March 13, 2008 - Salta & Mendoza, Argentina

March 13, 2008 - Salta, Argentina
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I woke up early and checked out by 7 AM and followed it with a quick breakfast at the hotel. Upon finishing breakfast, I requested a Taxi to the airport. One arrived in less than 3 minutes. It was still pitch dark as we made our way to the airport. The 25-minute ride to the airport cost me 25 pesos (US$ 8). The locals here have no clue about the cost of these things as the hotel had claimed that it would cost me no more than 18 pesos and here I was paying 25% more.

Upon check in my duffel bag weighed in at 19 Kilos. My 'small' handbag probably had 15 kilos of stuff in it! I was quite relieved as this would be my last internal flight before I head back to the US - which would allow me to take 2 bags of 23 kilos each!

The flight departed a bit late. I got an exit row window seat with lots of legroom. Terrific! I read Bruce Chatwin and the articles in the Aerolineas Argentinas magazine during the flight. After the rather light breakfast served by the airlines, I dozed a bit as there was nothing great by way of scenery.

We reached Buenos Aires around 11:30 AM. I had to get out and go through a security check again before boarding my flight to Mendoza. I got a window seat again and continued my reading of Bruce Chatwin's travels in Patagonia.

March 13, 2008 - Mendoza, Argentina
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We reached Mendoza around 2:30 PM. Radio taxis were the only option from Mendoza airport to the city. They charged a flat rate of 16 pesos. It was a lovely sunny day. We reached my hotel in 20 minutes which turned out to be quite decent. The hotel was costing me 110 pesos (US$37) per night. The front desk manager recommended a laundry close by. I headed to the laundry and requested that they be returned by March 17 (Monday). I walked to the town centre and had a late afternoon snack.

A word on Business practices in Salta and Mendoza: Almost all establishments close at 1 PM and re-open at 4 after a nice siesta. The only option between these hours is to sit in a cafe - which is what I did. The laundry being open between these hours was a surprise to me. I visited the local tourism office and obtained maps as well as information on local vineyards and the best times to visit them.

I headed next to a few local tour operators and asked about visiting some of the wineries I had chosen from my wine guide. Needless to say all these agencies took people to standard run-of-the-mill wineries and the wineries on my list would have to be done as a private tour costing upwards of 450 pesos (US$150)!

I headed next to a wine tasting place recommended by my guide book. It turned out to be an interesting place. I helped myself to one of their newsletters and promised to drop by later for a proper tasting as I did not want to do any tastings on top of the "light" snack I had consumed for Lunch.

I noticed that there appeared to be a HARLEY DAVIDSON festival of some sort going on in town. There were numerous bikers from Argentina and Chile congregated around the town centre. None of the bikers seemed able to tell me when and where there would be a formal kickoff for the ride (My bad Spanish was not much help]. I took a few pictures and headed to an internet cafe. I wrote to a list of tour companies recommended in the wine newsletter.

During my walk after the Internet cafe, I came across one of the agencies recommended in the newsletter. I spoke to the young Irish lad (and he works for a WINE TOUR COMPANY? !) about visiting some of the wineries on my list. He also suggested a private tour that would set me back 400 pesos (US$135). He also recommended a few good wineries and gave me a copy of the newsletter he published (on wine, of course). I told him to send me an e-mail by tomorrow evening on whether any tours could be arranged (with other wine lovers) to see the wineries I was interested in. [This way the cost could be reduced]

I headed to the restaurants (with good wine selections) that he had recommended highly. Both places had overpriced wines and limited options for a vegetarian meal. I finally found an Argentine restaurant that served decent Vegetarian food (Italian, of course). I had a decent Terranzas Malbec with my dinner.

I got back to my hotel and realized that the low quantity of food, plus 4+ glasses of Malbec was a recipe for heartburn. I took a couple of heartburn pills and went to bed.