March 23-31, 2008 - Santiago, Chile

March 23, 2008 - Santiago, Chile
=========================

I woke up later than planned and got to breakfast just before it closed at 10:30 AM. I met and chatted with a Columbian Girl and an English couple at breakfast before heading out at 11 AM. My first stop was at the Chilean Poet Pablo Neruda's home (La Chasona) in the Bella vista Suburb. I reached there around 11:45 AM and booked myself on a guided tour of the place for 12:45 PM. I spent the ensuing hour making Phone calls to friends and family and taking pictures of the neighbourhood around La Chasona.

We were given a very good guided tour (in English) of La Chasona that lasted 45 minutes. Neruda lived here with his mistress Magdalene. It is a very beautiful house that contains a painting by the Mexican Artist Diego Rivera as well as the Nobel Certificate and Medal awarded to Neruda for Literature in 1971. I had never seen a Nobel Certificate or Medal before so that was a first for me.

I would have liked to buy works by Pablo Neruda (translated in English) from the gift shop. But as the selection was limited, I passed. I walked back to the main street of Bella vista - PIO NONO and had a vegetable empanada for Lunch. It went very well with some hot sauce and should keep me hunger free for the next few hours.

Post lunch I took a long walk to the Bellas Artes Museum where I donated 500 pesos ($1) as they did not charge an entrance fee. There was a good section on sketches by artists such as Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Pablo Picasso and Joaquim Torres Garcia (Uruguay). The museum was also having an excellent special exhibit devoted to the works of the Columbian Architect Rogelio Salmona - who is 81 years old and still continues to work. Many of his works contain a lot of curves similar to the Brazilian Architect Oscar Niemeyer (who continues to work at 100!).

There was also a Photo Collage exhibit that I hated intensely. It seemed a pretty sad way of saying that you are an Artist! I purchased a nice Tie at the Museum shop before heading to the Plaza de Armas. I headed to a nearby Mall and change my Argentine Pesos to Chilean pesos. I probably lost about US$10 in the process. I also found a MOVISTAR office in the mall and get my Old Chilean Mobile Number reactivated. I added 3500 pesos (US$7) worth of credit and was glad to see that International text messaging still worked (I was able to send and receive messages). Incoming calls are all free so I do not use up my credit when folks call me from the US.

I had a Venezuelan Coffee and biscuits for tea before heading to Casa de la Moneda (Presidential Palace). It is a grand edifice and I took some pictures. I may come back at 9:30 AM (one of these days) to witness the Changing of the Guards.

I got back to the Hostel and spent time checking my E-mail and doing some research on the Wineries I wanted to visit. The front desk folks at the Hotel are extremely helpful.

For dinner, I headed to 2 different Indian restaurants and they were both closed! I had to finally settle for Chinese food. I had Vegetable Noodles and Wine from the Santa Rita Winery. Both were OK. I took a detour to a local grocery store to buy bottled water and cookies before heading back to the Hostel. I chatted with an American Couple and the Canadian couple from breakfast for a little while before retiring for the night.


March 24, 2008 - Santiago, Chile
=========================

I woke up at 7:15 AM and was done with breakfast by 8:30 AM. My chat with Lucy (she of the American couple) took longer than expected and I decided that I would not be able to make it for the Changing of the Guards at the Presidential Palace.

The Museum of Money was closed as was the Museo Ferroviario (Museum of Locomotives). Monday is the day when all museums are closed! I booked myself for two Bodega visits and tastings before heading in search of the American Express office (to exchange my Traveller's checks at a good exchange rate). On reaching the location (based on my Guidebook), I was told that the American Express office there had been closed for years and I was directed to another office 2 train stops away.

On reaching the other office, I was shocked to find out that the currency had strengthened against the dollar in the ensuing months and I was given an exchange rate of 440 Chilean pesos to the US Dollar. I proceeded next to the Chilean tourist office where the folks were not as helpful as I expected. Could it be the fact that I announced myself as being from Estados Unidos? I should probably announce myself as being from India from now on and see the reception I get.

I headed to the town centre and found the Municipal tourist office was closed. I headed to an All-vegetarian restaurant (NATURISTA) and was pleasantly surprised to see it packed. I ordered a soup and a tortilla. While the soup was quite good, the tortilla was more like an omelette which was not what I expected it to be! While munching on this, I got a great idea on how a traditional Indian Pancake (ADAI) could be made healthier if we could bake it instead of frying it. Whether it works remains to be seen!

I spent some time after Lunch planning the transport options to visit the wineries on my list. The transport arrangements present more difficulties than obtaining bookings to visit the wineries themselves. I went to the Presidential Palace and was told that visiting the palace was not possible at this time, but I could perhaps "try later".

I went to an Internet cafe for 30 minutes to obtain some information before settling at another vegetarian restaurant for an early dinner. Santiago seems to have many natural food restaurants. The Vegetable Quesadilla was OK. I headed back to my Hostel and located the nearest laundry. I was assured a 1-day service on my clothes. I hit an Internet cafe and blogged for 2.5 hours but the backlog still seems to stay at a month!

I received a call from a friend in the US and we chatted for as long as he wanted to chat (as I was not paying anything!). I noticed that my room smelled and was told that it has been painted! I was not happy with this. They could have waited until I cleared out on the 31st before painting the room.

I will have to wake up early tomorrow as I may have to take multiple forms of transport to reach the bodegas I am scheduled to visit. I hope all goes well.


March 25, 2008 - Santiago, Chile
=========================

I woke up early. As it is still quite dark until 7:30 AM or so, it makes it difficult to gauge the time in the mornings. I had requested an early breakfast and I was done by 8 AM. I walked 10 blocks (15 minutes) to Republica Metro station before boarding a metro bound for the Central Station. On reaching the station, I purchased a ticket to BUIN (600 pesos). The train departed the central station at 9 AM. The coach was comfortable and as we were headed out of Santiago (against the traffic) the train was not crowded.

The ride to BUIN took 35 minutes. On getting off at BUIN, I approached a Kiosk owner (near the station) to get directions. He was rather helpful and told me that I could take either a bus or a shared taxi to reach the Santa Rita Winery. One has to say Puente Alto (the direction where I am headed) before asking for the Santa Rita Winery. After a 10-minute wait, I boarded a bus and bought a ticket (300 Pesos - US$ 0.70). After a 15-minute ride, I spotted the Winery on the right hand side and requested the driver for a drop-off. I was dropped-off at the entrance to the Vineyard.

The guard at the entrance talked to the tour office inside and told me that I was 1 1/2 hours early! I told him I was quite aware of that and that I did not expect my commute from Santiago to be this quick. He told me that I could head to the tour office area and walk around the vineyard to kill time. There is nothing else in the surrounding areas to do.

Santa Rita is in a lovely setting at the foothills of the Andes (although there are no snow covered peaks to be seen in the distance :)). I started walking to the office. I walked along a tree covered roadway on either side of which were Vines as far as I could see. After a 10-minute walk I reached an Adobe restaurant and the tasting rooms. I was asked to visit a museum located on the other side of the restaurant.

I had expected to see a wine museum containing the usual relics --> tools and transport used in the decades past, the evolution of the winery from its founding year (1880) and so on. I was surprised to see a sign that said "Museo Andino". The entry was free and I was the first visitor at the Museum today.

The Museum is dedicated to Andean Culture and contains artefacts from Peru, Columbia, Ecuador as well as Mapuche and Rapa Nui (Easter Island) cultures. The exhibits date from 11,000 BC to 1500 AD and they were in the form of Pottery, Textiles, Statues, Metal Implements (Horse shoes, Saddles etc.) and Ornaments (gold and silver) that were collected over a 40+ year period by the President of Santa Rita (winery). I spent a full hour here and could have easily spent more time admiring these collections. They represent one of the best collections I have seen in a long, long time.

A truly terrific way to use one's riches as it not only gives great pleasure to the "Collector" but also ordinary folks who may never get to see these otherwise. I am extremely happy that I arrives here 90-minutes early.

By the time I finished my tour of the Museum, it was close to the start of the Winery tour. I joined the tour of the winery with a Bilingual guide. There were 6 of us - 4 from Columbia, 1 from Spain and me (I was from India - for today!). Needless to say the English part of the speech (from our Bilingual guide) was just for me. She explained everything in Spanish first before repeating the same in English for my benefit.

Santa Rita uses steel tanks for fermentation. French and American Oak Barrels are used for aging. Santa Rita produces over 120 Million bottles of wine per year. Despite the winery's age (128 years), its operations have been modernized as evidenced by the bottling operation that can turn out 20,000 bottles per hour!

The old underground cellars at Santa Rita have been declared a National Monument in Chile. The bottles are arranged head to toe as it helps limit damage during earthquakes. During the 1985 earthquake out of 120,000 bottles stored here, only 2 were broken!

Santa Rita produces a wide range of wines. Their mass market wine is produced under the "120" label. Their Premium wine is called "CASA REAL". We tasted a 2007 Sauvignon Blanc and a 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. We were given our tasting glasses as a memento. The wines we tasted were decent. We were given generous pours and I was forced to throw more than 50% after my tasting.

After the tastings, I loitered around the wine shop for a bit as I wanted to ask the clerk some queries. The Spaniard was buying wines and after he finished we wished each other luck / good tastings etc. before he stepped out (The Spaniard spoke English). After seeking a few clarifications on the wines we had tasted and then some, I told the clerk that I needed directions to get to Puente Alto (where my next wine tasting was).

He told me that the Spaniard was headed in that direction and told me to wait for a few minutes while he rushed out of the shop to ask the Spaniard to wait for me! He came back and collected the wine tour and tasting fee of CLP 7500 (US$18). All I can say, the tasting glass (souvenir) is rather expensive!

