to the town centre at around 6 for a short walk. Picked up a piece of chocolate (after all this is the capital of chocolate), and walked to the hostel. Cooked the pasta we bought yesterday and had dinner - on the roof top terrace watching the sun set over the mountains. That's how a saturday in january is supposed to be.

Bariloche

Woke up in the morning because police and police dog visited the bus. Bingo and b-movies later in the morning - as always when travelling by bus in Argentina.

Arrived in the afternoon in Bariloche. Brilliant weather and beautiful lake, mountains - and touristed town. Got to our hostel and headed out for some late lunch. Took a short walk in town before going back to hostel - planned to make pasta for dinner but fell asleep instead. Must have been needed since both of us more or less passed out. Maybe we've been pushing it a bit over the last few weeks. Who knows.

Bus to Bariloche

Walking in Mendoza on our own this morning. Nothing we had to do or see today. Just relaxing before another long bus ride. Left our room at 10 and walked around town to see the different squares.

Late bus in the evening. Delayed for 1 hour. First class bus. Front row seats. Left Mendoza in rain and thundershowers.

Trip to the top of the mountains - almost

Pick up early. 7:30. Nina - the danish girl from yesterday - was also on the trip
Drove all morning to the Chilean border with a few stops on the way. San Martin bridge, Uspatala village and then we headed for the 4000 meter mark and the memorial built there by the Chilean and Argentineans to commemorate their peace treaty. Also the same place where we could officially have a foot on the other side of the border into Chile.

Drive back down to the village, dropped around 1000 meters altitude on narrow gravel road.

Had lunch and did explore the ruins on the railroad before heading back towards Mendoza. Stopped and the inca bridge and looked at the rocks. Decided to walk along the old railroad to a bridge nearby instead of hanging out at rarther boring inca market.

Back to the bus - and to Mendoza after a couple of hours of driving. 400 km in total today. Not bad for a short trip.
Had a shower before going to find a winebar - Wines of Mendoza. Turned out to be a little more complicated than what we thought. Eventually we found it, had a glass of local wine, realised that it closed at 10 (early) and headed for another winebar closer to the hotel. Got a nice table in the courtyard and had the best dinner.
Headed back to hotel for some much needed sleep.

Mendoza Wine Trip

Arrived in the morning at Mendoza bus station. Picked up by local guide and headed for the hotel. Got our room and had a shower before walking to the town centre for some breakfast/lunch. Headed back to the hotel and was picked up for the afternoon trip to a couple of local wineries.

It turned out to be less good trip - but with another dane on the bus - Nina. Visited a couple of wineries - but felt we had to rush through not really getting a chance to taste the wine and relax a bit. Last stop was the olive oil factory - but from our point of view more of a joke. 10 buses and way too many people to enjoy a rather small place that was more shop and less factory.
Headed back for town and  relaxed a bit before going out for some dinner - sushi and drinks. Went to bed early.