The Bus
Not being a great fan of bus travel, I was a but sus. of all the reports of bus travel in Argentina. However, "don't know if you don't try it", so off we go for an overnight bus ride to Mendoza - 1000 km west of BA. There's different classes of bus travel roughly according to the slope the seat reclines to. We chose middle of the range - equivalent to Business Class air travel (I don't believe lines like that). Sounds good - never done Business Class - but probably good for some sleep.
The BA bus terminal is BIG. Most people travel by bus, and Argentina is very BIG.
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| No - it's not a mirror at the end. This was the quiet side. The other side was too packed to get a good picture. Downstairs was food, etc |
Leaving BA in peak hours down the 18 lane main road. What can I say. Actually drinking champagne while the mayhem of BA traffic for 2 hours is an experience. Glad I wan't the driver.
Hot meals turn up after an hour or so, desert, snacks, coffee - there's coffee, juice, water, biscuits available near the stairs whenever you want - a few TVs in the aisle and headphones - blankets. All very civilized.
Breakfast turned up at some stage when we were a few hours out of Mendoza. Not much to see outside other than the plains and an occasional home/shack of sorts. Somehow we managed a pretty good night's sleep with the occasional wake up when the bus stopped for tolls, driver swaps, or whatever else happened in the middle of the night. Didn't get to see the views, but then not sure the 1000 km of central Argentine plains along straight dual lane highways does a lot for me anyway.
You can tell you're getting closer to Mendoza by the number of vehicles/houses/towns as well as a few stops to let people off - but the last 2 hours did seem like a very long 2 hours.
Mendoza by Day:
Out at the bus station, collect our bags, "I"nformation. We need somewhere to stay. The guy at the information desk spoke English fluently (Anton was saved) and after a 30 min chat about everything from Mendoza to Australia to what we did to what else he does to a general chit-chat we left armed with a map and a list of hotels. Don't think I've ever come across an information desk person like that ever before - 11/10 rating. Muchas gracias.
The good thing about Mendoza is no-one hassles you. We wandered around for an hour or so in the morning and eventually decided on a hotel overlooking a park near the centre. We weren't sure how long we'd stay so 1 night for starters. Dumped our bags and off for some lunch.
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| Great food - great weather |
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| Proves we're near the Andes. |
The weather was fantastic, the city - somehow a million people live here - seams a very laid back relaxed place. A total contrast to BA. Time to see how the place ticks.
The map (no scale shown) shows a hill with a view over the city, so we make that our goal. Through the inner city area and out into a large parkland area we walk...and walk.... and walk...
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| Anton got ahead of me for a while. |
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| Nice parkland. |
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| Looks like a gum tree from Australia to me. |
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| I caught up to Anton. |
We gave up on the hill, but a great parkland area. Lots of people running, bicycling, dog walking. Promised myself to get up early and come here for a jog in the morning. Wishful thinking.
Mendoza by Night:
Whilst going to and from our hotel across from the park during the day, it looked like something had been/was going to be on in the park sometime. Tonight it was. The Mendoza International Food Festival !
Food and music from around the world. At 7:00 pm - Maybe we should go for an hour or so? Back to our room at 1:00 am. The pictures say it all, so I'll leave it at that. The morning jog in the park got the flick.
...and lots more. Palestine, Armenia, Italy, Colombia, Peru, etc, etc.....curiously no Asian food.
Entertainment? A bit of everything and an MC (the host) that has a Doctorate in rolling "RRRRRs" in Spanish.
The problem with our first day in Mendoza was that it was so full that the next day would probably seem pretty flat, so we decided to spend it on a bus across the Andes to Santiago. No morning jog - sad. Best find a bus to Santiago instead.
Farewell Mendoza after just 1 day, but another one of those places that's well worth a decent length of time in. A big tick of approval.
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