I walked out of the shop and saw the Spaniard waving to me. We shook hands and got in the car. He has been asked to drop me close to CONCHA y TORO (another massive winery) from where I could get a bus or a collectivo (Shared taxi) to Puente Alto. We chatted a bit during the 15-min ride. He used to work for Spanish Police and now does computer forensics for Interpol. How I wish I could get a good Analytical and challenging job like that! Some of the areas where his expertise is sought are Money Laundering, Child Pornography and Electronic piracy. He is currently in Chile on assignment and has used his free day to see some wineries! He told me that he has been to India as well to attend a forensic conference.

We reached Concha Y Toro and he dropped me off. I thanked him once again and headed to the nearest bus stop. I got a bus to Puente Alto (400 Pesos) right away and reached the centre of Puente Alto 15-minutes later.

I entered the city council office hoping to get some tourist Information on Puente Alto. There is a person in the city council office who sits in front of a computer and whose sole job is to help tourists. After about 20-minutes, we managed to find the exact location of ALMAVIVA Winery and the cheapest way to reach the place. I could have easily taken a taxi as the Winery had suggested, but I wanted to explore alternative options.

Lunch was a fiasco in that I could not find a place that served vegetarian food. I went into a supermarket instead and emerged with a can of juice and a bar of chocolates! After quenching my thirst and hunger somewhat I took a bus headed to San Bernardo and paid the fare of 400 pesos. I asked a couple seated next to me for Information on where to get off to reach ALMAVIVA Winery. They told me that they were getting off at the same place so I could follow them off the bus!

We reached the place after a 20-minute ride. The Winery entrance was hardly 30-metres away. A taxi from Puente Alto (for this ride) would have cost me 4000 pesos!

The sign at the entrance says "Concha Y Toro" while I have come here to visit "Almaviva". ALMAVIVA is jointly owned by Concha Y Toro (50% - Chilean) and by Rothschild (50% - French). A 10-minute walk inside the Concha Y Toro compound brings me to the entrance to ALMAVIVA. It is approximately 2:45 PM. The Security guard at the gate recognized my names and calls-in to the office inside. He accompanied me to the office and introduced me to SOLEDAD who will be my guide. She asked me to wait for 5 minutes while she finished up some work.

We start our tour and I am pleasantly surprised to find out that this is a private tour for me! This is a very small operation when compared with Santa Rita. ALMAVIVA produces 100,000 litres (150,000 bottles) of wine per year. They produce just 1 Wine - ALMAVIVA which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (70%), Cabernet France (5%) and Carmenere (20%). They appear to be even more selective than Achaval-Ferrer (Argentina). Drip Irrigation is used to water the vines. The 2008 / 2009 ALMAVIVA may have Merlot and Petit Verdot in the blend as well.

The Winery is advised by a French Oenologist. ALMAVIVA has been in operation for less than 15 years and their first bottles wines date back to 1997. In keeping with French tradition, ALMAVIVA also produces a second wine called EPU that is sold ONLY in CHILE. Steel tanks are used for fermentation. French Oak barrels are used for aging. While many wineries used their OAK barrels for at least 3 vintages, ALMAVIVA uses their French OAK barrels just once.
The wines are aged for 12-18 months in OAK Barrels. On the whole, Chilean wineries aged their wines a lot more than short-storage, quick-sell Argentina! ALMAVIVA has 3-levels of Press wines. We saw the excellent barrel storage facility before heading for the tasting.

I tasted ALMAVIVA 2005 (that costs 60,000 Chilean pesos - US$ 150 per bottle). The wine tasted very good but would be better if aged for 3-5 years more.

I purchased the Second Wine (EPU) from 2000 (considered a very good year) for CLP 7000 (US$16). The tour cost was 20,000 CLP (US$46!). Despite the high price of the tour, I would highly recommend visiting this Vineyard / Winery. I thanked Soledad for taking the time to show me around and we chatted about Indian Teas (which happen to be her favourite) for a bit.

On the way back to the main road, I spotted VINEDO CHADWICK which was also highly recommended by Hugh Johnson's wine guide book. I did not feel like doing another wine tasting and tour right away and skipped it.

I took a bus back to Puente Alto (400 pesos) and then took a Metro from there to Central Station. I got off at Bustamante (Station) to check out a second Indian restaurant (Salaam Bombay - How original!) I ordered food and a half-bottle of RHIN from Undurraga winery. It was a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling from 2004. It had 13% alcohol content, was pale yellow in colour and went well with the spicy Indian food. Since all I had was a can of juice and a bar of chocolate for lunch, I ordered extra bread as well to complete what would be a lunch cum dinner (it was hardly 6 PM).

Towards the end of my meal, the waiter asked me where I was from. When I replied India, he posed the question "Que Ciudad" (Which city?). When I replied "Chennai", he asked "Habla Tamil" (Do you speak Tamil? - My mother tongue!). I said "yes" in Tamil. It turned out that he was from Kanyakumari in the state of Tamilnadu (for which Chennai is the Capital). We started conversing in Tamil.

He had been in Chile for the past 5 years and working at this restaurant for the past 3 years. He told me that the restaurant opens for lunch from 2-4PM and for dinner from 7-12 Midnight. As I was a loner, he agreed to feed me at 5:30 PM! Since the chef was taking a break between shifts, he had been preparing my meal. Here was yet another case of a preconceived notion being incorrect (I had assumed he was from Bangladesh)! He happened to be a Hindu who had converted to Christianity (as evidenced by his name - Raman Samuel Nadar).

He gave me his card. I advised him against moving to the US or Canada as he would have to struggle there to establish a foothold. At least in Chile, the man has decent (free or nominal fee based) health coverage. He told me that there are 600 Indians (or people of Indian Origin) living in Santiago while there was 2000 folks of Indian descent in all of Chile. I think the Indians out here need to breed faster :)

I may visit the restaurant again during the rest of my stay. I headed back to the Hostel and chatted with a German who was wandering Chile to get some inspiration to finish his second collection of poems (at least that's what I think he told me). His name was Dieter Wagner and his first published book was "Suffering is like Happiness"! Don't ask me more :) I have not read it nor tried to delve into the meaning of the title or its contents!

I headed back to my room and wrote my diary before going to bed.

March 26, 2008 - Santiago, Chile
=========================

I woke up a bit later than usual but was ready and done with breakfast by 8:30 AM. I walk to the nearest Metro station and took a train to the University of Santiago Station. I walked 2-blocks to Terminal Sur (Bus Station). At the mention of Santa Cruz (where I needed to be for my wine tasting today), I was handed from one agent to another to another before finally being the shown the bus to board for Santa Cruz. [Note: There is heavy competition for customers as many Bus companies ply the same routes. Hence the need for many 'agents' whose job is to rope in as many customers as possible for the company they work for. The fares are all the same.]

I took a seat and the bus departed shortly after 9 AM. I had assumed that the ride to Santa Cruz would take 2-hours, thereby giving me at least an hour to get a collectivo (Shared Taxi) to take me to the Winery (Casa Lapostolle) for my tour and wine tasting session at 12:30 PM. I paid the 2500 Pesos (US$6 approx.) fare and settled back. The bus turned out to be providing a "Stop-when-requested" type of service. We reached RANCAGUA around 10 AM. We departed RANCAGUA at 10:15 AM and reached San Fernando at 11:15 AM. I called CASA LAPOSTOLLE from San Fernando and was told that the tour would indeed start at 12:30 PM. I watched the Scenery as the bus proceeded from San Fernando to Santa Cruz. I saw a sign on the right that said "Casa Lapostolle" and immediately requested the driver for a stop (Yes, I was availing myself of the "Stop-as-requested" privilege!). As the bus was travelling at 90+ Kilometres an hour (60 Miles), it was more than a mile from the Winery Entrance when it eventually stopped and I got off.

I went to the other side and waited at the Bus Stop there. A Collectivo came along presently and I took it and was dropped at the Winery Entrance a few minutes later (cost 200 Pesos - less then 50 cents). It was 12:15 PM. The guard at the Winery entrance (upon ascertaining the purpose of my visit) tells me that Winery tour and tasting are done at the CLOS APALTA Vineyards about 5 Kilometres (3 Miles) away on a road to the right!

It was blazing hot (34 C - 95 F) and I was not planning to walk the entire 5 Kilometres to the Winery. I stopped a passing Cyclist to reconfirm directions and he told me that I would need to take a Collectivo to get there. As it happened, a Collectivo was passing in the opposite direction and the cyclist stopped it for me. I told the driver where I was headed (a direction diametrically opposite to where he was headed!) and as there were no other passengers in the collectivo, he turned the Vehicle around and took the dirt road to the APALTA Vineyards.

We could see Vines covering the hillsides. After a drive of about 8-10 minutes, we pulled up in front of CASA LAPOSTOLLE (the CLOS APALTA Vineyards). I requested the driver to drive me all the way in and drop me near the offices - as the walk from the gate to the offices was more than a Kilometre and I was running late (It was just past 12:30 PM). As we waited for the gates to open (All Vineyards have large steel gates with security guards and access to the Vineyards is strictly controlled), we saw a van pull up close by (It was coming out of the Vineyard). The Security guard motioned for our car to stop and asked me to talk to the driver of the Van!

It turns out that the lady (driver of the Van) was heading to the main Casa Lapostolle office to pick ME up (as the guard from that Winery had called here informing them of my presence there!). Good Job! I paid up my Taxi and got into the Van with Lisa.

We drove into the APALTA Vineyard (a long drive as I had suspected). After passing through rows and rows of Vines, we drove up a steep Incline and pulled up next to a building and parked. We walked inside the building passing grape sorters on the way. We commenced our tour around 12:45 PM. It was (yet again) a private tour being done just for MOI! Talk about things working out in the end despite all the obstacles encountered during the process!

