May 05, 2009

How we rolled in Mendoza...


How we got there...
For 100 pesos ($AUD38) we caught an overnight bus from Cordoba. Considering our recent luck with buses, it's unsurprising that our bus broke down in the middle of the night and we were shuffled onto another bus that was flagged down from the side of the road.

Where we stayed...
We scored big time with Hostel Empedrado, for an unheard of 35 pesos each a night (that's $AU25 all together), we got our own private room with cable TV. As our photographic evidence clearly shows, Craig was a tad excited by the 70 plus channels, and dragging him away from his 'Mendoza position' – laying on the bed with one hand behind his head, the other holding the remote control – proved to be a difficult task over our six-day stay. The place was also clean, had two kitchens and snail-slow-but-free internet.


Who we rolled with...
We ran into Stephanie and Mark, from Canada and England respectively, out the front of a wine-tour office in the town's centre. Once they found out that we were living it up in hostel luxury for the same price as their dorm beds at the local HI Hostel, they hotfooted it over to Hostel Empedrado.

What we ate...
Steak, steak and more steak. OK, that's not entirely true, sausages and ribs also made regular guest appearances on our plates. The highlight of our trip was when Mark and Steph suggested we fire up the hostel's parilla on our final night. With Mark being fluent in Spanish, we managed to secure the best cuts of meat, and, with Craig and Mark almost wetting themselves with excitement, we slow-cooked the steaks and ribs to perfection.

What we did...
On the few occasions I managed to drag Craig away from his daily fix of Friends, Two and a Half Men and The King of Queens, we went white-water rafting, did a winery tour and chilled in the massive local park.