Three more days in Mendoza.

I didn’t have any activities planned for today so I enjoyed a leisurely morning, eating breakfast at the very last minute. I had a look at the map and thought about going for a walk in the park, then I saw a lookout called Cerro Gloria. The Venezuelan lady in my room, Mery, was also doing nothing so I invited her along on my walk.

When we went to get ready she talked to the Argentinian boys in Spanish. It was a very long conversation and I could tell she was changing the plan. Apparently, it was 30 minutes on the bus or a 50-minute walk one way – far too far according to the Argentinians! We would have to catch a bus. I was looking forward to killing a few hours just walking, it wasn’t to be so I just went along with it.

We caught the very full public bus to a run-down and closed zoo. Then it was a 15-minute walk uphill to a big memorial for San Martin. The views were really nice from the path up. We walked down and returned by bus.

I made rice stir fry for lunch just to prove I could cook. I was looking for something to do in the hostel when I met Mel, a solo female traveller. She was from Thailand but lived in Sydney. After harassing the receptionist Nico for about an hour each, before both settling on booking the hot pools for tomorrow, I suggested we go out for some drinks and dinner at 7. We walked down the main bar street, absolutely filled with craft beer bars – cervecerias. I had wanted pasta for dinner but we could only find hamburgers on offer. So we went to a really cool beer bar with 26 local craft brews on tap. I tried a Diablo IPA and a Scotch Ale. Then somehow, a bit tipsy, we stumbled upon a brightly lit and nice restaurant selling really cheap pasta and wine. I had gnocchi with bolognese sauce. Mel’s Spanish was just as bad as mine and we weren’t 100% certain on what we ordered.

Termales Cacheuta

The next day I woke up feeling a bit dusty from all the alcohol at 8.30am. I had time for a quick breakfast before our pick-up at 9am. Mel had got a fever overnight but wanted to come along anyway. Nico had said there were other things you could do in the village.

The bus took about 30 minutes, up the scenic valley we had come down from Santiago. It was freezing there but beautiful, with brown hills and crazy rock formations in the hills. We shared a locker and I suggested Mel take the key, so she could get the pools if she changed her mind. That was at about 11am. A massive school group appeared just as I jumped into the first pool with freezing feet!

Luckily, there was an 18+ adults only pool. The water outside wasn’t that warm, probably just body temperature in the cold air. I moved into the inside pools. They were super warm but in a steamy tent with condensation dripping on your head. I went back outside, just to stare at the hills. A black horse made it’s way up the rocks. Around 1pm I started feeling a bit hungry and needed to use the bathroom. I went to find Mel but couldn’t see her anywhere – it was too cold to just have lunch in your togs and my wallet was inside the locker!

Stuck in pool, I met a Chilean guy called Felipe who had lived on Rapa Nui. At first, I found him annoying to talk to, but when he returned and I still hadn’t seen Mel I was glad for the company. He had a drone and we took some videos. I asked the pool guard if he could see a Chinese girl anywhere – he said no. It was now 3.30pm and my skin was so wrinkled for being in the water for nearly 5 hours. Just as I was going to go to another pool with Felipe, Mel appeared! She had been in a restaurant reading her book and hadn’t clicked that I needed the key to doing anything. To be fair, I hadn’t thought of that when we bought the locker! She took a couple of photos for me, then I got out and changed. We went to have a beer and empanada (for me) and hot chocolate (for her) in a random bar playing 80s music. The village was like a weird cowboy town, with just a few wooden run-down buildings.

We left for home at 5pm in the van. I said I’d cook for Mel since she needed to lie down and didn’t have the energy to go out! When I got into my room the two Argentinians were sleeping, yet again. One of them rolled over and said to me, ‘do you want to smoke some weed?’ I replied, ‘You said you couldn’t speak English!’ It turns out they can. They prepared for their night by drinking these hideous Red Bull and vodka RTDs, while talking about girls they were going to meet in town.

I went to go make dinner but was immediately intercepted by an older guy called Juan staying in the hostel. He said there was a guitar performance. So I grabbed my mini-wine half bottle from the tour the other day and he opened it for me. A Colombian conductor, also staying in the hostel was an incredible classical guitarist. He dedicated a few songs to me. A cute little 6-year old called Lucia also played a piece and a teenage student. I shared a glass of my really good wine with the guiatrist. Then at about 8pm, I tried to make a stir-fry for a Thai person in a terrible hostel kitchen after a few glasses of wine.

Last day Mendoza

The next morning I woke with enough time to check out by 10am. I had to wake Argentina boys who were also meant to be checking out at 10.20 because they were still asleep. I started watching Toy Story in Spanish with Mery and the bald receptionist who kept calling me Linda until midday. Just when I was about to leave for a walk, Mel messaged from her bed upstairs if I would like lunch. An hour later we were at a really nice French bistro called Marie Antoinette. Aside from the name, you could tell it wasn’t Argentinian because they served vegetables. I had a big glass of Malbec, shared a prosciutto, burrata, caramelised pear and walnut salad with Mel, and had prawn and pesto handmade pasta. It was amazing. We also got a complimentary beetroot spread with bread.

Back at the hostel, Harry Potter Omnibus in Spanish was on TV. I watched a bit, then went for a big walk in a big park to stretch my legs, knowing I had a huge bus trip ahead. The park was so dusty and although the city streets were absolutely empty on Sunday, there were 1000s of cars and motorbikes hooning around the park at full speed. Families sat around eating picnics. I walked around a lake, where a rose garden had once been but was now torn out. Right at the end, I had a sudden stomach cramp, a slight problem before a massive bus journey. But luckily there were some free toilets in the park.

Back at the hostel, I watched a bit more Harry Potter with Mel, before getting the receptionist Nico to call a taxi to the bus. I couldn’t for the life of me understand the taxi driver but he kept talking to me. I was sitting on board the surprisingly full bus at 7pm.