Grape picking is done manually at Casa Lapostolle (many Premium wineries do that and Casa Lapostolle was one). The Unique aspect at Casa Lapostolle is that de-stemming is done by hand rather than a machine as at other Wineries. There were 30 or so ladies de-stemming grapes. Another unique aspect of wine production at Casa Lapostolle is that Alcoholic Fermentation is done in Giant OAK (French) vats. Almost all of the wineries I had visited thus far do the majority of their alcoholic fermentation in giant Steel or concrete tanks.

APALTA (their Signature Wine) is a blend of Carmenere, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Carmenere is the largest percentage in the blend while Petit Verdot is the smallest percentage in the blend. French Oak is also used for Barrel Storage. As at ALMAVIVA, CASA LAPOSTOLLE uses its OAK barrels just once. However, unlike ALMAVIVA, Casa Lapostolle does not produce a Second Wine. It produces just APALTA here.

The building housing the winery resembles a giant OAK Barrel embedded into the mountainside! The side of a mountain was dynamited to create this building. The building is 5 storeys tall. One enters on the top storey and climbs down to reach the each of the 4 subterranean levels. Gravity is used to transfer wine from 1 stage to another. The grape picking and sorting is done at the 5th level. The fermentation tanks are at the next level down. The OAK barrels are at the next level
down while the bottling is done at the lowest level! A temporary Bottling truck pulls up at the lowest level when bottling is required. Only the LABELS on the bottles are done at the main site (on the main road - Where I first landed before coming here).

ALMAVIVA (visited yesterday) has 3-pressings of its grapes although its Winemaker may decide whether or not to blend the different presses in a given year. CASA LAPOSTOLLE wines are made from Single Press only. The residue remaining from the first press is used as compost. I was taken to the cellar where the barrels are stored. It was quite impressive. What was even more impressive was the very large private cellar (below the main cellar) where the owner keeps her collection! Tourists are most certainly not allowed to view that during the tour. Employees of Casa Lapostolle are apparently taken there as part of their orientation! The owner (Alexandra Marnier Lapostolle) belongs to the Grand Marnier Clan. Hence money is not an object here and it shows!

We tasted the following wines:

Casa Lapostolle - Sauvignon Blanc 2007 - 14.5% Alcohol - 85% Sauvignon Blanc & 15% Semillon blend - Very Good

Casa Lapostolle - Cuvee Alexander - Cabernet Sauvignon (2006) - 15% Alcohol - Excellent

Both of the above wines were made at the Main Winery

We finally Tasted CLOS APALTA (2005) [Blend of 40% Carmenere, 55% Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot blend (the proportion is adjusted by the winemaker and varies from year to year) and 5% Petit Verdot]. This was definitely a young wine and would perhaps be ready by 2012. It had a 15% Alcohol content. As I mentioned before CLOS APALTA is grown and bottled at this Winery and 2005 is the most recent Vintage in the market. Casa Lapostolle produces 11, 000 cases of CLOS APALTA per year.

I purchased a Cuvee Alexander Sauvignon Blanc 2006 for 13,000 Pesos (US$ 28). The tour and tasting fee was 20,000 Pesos (US$46) which was way more than my room rent at my Hostel (13,500 pesos - US$ 29)! Oh, what the heck? At least I did not spend money lamely on a car rental, or an overpriced tour agency! For the money I paid, I got what amounted to a private tour and tasting!

I had asked Lisa on where MONTES Winery was located and she had told me that it was close by. At the end of the tour, she spoke to her manager and took me in a van and dropped me off at the entrance to Montes which was a 5-6 minute drive along the same road and is a competitor to Casa Lapostolle.

Talk about being nice! I thanked Lisa and we parted. She has 2 kids and is currently separated. She did a course in Viticulture before taking up a job as a guide in a winery. She used to work at VIU MANENT (another Winery Close by) before moving to Casa Lapostolle.

It was 2 PM and my tour and tasting at MONTES was not until 3 PM. As there was no place else to go, eat etc. I waited near the guard station (which did have some shade). I had cookies and water for Lunch!

The downside to wine tasting in these wineries (located in out of the way places) is that there are no places to have a meal (and I am not even talking of a DECENT meal - Some meal, any meal really!). While waiting for the clock to strike 3, I labelled and edited my pictures (directly from the Camera) and wrote my diary. At 3 PM, I was asked by guard to head-in. It was close to a 1-Kilometre walk from the main entrance before I reached the offices. I think I lost my Sunglasses in the taxi (on the way to Casa Lapostolle). The sun was scorching. But I still prefer this to RAIN!

Pamela (of MONTES) was waiting for me to commence the tour. There was a family of 3 from California (Father and 2 sons) who were part of the tour as well. In contract to Casa Lapostolle, MONTES produces a large range of wines. MONTES ALPHA M is the top wine. MONTES FOLLY and MONTES PURPLE ANGEL round up the top wines at MONTES. Alcoholic fermentation is done in Steel tanks. OAK vats are used for MONTES ALPHA M. Gravity approach as well as pumps used to move wine from one stage to another. MONTES have 3-pressings done with their grapes before the residue is used as compost. The OAK barrels are used twice before be re-sold to smaller wineries.

The de-stemming is done my machine. The harvest for 2008 is yet to commence. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Carmenere, Petit Verdot and Sauvignon Blanc are all grown here. They are trying to grow Malbec as well. We visited the tasting area reserved for Commercial folks. It was a beautiful place. The Barrels are stored in stadium seating like setting. The tourists stand and observe from the dais at the centre! Music is piped in 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is supposed to help in the evolution of the wine as well! (Learned something new today!)

The 5 of us (Including Pamela) were joined by an elderly Indian couple (Harish and Veena) at the tasting. Now there were 3 Indians and 3 Americans! We tasted a Sauvignon Blanc (Very, Very Good), Pinot Noir (Hated it), a Cabernet Sauvignon + Carmenere Blend (excellent) and Syrah (OK). The pours were generous and our discussions were spirited. I purchased the Cabernet Sauvignon + Carmenere Blend for 4500 pesos (US$10).

I thanked Pamela, bid adieu to the group and started my walk to the entrance. Harish and Veena (the Indian Couple) pulled up and next to me and scolded me for not ASKING for a ride! They gave me a ride all the way to San Fernando even though they were staying a place that was perhaps midway between CLOS APALTA and San Fernando! It was at least a 30-minute ride out of their way. They are retired and do 3-month adventure trips at least once a year. They are currently travelling across South America.

At San Fernando, we exchanged e-mails and promised to stay in touch. I took a slow bus to Santiago (2000 pesos) that departed San Fernando at 6 PM and reached Santiago around 8:45 PM. I took a metro train and walked to my Hostel. I called up the Indian restaurant (Majestic) but they were fully booked for the evening. I walked to Plaza Brasil nearby and ordered a vegetarian sandwich w/goat cheese at a local restaurant. It was bitter, but I ate all of it! I walked back to the hotel, wrote my diary and went to bed.

The Winery tours in Chile have been excellent all around. I have purchased wines from 3 top producers. I hope they survive the flight to New Jersey (they did). The pours were generous and the tours good. I was the sole person or joined at best with a handful of people on these tours and tasting. There were no large HERDS like at tastings in Mendoza (especially La Rural!).

I am not sure what I want to do tomorrow.

March 27, 2008 - Santiago, Chile
=========================

I woke up early and was done with breakfast by 9 AM. I took my clothes to the nearest laundry and was told that I could pick them up (clean, of course) after 7 PM today. I took a train to the University of Santiago and headed to the bus station there. I boarded a bus to ISLA NEGRA where the first home of the Chilean Poet Pablo Neruda is located. The bus was air-conditioned and the fare to Isla Negra was 3500 pesos (US$8).

We departed Santiago at 10 AM and reached Isla Negra at 11:30 AM. En-route we drove inside what has been the longest tunnel of my trip thus far (perhaps 3 Miles). While my bus ticket said ALGORROBO, Isla Negra is 20-minutes away from ALGORROBO and the bus did take me there. From the bus stop, I walked for 10-minutes before reaching Neruda's place. I booked myself on a guided tour in English for 3500 pesos (US$8). I wandered around and took pictures until the tour commenced around 12:30 PM.

Our tour guide was an elderly lady who spoke flawless English. There were 6 people in our group. The house was lovely. Like Chasona (in the Bella vista Suburb of Santiago), Neruda house at Isla Negra features a lot of ocean and sea related artefacts and the house itself reminds one of being on a ship with its narrow doors, ship masthead figurines, pebbles and shells. The house also contains eclectic collections of Neruda such as butterflies, insects, birds, coloured glasses. The house has been built without the use of nails. Wooden pegs have been used instead. He even had a tooth of a fully grown Narwhal (Fish found in Arctic waters). The tooth was about 7 feet long! The man's appetite for collecting exceeded my own - and that is a big understatement!

The tour lasted 30+ minutes. We were not allowed to take pictures of the interior. I had a light lunch at the Museum Cafe with a lovely view of the Pacific. I wrote a few postcards during lunch and mailed them at a post office located within these premises.

I decided to visit the nearby town of Cartagena. I took a bus and the roundtrip ticket cost me 1000 pesos (US$2.1). The ride to Cartagena took about 20 minutes. While the main square was nice, the waterfront (located about 300 metres away on steep downhill roads) was far more interesting. I spent about 40 minutes here before taking a bus back. I thought I was headed to Valparaiso (as the bus took a much longer route) until it finally pulled it to the bus station at ALGORROBO!

