Posts Tagged frat boys

I readily came to the conclusion that I could happily spend a fair amount of time In Mendoza. Maybe a few years. I came in at 7:00 in the morning after a long semi-cama ride from Puerto Madryn, and was grumpily carrying my mochila the mile or so to the Damajuana hostel when the tree-lined avenues and burbling (burbling!) canals next to every sidewalk made me realize that I like really appreciate places like Mendoza. It’s not a big town, maybe 200,000 people, and it’s not really a cultural hub or anything, but it’s pretty, and surrounded by beauty, and it’s very, very tranquilo.

But the Damajuana Hostel was pretty bad. Though I just chose it from a list that the tourist information woman at the bus terminal gave me, so it’s my own fault for not planning ahead better. I realized pretty quickly that I’d stumbled into a haven for besotted Brits and Aussies and Americans a few years removed from the frat house. I think it was the overzealous abuse of jams (the shorts, not the condiment) and the lack of any other type of clothing that gave it away. And it cost AR$60 a night, too! And the breakfast was two pieces of toast! But it took me three days to change hostels anyway.

I took a bike riding wine tour, which was, well, a wine tour. And I went rafting, which was a blast (and I fell out!). And I did a “canopy tour,” a misnomer as there wasn’t a tree within miles of the place. They were fun things to do, and they cost money, and I took many pictures:

Wines and Bikes:

Brown Water Rafting:

Zipline-ing:

I’m leaving for Santiago the day after tomorrow, which should be fun. The 5th time in Chile, I think. I must love Chile.