Day 43:
| Maipu Bike, bike rental | 450 |
| Olive oil tasting | 180 |
| Tempus Alba (winery) | 200 |
| Mevi (winery) | 100 |
| Empanadas & chips | 190 |
| Cider (from side of road) | 100 |
| Florio (winer) | 200 |
| Tip for free flow wine at bike shop | 80 |
| Beer Garden | 200 |
| Total: | 1700 ARS (200.5 RMB) (USD 28.75) |
It’s kind of insane how expensive it was to visit some wineries around Mendoza independently, especially consider the “bike and wine” package tour only cost about 800. That was a quite a boozy day, but an amazing experience to sample some very nice wines in the beautiful patios of the various bodegas.
Day 44:
| Hostel Wineries (2 nights) | 850 + 2.68 USD |
| McDonald’s ice cream | 40 |
| Baked chicken lunch | 290 |
| Carrefour (shampoo, sunblock) | 595 |
| Asado @ hostel | 380 |
| Total: | (272.8 RMB) (USD 39.13) |
It probably wasn’t necessary to stay out in Maipu for the two nights, especially as the otherwise lovely homestay-style hostel was devoid of guests. I guess it was nice to have a de facto private room for two nights, but it was good to move back into town for two nights to enjoy the weekend, which started out right with a hostel that does lots of events every night.
Day 45:
| Vegetarian buffet | 120 |
| Hot dog & beers | 320 |
| Hostel Campo Base (2 nights) | 477 + 2.41 USD |
| Total: | (124.9 RMB) (USD 17.91) |
It turns out that other than the BBQ, the centrally located hostel was rather boring. Still stuffed from gorging on meat the previous night, I adjusted my karma with a light salad and ultimately bored by the evening, I found myself hanging out at a corner kiosk/hot dog stand where one could drink a beer for less than the hostel was charging. I booked an excursion to visit the “high mountains” for the next day and as that was leaving early, I “check out” before going to bed.
Day 46:
| Mountain tour | 1200 |
| Coffee | 80 |
| Aconcagua Park | 300 |
| Alfajor and coffee | 160 |
| Bus ticket to Cordoba | 1640 |
| Luggage tip | 10 |
| Total: | 3390 ARS (399.8 RMB) (USD 57.34) |
Though I would have liked to do some proper hiking around Aconcagua park, the mountain tour turned out to be a fairly decent deal (especially as transportation to the park is tricky and a one day hiking permit costs 1500 ARS). With the tour, we got to walk around a bit of the park, up to the first view point and visit a couple other sites as well.
Alfajor(es) are a kind of Argentinian cookie that most resembles a Little Debbie snack cake because the defining feature is a filling between the two cookie/cake layers and dipped in chocolate (sometimes).
Day 47:
| Luggage tip | 5 |
| Alvear Hostel (2 nights) | 680 + 2.14 |
| Coffee | 80 |
| Walking tour | 120 |
| Lunch (grilled chicken) | 290 |
| Fernet | 400 |
| Total: | (200.7 RMB) (USD 28.78) |
It was a rough overnight journey from Mendoza to Cordoba on a “semicama” bus, which stopped several times in the middle of the night to exchange roughly 20 passengers each time. The bus would be better described as a semi-seat (than a semi-bed) because the seats barely leaned back. Nevertheless, I hit the ground running in Cordoba meeting people in the hostel and going on one of the “free” walking tours. In the evening, I bought some Fernet (an italian herbal liquor) and Coca-cola to drink like the locals on the hostel rooftop.
Day 48:
| Phone credit | 380 |
| Haircut | 100 |
| Entrejo (milanesa and spanish tortilla) | 270 |
| Total: | 750 ARS (88.4 RMB) (USD 12.68) |
There was a heat wave in Cordoba (and other parts, I understand), but that did not deter me from running some errands in the morning. It is crazy how difficult it is to add credit to my phone, visiting multiple shops of the mobile operator and being repeatedly told to go to a kiosk where they charge a fee on top. Also feeling a bit rough around the temples, I stumbled upon a hair cut academy where I rolled the dice on a super cheap hair cut by volunteering myself to the hair stylist in training. When the heat started to subside, I took a short jog to the Sarmiento Park and returned in time to grab some pasta one of my roommates cooked up.
Day 49:
| Lago di Garda | 340 |
| Aldea Hostel (2 nights) | 956.79 + 2.82 USD |
| Beer | 120 |
| Dinner | 350 |
| Total: | (228 RMB) (USD 32.7) |
Though I liked the hostel alright, it was pretty hot inside with poor internet, so I decided to make a loop around town trying out a couple of different hostels (in case I want to return for a few weeks). The new hostel was a little bit more pricey, but well rated on Hostel World, and I needed to pay with a credit card to avoid the 21% VAT. I sprung for lunch at a fairly fancy Italian restaurant and moved over to the other hostel. In the evening, I tried out a craft beer place before exploring the part of town with a night life. Dinner was a variety of empenadas and some food that I need to figure out the name of because it was absolutely delicious.
This week was a bit more expensive with two full days of doing a proper tourist itinerary and stocking up on some supplies.
Running Total: 8337.6 RMB (USD 1195.77)
Daily Average: 170.2 RMB (USD 24.40)