I used a paid bathroom facility here. It is a good concept especially as they are clean. I purchased a ticket to Santiago (3000 Pesos - US$7) and slept most of the way until I reached Santiago. I got off close to the Metro Station Pajoritos and took a train to the centre. It was close to 6 PM.

I visited a tour company and booked myself on a trip abroad the "Tren del Vino" for Saturday (Mar 29) that cost me 22,000 pesos (US$50). I went to the Teatro Municipal a ticket for a classical music performance for Friday evening (March 28). A seat in the Amphitheatre Section cost 11,000 pesos (US$25).

I headed to the Laundromat and picked up my clothes and got back to my Hotel. I spent the next 30-minutes repacking my large duffel bag to ensure that the wine bottles I had purchased were adequately padded for the journey to the US.

I had dinner at an all-vegetarian restaurant called El Huerto. The food was decent. The wine was excellent. It was a Carmenere 2006 from VINA COCHALAN that was Medium bodied with a deep ruby red colour and a light finish (14.5% Alcohol).

I may wander around Santiago tomorrow as I have a performance to attend at 7 PM at Teatro Municipal.


March 28, 2008 - Santiago, Chile
=========================

I got up a bit late, skipped breakfast and headed out to Casa Moneda (The Presidential Palace). Upon reaching Casa Moneda around 9:15, I was informed by a policeman that the Changing of the Guards would take place at 10 AM. I headed to a nearby Starbucks and had coffee and muffin for breakfast before heading back to Casa Moneda by 9:45 AM. The place was packed with tourists as well as locals.

The Changing of the Guards last 30 minutes or so and is held Mon thru Wednesday and Fridays. A nice ceremony. I could visit this place again next Monday (Mar 31) if need be. I headed next to Teatro Municipal where I was told that there are no Organized tours of the place. I could come back on Monday (Mar 31) at 9 AM and speak to an individual about a private tour of the Theatre.

I headed to Casa Colorado (a Historical Place) and spent around 35 minutes here (entrance fee of 500 pesos). This place chronicles the birth and growth of Santiago and the English translations are pretty good. I hopped on a metro to Baquedano station and headed to Pio Nono street (Bella vista Neighbourhood) where I had a Falafel with Hummus (on Pita bread) for Lunch. This was the first time I tasted anything middle eastern during this entire trip. The Falafel and Hummus were quite good.

I tried doing some souvenir shopping but found the prices for Lapiz Lazuli (trademark Jewellery from Chile) rather steep. I abandoned my souvenir shopping for the day and headed to the tourism office in Casa Colorado to obtain directions to other souvenir shops. I found that souvenirs made from Alpaca wool are even more expensive (than Puntas Arenas). I gave up and returned to my Hostel around 5 PM.

I rested a bit, showered and headed out of the hostel at 6 PM and reached Teatro Municipal around 6:30 PM. The Anfiteatro level ticket that I had purchased (11,000 Pesos - $24) had me seated at the 3rd tier of seating. The Theatre had been restored well and I had an excellent view of the stage. As the performance for this evening was not sold out, those of us seated in the 3rd level were offered seating in the lower level (Premium seating). Everyone in our area took up the offer except 5 of us.

The Orchestra played pieces by PUCCINI, MARTUCCI, ROTA and RESPIGHI. While the PUCCINI and MARTUCCI pieces put me to sleep, the ROTA and RESPIGHI pieces woke me up :) The crowd was quite appreciative as well. The concert was over by 8:30 PM and I got back to my Hostel by 9 PM. I headed out and had an Ice-cream with Fruit Salad for dinner as the Falafel/Hummus lunch was rather heavy. I proceeded to spend the next 2 hours at an Internet cafe to copy my Memory cards (the speeds were terribly slow).

Observations
==========
School children here are required to wear Uniforms. I noticed this across all the 5 countries I had travelled thus far. The uniforms in Uruguay and Northern Argentina have a very catholic touch in that even boys wear a frock on top of their trousers (sort of like a priest). Nevertheless it is nice to see Unformed school kids.

Waiters at Chilean restaurants make it a point to tell you that tip is not included and recommend a 10% tip! This is getting to be like the US, where tip is expected irrespective of the quality of service. Argentine is far better in this aspect. Leaving no tips at restaurants is not an issue. ANY tip is gratefully accepted. I hope Chile follows its eastern neighbour than the one far North :)

March 29, 2008 - Santiago, Chile
=========================

I am not sure if my alarm came on, but I woke up around 5:45 AM. I had a cold shower as the hot water is timed to start at 7 AM! I hate places like there where you ablutions have to be scheduled to the hotel's timer! I just have 2 more days to go before I depart for the US, so I do not want to go through the process of exploring and switching hostels.

I left the hotel at 7:15 and reached the central station around 7:40 AM. I purchased a ticket to San Fernando (1600 pesos). I had a muffin and an Orange juice for breakfast while I waited for the train to depart. The 80 Kilometre (50 Miles) ride to San Fernando took 2 hours. I felt the train speed was decent despite it making about 15 stops on the way.

The TREN DEL VINO was just pulling into the Station as I arrived in San Fernando. I took pictures of the steam power train. I had booked myself on the TREN del VINO trip. The TREN del VINO would be taking us through Chilean Wine country during which we would sample some Chilean wines and cheeses. While waiting for the TREN del VINO to depart, I noticed a much nicer commuter train pulling into San Fernando Station. This train had left Santiago about 30 minutes later (than the train I took) and reached San Fernando 10 minutes later. Being an express train, the seats and service were much nicer (not that the ones on my train were shabby). I might take this train to Santiago on the way back (assuming the schedule meets my needs).

I was asked to sit in the last car (of TREN del VINO). My companions were a group of Germans and French as well as a large group of Chileans. The Chileans were loud - as they always are when in a group.

We were headed to Santa Cruz located at a distance of perhaps 40 Kilometres (25 Miles) from San Fernando. Our TREN del VINO would take a leisurely 90 minutes to reach Santa Cruz.

We were served wines from VINA PORTA. The first was an excellent Sauvignon Blanc from 2007 that had a powerful nose, a light yellow colour and a smooth, short finish. The second was a Cabernet Sauvignon from 2006 that had a light nose, deep purple colour, medium bodied with a very long finish. I felt that the wine needed a few more years to mature and 3-5 years of aging would make it a very good (if not excellent) wine.

We were also given fruit and cheese platters along with bottled water and soda. In short, a very good wine tasting treatment.

Upon reaching Santa Cruz we were treated to a welcoming dance (perhaps Mapuche in Origin?) by some locals. The entire train (apart from moi) was comprised of people from different tour groups. I took a taxi to the town centre (300 pesos).

I obtained a map of Santa Cruz at the Santa Cruz Hotel. I walked to the nearby Mapuche Museum and paid my entry fee of 3000 pesos (US$7). I also paid for an English Audio guide (Headset) that cost me an additional 2000 pesos. It turned out to be an excellent museum and well worth a visit. Without my realizing it, I had spend close to 2 hours here. The museum chronicles Andean Peoples and Civilization, European conquest and occupation, liberation from Spain, World wars and more. The exhibits included costumes, coins, ammunition, jewellery, as well as a good selection of Antique cars. The museum also had a small section on ancient brewing and wine making techniques. Overall an excellent museum.

I headed to a Sushi place in the main square and had Cucumber Sushi with Wasabi along with Hot Sake. One of the waiters from TREN del VINO (who spoke good English) was waiting tables here. With the exception of the Sake, all was well.

Post lunch I headed to the Santa Cruz Hotel (On the main square) to look at some handicrafts. They were (as usual) way too pricey. I decided to head to BODEGA VIU MANENT. I had a long wait for a bus. It was worth it as the 10-minute ride to the Bodega cost me 300 Pesos, while the local taxis wanted 3000 pesos! I had to walk a Kilometre from the main road to the Bodega Entrance (which was not a problem for me).

The tour and tasting was 10,000 Pesos (US$22). I ensured that I would be tasting some well recommended wines before I forked out the money. I expect that! Myself and a elderly couple from Texas were given a tour of the winery and the vineyard on a horse drawn carriage.

We did a barrel (actually it was from a large steel Tank) tasting of a 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve that had been aged for 12 months in French Oak. It was an excellent wine that was deep purple in Colour, smooth with a long finish.

At the tasting, we were given:

SECRETO VOIGNIER (2007) - Sweet, Simply Excellent
Malbec Reserva (2006) - Strong Nose, Light Body, rather sweet
Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva (2005) - Floral Bouquet, Medium bodied with Medium Finish - Excellent

and finally:

Late Harvest Semillon (2006) - A lovely dessert wine.

I purchased a 500 ml bottle of the Semillon (to take back to the US) for 4000 Pesos (US$ 9). This would be my 4th bottle. I am not sure how I am going to pack these in my checked-in baggage to ensure their safe passage to New Jersey!

I took pictures of the Grapes (the fleshy fruit made for some interesting pictures) before coming to the main road and taking a bus to San Fernando (450 pesos). After a 30-minute ride, I was dropped at the Bus terminus at San Fernando. I took the 7 PM bus to Santiago (2000 Pesos). Despite the promise of it being a non-stop bus, it stopped whenever requested :( A movie was being shown during the ride to Santiago. I managed to catch glimpses of "The Great Debaters" starring Forest Whitaker and Denzel Washington.

We reached Santiago close to 9:30 PM and I reached my hostel around 9:50. I did a quick check of my e-mail and found that my Japanese friend (from Ushuaia) had not yet arrived in Santiago. We will miss each other as I am headed to Valparaiso early tomorrow morning and will not return until late in the evening.

The search for restaurants (serving some vegetarian) was (as usual) frustrating. I finally settled on a cafe for a vegetable Sandwich and a Milkshake. The Salsa Aji (Pepper) I requested with the Sandwich was simply divine. I wrote some diary (at the cafe itself) before paying up and heading back to my hostel.

Update:
======

All bottles arrived safely in the US. The US customs did not bother with the 4 bottles of wine I was carrying. I did taste the Late harvest Semillon (2006) and it was superb. I would definitely recommend the purchase of this wine.

March 30, 2008 - Santiago, Chile
=========================

I woke up early, had a hot shower and was ready by 7:15 AM. The exterior door (to the street) was locked from outside (by the night manager of the hostel) who had gone to get fresh bread for breakfast! I waited for 20 minutes until he arrived. I had a glass of juice but skipped breakfast. I took a metro to PAJORITOS Station and purchased a ticket to Valparaiso for 3700 pesos from TUR-BUS.

The bus departed at 8:50 and made its way out of Santiago. After leaving Santiago well behind, we more or less took the same route that I took to get to some of the Vineyards. We drove through a really long tunnel (around 3 Kilometres - 1.8 Miles) and passed through the Chilean Wine country (Casablanca Valley). I was "BODEGAED OUT" and did not want to visit any more vineyards!

We reached Valparaiso around 10:15 AM. I visited the excellent tourist office at the Bus terminal (in Valparaiso) and obtained a very good map of the place. Valparaiso is a hilly area with many Cerros (hills). In addition to roads, there are also many funiculars that can be taken to reach the top of some of these cerros. 15 of these funiculars / cerros are declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO. The earliest of these were built during the 1880s.

It turned out to be a lovely day yet again. I have not had a single bad day since landing in Santiago almost 10 days ago.

I viewed Valparaiso from Polanco, Peral, Concepcion and Espirito Santo funiculars before taking a metro train for 2 stops to view the port of Valparaiso. The metro train was excellent and clean. I spent about 20 minutes at the Valparaiso port before heading to Cafe Colour at Cerro Conception for Lunch. The vegetarian options were OK. Rice was uncooked and that to me is the easiest thing to cook!

There were 3 young American girls seated next to me. Needless to say they were talking loudly about anything and everything. While most of it was inane here is a snippet from their conversation that set me thinking (and doing some reading): "Black and White are not Colours but Shades". To a layperson that comes across as asinine. But technically speaking, BLACK is NO COLOUR (or absence of colour) where WHITE is ALL COLOURS. (reflection of all colours).

Post Lunch, I wandered around Cerro Concepcion and took pictures. I purchased a Chilean Wine guide from a wine shop. Many of the funiculars were under repair and not functioning. I visited Museo Lucas (on Gervasoni Promenade) that contained works by the Italian Caricaturist Renzo Pecchenino. The captions were all in Spanish but some of them were so good that they required no translation!

At the end of this visit, I received a call from a friend in the US and spent close to 30 minutes talking to him. That is the good thing about being with MOVISTAR in Chile. All incoming calls are free!

I headed next to Cerro Bella vista where I viewed several Street Murals as well as colourful houses. Some of the Murals here were done by the Chilean painter Roberto Matta.

I had more or less finished my viewing of Valparaiso and headed down. I took the 5:50 PM TUR-BUS to Santiago (3300 pesos - US$7). I reached Santiago around 7:30 PM and reached my Hostel at 8. I rested a bit, labelled the pictures taken during the day and headed to the Indian restaurant located within the Best Western Majestic.

I requested that my food be made extra spicy (something that I NEVER do in the USA) and was spouting flames on consuming it. I was nevertheless thankful for not having BLAND ITALIAN CRAP for the past 10 days! I ordered a half-bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 from Santa Ema that had a light nose, was light bodied with a short finish and was excellent with the spicy food I had ordered. I topped the meal off with a traditional Indian ice-cream with Pistachios. The bill came to 20,000 CLP (US$46) with a 10% tip. I was indeed generous. And why not? The ugly, snooty hostess during my December 2007 visit was not here and the folks who served me treated me well. I could not help but overhear conversation from a large group of folks who were obviously working in the Computer Software industry. Oh, what a boring life they lead:)

I may do some souvenir shopping tomorrow.

March 31, 2008 - Santiago, Chile
=========================

My last day in Santiago/Chile/South America on this voyage! I slept in as much as I could which in my case was getting up around 7:30 AM! I finished breakfast by 9 AM, checked out and asked for the bill.

While I appreciated a small discount in the room rent for 1 day (as it smelled of Kerosene from being painted earlier that day), I was surprised to discover that there was a service fee of 3% on the usage of VISA Cards and that I had been charged for a lot of my Internet usage (when the Hostel's advertisement clearly states that they offer FREE Internet)! When I pointed this out to Claudia (the Owner's daughter) she drew my attention to a small sign (posted in a place where one tends not to look) as saying that the FIRST 10-minutes of usage are free and anything beyond that is chargeable! With the kind of SLOW connections these folks have, 10-minutes of free internet time would get you nothing. The 3% surcharge on the VISA card was a trade-off as my US bank would charge me a similar amount for withdrawing cash in Santiago (to pay the Hostel bill). However, I would have exchanged more Traveller's checks (had I known of this 3% surcharge earlier) as I do not pay any commission for cashing my Traveller's checks.

During all my Travels in Argentina, I had never encountered any of these issues. FREE was FREE and Credit Cards were accepted without any additional Service charges! I suppose, this is the Chilean Sleight of Hand!

Claudia agreed to drop the Internet Charges as she agreed that I had not been told about it in advance (and the sign was not prominent). I had assumed that I would be charged for 10-days, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that I had only stayed for 9. I guess I have saved some money:)

I bid goodbye to Claudia. I left 2 bags in the storage room of the hostel until the evening. I headed to the American Airlines office and booked myself on an earlier flight hoping that I could make the early AM connecting flight from Miami to Newark. That flight was still showing up as full and I was asked by the American Airlines agent to try again when I reached Miami.

I walked to the Bella Vista neighbourhood but was surprised to discover that the artisan place recommended by my guide book was closed. I visited to another place recommended by my guidebook (also located in the Bella vista Neighbourhood) and bought some nice copper plates (from Atacama). The shop carried arts and crafts from all over Chile.

I took a train to TOBALABA (Mapuche Origin?) station and visited the famous MUNDO del VINO wine shop. It is a very large and well organized store. I was happy and relieved to note that there was no difference in price between the wines I purchased at the Winery and the same wines displayed at this store! Unlike Argentine wine shops that stocked ONLY Argentine wines, this shop had a decent selection of wines from France, Spain, South Africa, Australia and Argentina. However, they cannot ship wines. I was already carrying 4 bottles and decided not to buy any more.

I took a train to Santa Lucia and wandered around the Artisan shops there that were also recommended by my guidebook. As I could not judge the quality of Lapiz Lazuli, I wound up instead by getting a native shirt (made in the northern part of Chile) for myself.

I headed back to Plaza Brasil and headed to my favourite cafe to have a toasted vegetable sandwich along with a large orange juice for lunch. I spent the next 90-minutes at an Internet cafe trying to copy the last of my memory cards to my portable hard disks.

I headed back to the Hostel and proceeded to do some repacking as I had to accommodate the souvenirs purchased. The duffel bag appeared a bit heavy - 4 bottles of wine would definitely do that! The smaller bag appeared to be around 15 Kilos. I reminded myself to request the check-in agent at the airport to put a "FRAGILE" sticker on my wine-holding duffel bag.

The shuttle to the airport arrive at the hostel around 5:30 PM. The ride took 30 minutes and cost 4500 pesos (although with the devaluation of the US Dollar, it amounted to more than $10). The wait at the check-in counter took an hour. The Agent told me that the airlines do not put FRAGILE stickers any longer. She advised me to get my large duffel bag shrink wrapped. I did so at a cost of 7000 pesos (US$16). The large duffel weighed in at 24 Kilos and the smaller one weighed in at 11 Kilos. There were no issues with either bag (with respect to their size or weight).

I wandered around the duty free shops and realized that the wines were more expensive here than in the shops at Santiago or at the Bodegas themselves!

I changed the last of my Chilean currency to US Dollars and boarded my flight. It departed on time.

March 22, 2008 - Mendoza, Argentina & Santiago, Chile

March 22, 2008 - Mendoza, Argentina
=============================

I woke up later than expected but was ready and finished with breakfast by 8 AM. I paid up 550 Pesos (US$180) for my 5-night stay here and requested a taxi to take me to the Bus terminal. A Taxi arrived in less than 3 minutes and I was at the Bus Terminal by 8:20 AM. Today, I am being an INDIAN! The Taxi driver wanted some INDIAN Coins from me. I told him that India does not allow Indian Currency to be taken out of the country. Although it is a TRUE Statement, it is observed in breach!

I educate the Cabbie on the 25+ states in India with each state having its own language and cultural traditions. He is surprised. I have educated an Argentina in a small way for today.

I ran into Michel and Lisa (Swiss couple from my SALTA Trip) at the Bus terminal. They were also travelling to Santiago along with their Son - who has been travelling South America on a bicycle. Of course, he was taking the bus for the trip to Santiago!

They were travelling on the same bus as I was. We chatted until departure time. I was seated in the Cama Section while they took the Semi-Cama section. Of the 9 Cama seats, 6 were taken.

We traversed the same route I had taken 4-days earlier to visit Cristo Redentor and Puente del Inca. While other took pictures, I watched with bemusement :) (feels good to be snooty!)

The Andes is one of Nature's magnificent creations. I loved seeing it again for the Second time in a week. After passing Cristo Redentor, we came across the Argentine-Chilean Border tunnel. We crossed the tunnel, entered Chile and stopped at the Immigration centre 2 kilometres later and completed the Argentine (exit) and Chilean (Entry) formalities.

As always one of my gadgets was a cause for concern - this time it was my Tripod. I was asked to produce a receipt for it. I told them that I was from the US (as evidenced by my passport) and that I am not carrying the receipt with me and have been travelling for 4 months (as could also be evidenced by the first Chilean entry visa dated December 2007). I was let go. There was no hand examination of all my possessions like what happened at Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas. All bags were X-rayed here and only suspicious ones (like mine) were asked to be opened.

The descent from the Andes on the Chilean Side was lovely. I took as many pictures as I could. During this ride, I also finally finished Bruce Chatwin's "Travels in Patagonia". It is definitely a good read - if you can finish it in 2 or 3 sittings. We were served Lunch on the bus as well (those seated in the CAMA section). Lunch was HAM and CHEESE Sandwich along with a Soda. I went upstairs to the SEMI-CAMA Section where Michel and Lisa were seated and gave them my Sandwich. I had the Soda and a bag of Chips for Lunch!

We started seeing a lot of Vineyards as we progressed towards Santiago.

March 22, 2008 - Santiago, Chile
=========================

We reached Santiago bus terminus at 4 PM. I bid adieu to Michel and Lisa and their Son. I took a taxi to my Hostel - Rio Amazonas. The cost was 2850 pesos - US$7 approximately. The Hostel looked like a dump from the road, but is a 100+ year old historic building with terrific interiors. I am paying 13,500 Pesos (US$ 29 Approx.) per night for a Single room with Private bathroom and breakfast.

I headed out of the Hostel around 5:15 PM and headed to the Plaza de Armas which was packed with people. However, all shops here were closed. I walked to the suburb of Bella Vista. I passed by the Zoo there and took the funicular railway to the top. There was way too much smog for a decent view of Santiago from the top. I took the funicular back down and walked around Bella vista. I found a very nice wine shop (El Mundo del Vino) and purchased a Map detailing the Chilean wine growing regions.

I headed to the Indian Restaurant located within the Majestic Best Western Hotel for dinner. While the food was standard issue Indian, I had a TRAPICHE CARMENERE Reserve (2006) that had a light nose, 13.5 % Alcohol content, was Medium Bodied with a Medium finish. Overall the dinner and wine were all right.

I walked the 8-10 blocks back to the hostel. The front desk clerk was quite helpful with assistance on Wineries and Vegetarian Restaurants. The hotel provides free e-mail for a maximum of 30 minutes (or was it 15?). I had a quick check of my e-mail, before going to bed.

March 18-21, 2008 - Mendoza, Argentina

March 18, 2008 - Mendoza, Argentina
=============================

I had a good night's sleep. The air-conditioning in the room was good. As I had an early morning pickup, I woke up by 6, and was ready by 7. I was the first person at Breakfast. It was quite dark outside. While waiting for the tour bus to arrive, I talked to the front desk manager (Walter) about arranging private tours to the vineyards / wineries I wanted to visit in Mendoza. Walter called up a local taxi service and told me that a private tour would cost me around 250 pesos (US$83). I was also told that I needed to provide a 1-day notice to the taxi company about taking a private tour of the vineyards. Walter provided me with his cell phone number.

The tour bus arrived a little after 7. I took the seat close to the driver. It was a minibus with a capacity for 18 people that was perhaps half full at this time. After a few more passenger pickups, the bus was close to being full (perhaps 14 people). We headed out of Mendoza towards Villavicencio. Villavicencio is famous for the bottled water it produces. I doubt whether there is any other brand of mineral water in Argentina. After a drive of 20 minutes, we passed the factory producing the bottles of mineral water. We continued on and stopped at the spring where the water is sourced from. We stopped for around 10 minutes at the spring where we saw captive Guanacos. We were also given a free bottle of Villavicencio water thereby saving each of us around 2-3 pesos!

We left the springs at Villavicencio and climbed the mountains. The driver and guide (there were 2 people - which was unusual) spoke Spanish. The drive was truly hair-raising as we went around numerous hair-pin bends during our climb up the mountains. Being in one of the front seats, my thrill level was definitely more! We stopped at a viewpoints at 2200 metres and 3100 metres. From the viewpoint at 2200 metres, one could see the Villavicencio hotel far below us as well as the wonderful dirt roads with the numerous hair-pin bends that we had just traversed. From the viewpoint at 3100 metres, one can catch glimpses of the tallest mountain in the Americas - ACONCAGUA which stands at 6962 metres (over 21000 feet). We managed to get brief glimpses of ACONCAGUA as there was an extensive cloud cover.

We start heading down the mountains from the 3100-metre viewpoint. We were riding through the Andes. There were beautiful vistas all around and I took colour and Black & White pictures through the front windshield and through the window next to me. We stopped at Upsallata for breakfast. Despite having had a breakfast (2 hours ago) I had a buffet breakfast here for 12 pesos. Quite good.

We drove past the Puente del Inca (Inca Bridge) as it was quite crowded at this time. We would be stopping there on our way back (crowds or no crowds). We continued towards the Statue of Cristo Redentor (Christ the redeemer) - a 3 metre high statue - erected on the border between Argentina and Chile to preserve the amity between the two neighbours. The statue was erected in 1904 at an altitude of 4200 metres.

If I thought the climb up the mountains (after visiting the Spring at Villavicencio) was hair-raising, the climb up the mountains to reach Cristo Redentor put my heart in my mouth. Every time the driver look anywhere other than the road or talked to the guide seated next to him, my pulse rate and heartbeat increased by a significant magnitude! THE (and I mean DEFINITIVELY) most hair-raising experience I have ever had.

The views were magnificent during our ascent. When we finally reach the top, I heaved a huge sigh of relief. It was freezing cold at the top with blustery wind conditions. I decided to brave it in my T-shirt even though I had a nice Alpaca sweater in my backpack. After 10 minutes, I got used to the cold and the wind was not an issue as long as I held my belongings (backpack / camera etc.) securely. We got good pictures of the Chilean and Argentine borders as well as the statue of Cristo Redentor. Prior to the opening of the tunnel (as a border crossing passage) between the 2 countries, this was the route taken to go from Argentina to Chile and vice-versa.
We spent around 30 minutes here. Everyone (except the lunatic - Moi) was covered up. I guess these folks cannot handle mild temperatures :)

I took more pictures on the way down as our Vehicle stopped at many places to let upcoming vehicles pass by. We retraced our route and stopped at Puente del Inca (Inca Bridge) which is a natural formation. It is covered in limestone lending it a sickly yellow colour. I got quite a few nice pictures. Pictures taken in Black & White do really stand out.

A lot of Argentine women (as compared to Brazilian women) are WIDE BODIED. Despite them wearing pants, flesh does spill over! I am yet to see an Argentine Woman in shorts (who looks good in it). [Brazil was full of them - Women in shorts, looking good]

From Puente del Inca, we headed a few kilometres south for our lunch break. As usual it was a tiny restaurant with a limited selection and I was the victim of daylight robbery - 25 pesos for a Vegetable sandwich and a coke! During lunch, I chatted with an Argentine couple from our tour group. He spoke English. SHE WAS GOOD! Lucky Bloke is all I can Say :)

Post lunch, we started our drive back to Upsallata. I took pictures along the way. They appear to have come out well. On reaching Upsallata, we had a brief stop for coffee. During the drive back to Mendoza (via a different route than the one we set out on this morning), we saw quite a few horrible accidents where the truck is completely overturned, cargo spilled all over and the cab smashed beyond recognition. Our driver who chatted up the cops (manning many of these accidents) snickered every time with the smug knowledge that it must have been a Brazilian who did not have a clue about driving these roads.

Our driver drove like a maniac. Since I am alive to write this, I guess I have come out on the right side of Statistics! I observed advertisements for Gasoline in many places. While the US gasoline is categorized into 87, 89 and 91 (or regular, premium and supreme), Argentina has Normal, Super and FANGIO (Named after the Formula-1 great - Juan Manuel Fangio)! I must say that I saw no gasoline classification named SENNA while in Brasil.

As we neared Mendoza, we drove by the Vineyards at Lujan de Cuyo. The Ruca Malen and Norton Vineyards were anything but impressive.

We reached Mendoza around 7:30 PM. I sent a text message to Amor and wandered around for a bit, waiting to see if she wanted to get together for dinner. After wandering around for close to 45 minutes, I settled on the Hotel's restaurant (TREVI) for dinner. Yes, the owners are Italians who have been in Argentina for many decades.

I had a Tortelli y Espinaca y ricotta with salsa verdura along with a Trapiche fond de cave Malbec from 2006 that had a strong nose, was medium bodied with a long finish. It was very good. The service was excellent at this restaurant. The owners (perhaps brothers) are terrific hosts and ensure that their customers feel right at home. One of the owners (who came over to see how I was doing with the dinner) was quite upset that I had not mixed the salsa properly and that I had not asked for extra cheese! He took the fork and spoon from my hand to mix the salsa properly before giving them back to me! One more mistake like this and I will perhaps be thrown out of this hotel as well :)

Tomorrow looks like a free day (as I have nothing planned for the moment).

March 19, 2008 - Mendoza, Argentina
=============================

I had a leisurely wakeup as I had decided (last night) to do a city tour of Mendoza (by myself)
today. After breakfast, I walked on San Martin and purchased a Mobile phone card for 20 pesos. I headed to the Mendoza tourism office to ask if they could assist me in Vineyard visits and tastings. The tourist office provided me a list of Vineyards along with their contact details and told me that I would need to call the Vineyards directly and talk to them about tours and tastings.

As I had a fresh phone card in hand, I started to call the vineyards I wanted to visit. My first call was to Achaval-Ferrer a premium winery in the region. I was given a tour and tasting appointment at Noon today! I called Norton (a famous winery) and was given a tour and booking for tomorrow at Noon.

I scrapped my city tours plans for today (herein lies the flexibility of travelling solo) and headed to the bus terminus. I boarded a bus to the town of Lujan (20 Kilometres away). The cost was 1.65 pesos. After an hour's ride, I was dropped in the centre of Lujan around 11:15 AM. I took a taxi shortly thereafter to take me to Achaval-Ferrer winery. What should have been a short 10-minute ride took more than 20 minutes as the taxi driver was not familiar with this winery. We finally found after asking at least 3 different people for directions. The winery is located deep within the Lujan area.

The drive from the gate of the winery to the main building was about 1 Kilometre. The tour commenced around 12:20 PM. Apart from me, there were a Danish couple and 4 Belgians. The tour was conducted in English.

Achaval-Ferrer is a relatively new winery. It has been in operation for 10 years. During their first year of Operations (1998) they produced 2 barrels of wine. In 2007 they produced 11,000 barrels! This is definitely a small operation when compared to Norton (Argentina) or Concha Y Toro (Chile). Achaval-Ferrer focuses solely on Reds and Malbecs only. The winery has 3 owners (Achaval, Ferrer and the winemaker whose names escapes me). During our tour we met Mr. Ferrer who was helping sort grapes! The fermentation takes place in Concrete Tanks. This (Fermentation in Concrete tanks) is a Unique aspect of Mendoza Wineries. Fermenting in Concrete tanks helps in the gradual adjustment of temperature unlike steel tanks where temperature changes are immediate.

The Vines are pruned for super concentrated grapes which results in super concentrated wine. After fermentation, the wine is aged for 18-months in Oak barrels, followed by aging for 18-months in the bottles themselves before being shipped to the market. The United States is the largest export market, followed by Brasil, Europe, the rest of Asia and finally the rest of Latin America.

Achaval-Ferrer specializes in Single Vineyard Malbecs. They produce 3 Single Vineyard Malbecs grown at different altitudes. MIRADOR is produced from grapes grown at 700 feet, BELLAVISTA is produced from grapes grown at 1100 feet while ALTAMIRA is produced from grapes grown at 2200 feet. They also produce QUIMERA which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (25%), Cabernet Franc (5%), Merlot (25%) and Malbec (40%).

Their tasting room was terrific. We barrel tasted all their Single Vineyard Malbecs - MIRADOR, BELLAVISTA and ALTAMIRA. Mirador and Altamira supposedly sell for more than $100 a bottle (I need to verify that). The pour during our tastings was generous. The wines were uniformly excellent. The guide (a young girl) was excellent. I did not buy any wines here. I may do so later. I was not even charged the 30 pesos for the tour and tasting!

I requested the reception (at Achaval-Ferrer) to call me a taxi and waited. The setting of this winery is truly magnificent. The rows of vines were spread in front of me and I could see the snow-capped Andes in the distance while behind me the grape sorters were doing their job that result in these wonderful, super-concentrated wines. This vineyard / winery has to be my Numero UNO when it comes to grand settings. I sent a text message to friends just to rub it in!

The taxi did not turn up. After multiple calls and a wait of over 3 hours, a friend of one of the managers (at Achaval-Ferrer) pulled up in his taxi to take me back to Lujan! Walking is not an option as the town is far away.

During my 3-hour wait for the Taxi, I fixed up some more wine tastings - Luigi Bosca and Zuccardi. I was scheduled for a tour and tasting at Luigi Bosca at 5 PM this afternoon while I was scheduled at Zuccardi at 5 PM tomorrow.

I paid the taxi driver 30 pesos as he had to drive all the way from Mendoza - just to pick me up! I took his number and promised to call him in case I needed transport to visit the Zuccardi Winery. The cost would be 100 pesos as it would involve - Pick up from hotel, head to Winery, wait at Winery - while I tour/taste and return to Mendoza

As Luigi Bosca was also in the Lujan de Cuyo area, I decided to head there after a late lunch. After the wonderful tastings at Achaval-Ferrer, I had a rather sad lunch of toast and Orange juice for lunch! I had to eat something before the next tasting so this was better than starving.

The taxi from the centre of Lujan to Luigi Bosca cost me 6 pesos. This is a very big winery that also produces good wines consistently. Hence it was on my list of places to visit. The tour started 15-minutes late. The guide was horrible and appeared to be going through the motions. Luigi Bosca produces 28 different varietals! Compared to Achaval-Ferrer, these folks are not selective when it comes to producing wines. Luigi-Bosca wines start at 25 pesos, while Achaval-Ferrer wines start at 200 pesos!

Luigi Bosca uses steel tanks for fermentation. Barrel aging is done for 3-6 months. As the guide herself said, Luigi Bosca is more interested in making their money today. The Wine tasting was OK. The pours were adequate. We were charged 15 pesos (per person) for the visit and tasting.

Achaval-Ferrer will henceforth be the benchmark against which other vineyard visits and tastings will be measured!

I took a bus (from the entrance of Luigi Bosca) back to Mendoza. On alighting at the bus terminus at Mendoza, I went about researching and booking my bus ticket to Santiago, Chile. I opted for a CAMA seat on ANDESMAR for 75 pesos ($25) for March 22, 2008.

After booking my tickets, I went about looking for a vegetarian restaurant - which had been recommended in my guide book. On reaching it, I found it to be closed! Perhaps they open only for lunch!

I headed to an Internet cafe to backup my memory cards. On the walk back, I purchased a Phone card from a local kiosk that did not work. After a 20-minute tug-of-war with the kiosk owner (who refused to refund my money as I had opened the package!), I headed to a nearby movistar office where the problem was fixed. Talk about getting an Ulcer for the wrong things!

Based on the e-mail I had received from Michel and Lisa (Swiss Couple who travelled with me in Salta), I headed to their hotel to meet with them for a coffee. They had apparently checked out earlier in the day! I was confused. Amor had sent me an e-mail as well saying that she had tried calling but was unable to get through to me! I cannot wait to get to Chile and IT'S EFFICIENT MOVISTAR (yes, the same company operates in Argentina as well) network!

I capped the long day with a very good ice-cream!

An interesting note
--------------------
Instalment payments are offered even for credit card payments! I could have split my tour charges to ACONCAGUA (yesterday) into 3 payments of 40 pesos (US$13) each. The cost of the bus trip I had booked to Chile (earlier today) could have been split into 3 payments of 25 pesos (US$8) each!

I head to visits & tastings at Norton (Noon) and Zuccardi (5 PM) tomorrow. I will head to a visit and tasting at Bodega La Rural on Friday (Noon).

March 20, 2008 - Mendoza, Argentina
=============================

I woke-up late and by the time I was ready, breakfast had closed. I took a taxi to the Bus terminal ($4.50 pesos). I booked a ticket on the 10:30 AM bus to Bodega Norton ($2.25 pesos). I purchased a box of chocolate covered peanuts for breakfast. Upon boarding the bus, I requested the driver to drop me off at Bodega Norton. I noticed a lot of familiar faces (from yesterday) as the bus route today would take me past Lujan de Cuyo. Quite scary when you consider that most of those folks are regular commuters, while I am a tourist!

The ride took almost 1 hour and 15 minutes before I was dropped near Bodega Norton. The bus stop was hardly 100 metres from the Bodega Entrance. On reaching the entrance, the security folks twisted themselves silly in trying to determine how I would reach the tour commencement area as I did not have a vehicle of my own. I was finally asked to head to the store where one of the girls took me through various buildings before dropping me off at the tour commencement area.

The tour and tasting was to cost 10 pesos. We were all given a welcome glass of sparkling wine - which turned out to be decent. Norton, like Achaval-Ferrer, is situated in a great location. Norton is a much larger and older winery (founded in 1895) and we had wonderful views of the vineyards and the Andes from the tour commencement area.

Norton uses mammoth steel tanks for fermentation. The English speakers were a smaller tour group as compared to the Spanish speaking tour group. Most of the folks in the English speaking group were Americans. To break the monotony, I told the group that I was from India! Many of the wines produced here spend 3-6 months in OAK Barrels before being bottled. The OAK barrels are 95% French OAK and 5% are American OAK. Norton even had 12 experimental barrels of CHINESE OAK. Depending on the amount of lead or arsenic - that all Chinese products carry (!), I think it will serve as an excellent Toilet cleaner :) For the large operation that Norton runs here, they only employ 300 employees. The Grape pickers employed during the harvest season are temporary folks and many of these folks are from Bolivia.

On Thursdays, Norton allows anyone to come in with their containers (usually 5-Gallon Jugs) and buy wines from the Barrels. I have seen this taken place at some French Vineyards as well.
Today being Thursday, there were a whole lot of people filling their 5-Gallon jugs at the back of the bodega!

The tour was done in a very professional manner. At the end of our tour we tasted the following:

2007 Sauvignon Blanc Reserve - Excellent (I am beginning to appreciate white wines better)
2004 Syrah Reserva - OK (Read: Don't spend money buying it)
2005 Malbec Reserve - Good
2006 Malbec D.O.C (similar to Appellation Controlee in France) - So, So (Read: Avoid)

One peeve about the tastings here was that they did not give us fresh glasses for tasting the different wines. As I said yesterday, Achaval-Ferrer remains the benchmark for wine tours and tasting.

I had a 20-minute wait at the Bus stop before taking a bus back to Mendoza. We passed Rio Mendoza and I noticed that it was dry. Not sure if it ever runs full. I got back to Mendoza by 2:15 PM. I headed to Naturata vegetarian restaurant and had a decent fill for 15 pesos. I headed to an Internet cafe and spend 40 minutes here reading the transcript of Obama Speech on race relations. Pretty Impressive.

I decided to call up the cab driver from yesterday. Hector said he would be at my Hotel in 15 minutes. I headed up to my room to rest a bit. Within 5 minutes, I get a call from reception saying that a taxi is waiting for me downstairs. On reaching the hotel reception, I found a new driver waiting for me. Hector had been held up and had sent someone is his place. It was 4:15 PM. I chatted a bit with Julio (the new driver) on our ride to Bodega Zuccardi. We reached Familia Zuccardi around 4:45 PM. I was asked to follow a guide, who when he realized I needed an English tour & tasting guide, gave me a brief (really brief) history of the winery before feeding me to an English tour already in Progress!

The tour group was comprised of Europeans including a young, terribly bored teen who annoyed the hell out of me with his antics. We tasted wines from the fermentation tanks and as expected they turned out to be very Tannic.

Familia Zuccardi has been in Operation for 45 years and produced 13 Million Barrels (20 Million Bottles) a year. The wine pour and tasting was decent although we did not taste premium wines such as Q or ZETA. Of the remainder, the Textual (Caladoc) - Grenache/ Malbec from 2006 was the best. We also tasted Port (Fortified wine) containing 120 grams of residual sugar.

The Shop at Zuccardi was a Zoo. The staff were interested in pushing all and sundry with little time for queries and the Euro trash were obliging them and buying up like there was no tomorrow! Overall I think the tour was just OK while the tastings were decent.

On the way back I requested the taxi driver to drop me off at a main street where I paid him 100 pesos (US$30). From here I took 2 buses to reach Cerro Gloria. After a short steep climb, reached the top. The views from here were decent. There is an Impressive Statue of General San Martin up here. After taking a few pictures, I made my way down and managed to get into a crowded bus to reach the city centre.

Dinner was at a vegetarian place called 'The Green Apple'. There were way too many Aubergine dishes for my taste. I headed back to the vicinity of my Hotel and went to an Internet cafe where I blogged for 2 hours. I still have a long way to go before I am current. I got back to the hotel around midnight, wrote my diary and went to bed.

I plan to visit Bodega La Rural at Noon tomorrow. Outside of that, the rest of the day is free.

I have been surprised to see children walk around with their parents close to midnight. Schools in Argentina have 2 sessions - one in the morning and one in the afternoon. I guess these kids out with their parents late at night may be attending the afternoon session. Or maybe, Thursdays are "come out and show yourself" days here! Who knows?


March 21, 2008 - Mendoza, Argentina
=============================

I woke up around 7:30 AM and headed out of the hotel (after breakfast, of course) by 9:30 AM thereby giving myself plenty of time to reach Bodega La Rural. I waited a while at the Bus station. I noticed that folks were going around asking change for 2 pesos. They were not begging but asking for Change. It then hit me. My electronic bus card had less than 50 centavos left in it. Apart from 20 centavos in Change, all I have are notes which means that I cannot travel on the public bus as one needs to provide loose coins for the fare or swipe the electronic cards (with adequate money on them)!

I left the bus stop and walked to 2 or 3 kiosks to inquire if they could recharge my electronic bus card. None of them could. I gave up and walked to the bus terminus. The official recharging office was closed for GOOD FRIDAY! I was asked to head to another Kiosk that had a REDBUS sign outside it. The Kiosk's recharging machine has broken down. The Kiosk attendant told me to go to the nearest bathroom! You wonder why? Most public toilets in Argentina (and Chile) have attendants who provide you with toilet paper and hand towels if you tip them. As tipping in mostly in Centavos, there was a very good chance that the bathroom attendant would be able to give me some change in exchange for my bills.

I head to the bathroom and ask the attendant to change 10 pesos. He could not do it. I then requested change for 2 pesos. He gave me 2 1-peso coins. Excellent! I ought to be able to go to the bodega and return as the 1-way fare is $1.10 pesos and I have $2.20 pesos (in addition to the 2-pesos changed by the bathroom attendant, I had 20 centavos in my pocket).

I walk to the bus and presently get on a bus (171) headed to Maipu where the Bodega is located. While I know that I need to South East from Mendoza City, the bus appears headed North East! I decide not to fret. After a while, the bus takes a road that appears to head due South. I am beginning to think that all will be well after all. However, in order to get off at the appropriate stop close to the Bodega, I request a fellow passenger for assistance. After describing the route in general, he tells me that I ought not to worry as it would take another 25 minutes for the bus to get close to Bodega Rural. It is 11:15 AM and I am assuming that I will reach the Bodega area close to 11:45 AM, which would be in time for my 12 Noon tour. [All the conversations are in Spanish - Broken or good, mostly broken on my part!]

The bus enters MAIPU town centre and appears headed in a different direction. I approach the driver and tell him that I need to get off at Bodega Rural. He tells me that we had passed the Bodega long ago and that I need to take the bus returning to Mendoza so that I can be dropped off at the Bodega! GREAT!

I am dropped at the Bus terminus at Maipu. Pretty soon, another bus departs the terminus. I pay the driver $1.10 and he tells me that we would be at the Bodega in 15 minutes. It is 11:45 AM and it looks like I am cutting it mighty fine!

It appears that my fellow passenger (who gave me assurances and directions) must have confused Bodega La Rural with Bodega Lopez because Lopez is exactly where he told me it would be! Oh well, I wish I spoke better Spanish or better yet he had spoken excellent English or Tamil!

After 15-minutes, the driver drops me at a bus stop and tells me to ask around for the exact location of the Bodega. Based on my map, I know it must be close. A lady who runs a bike shop tells me that the bodega is 1-Kilometre away. I start walking. It appears that the driver has dropped me a stop earlier. From the bus stop closest to the Bodega, it is a 0.5 Kilometre walk to the Bodega.

I reach Bodega La Rural at 12:15 PM. The guard tells me that the next tour is at 12:30 PM. That's not too bad. I spent the time visiting the Museum that has a good collection of old cars, carts, tools etc used to harvest and transport grapes decades ago. La Rural is in operation since 1895 and they grow only Cabernet Sauvignon in the Mendoza area.

The tour finally starts at 12:45 PM. There are more than a 100-people on this tour. The guide decides to do the entire tour in Spanish, even though she is Bilingual. At the end of the 30-minute tour, we are given a single tasting of a BAD Cabernet Sauvignon. If we wanted to taste more wines, there would be an additional charge for those. Based on the horrible free sampling, I decide not to press my save and instead save my money.

I should have listed to HUGH JOHNSON (whose guidebook has served as a wine reference for me in these parts for the past 4 months) and visited some other winery. Instead I listened to the IDIOTS from the South American Handbook and here I am visiting this Zoo. People bring babies and young kids to these tours and tastings. The bored young ones annoy people by never keeping quiet. I blame the IDIOTS (any parents / guardian who brings a child to these places has to be CERTIFIED as one) rather than the Kids themselves.

I walk back to the main road. I have no change with me and I still need to take a bus to Mendoza. I walk into the tourist kiosk nearby and ask for change (for $10 pesos). Seeing my sad, pathetic look, a local fishes out a $5 peso, 2 $2 peso and the crowning glory of it all --> a 1-PESO COIN! I find 20 centavos more in the deep recesses of my pocket and am ecstatic as I now have $1.20 for a fare of $1.10.

The bus comes along in 5 minutes. To my surprise, I find that the fare is $1.40! I tell the driver that although I do have money, $1.20 is all I have in CHANGE. Fellow passengers do not have any change either. While trying to find change (or rather hoping for it) once more in my pockets, I pull out the REDBUS card. The driver spots the card and tells me that I could use a combination of CARD and CHANGE. I put the fare $1.20 in the coin slot and swipe my card as well. Hooray! I have 20 centavos (I had assumed I had 50!) on my card, giving me the fare of $1.40. I take a seat and ponder for the rest of my 30-minute ride.

Argentine buses appear to have embraced modernism (technology) without proper planning. While Electronic cards are laudable, there should be an adequate number of vending / recharging kiosks where people can purchase or recharge their cards anytime of the day by cash or credit card. In addition to accepting Change, buses should also be designed to accept notes (at least up to 10 pesos) and dispense change.

I think the bus company simply hoards the change that it collects from the Coin slots. There is a perennial shortage of coins in this country. If you are visiting Argentina, upon arriving there (any place), head to the nearest bank and obtain about US$100 worth of coins! The unused part can be exchanged on exiting the country. I have been told that many merchants pay a premium to get coins. $100 1-Peso coins can command a price of $105 pesos!

I had a vegetarian sandwich and a large Orange Juice for lunch. I blog for 2.5 hours. After blogging, I take pictures near Plaza Espana. I make an attempt at shopping for souvenirs, but I am so disinterested that I give up and head to my hotel. I take a shower and write my diary before heading out.

I finally do some Souvenir shopping and buy some Mendocinian Chocolates. I have an Ice-Cream (banana split) at a famous Ice-Cream place. It is really good. I blog for 2.5 hours again. I still have a huge backlog of 30-days to get current!

Upon reaching the hotel, I request a wake up at 6 AM. My Bus to Santiago departs at 9 AM.

Notes on Bodegas in Mendoza
======================

Ideally a tasting tour at a Bodega should comprise of 8-10 people. If the group size is anything larger, avoid the bodega altogether (however good it is reputed to be). When planning Bodega visits, visit those recommended in a good wine book. Do not visit Bodegas recommended by folks like Lonely Planet, Footprint Guides etc. They are good at ferreting out cheap places to stay and eat. Sadly their taste in wines follows the same trajectory.

Among the wineries I visited, Achaval-Ferrer stands out in its tours and tastings. Norton comes second. Familia Zuccardi had a decent tasting although its tour left a lot to be desired. The rest (Luigi Bosca and La Rural) were a waste of my time.